Literacy Take-Home Packet: Pigs
Lesson 258 • By Debbie Haren (Expanded Version)
Grade Level: Preschool–Kindergarten
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Practice spelling and sounding out the word “pigs.”
- Retell and sequence events from the book Pigs by Rozanne L. Williams.
- Strengthen fine-motor skills through drawing, painting, and coloring.
- Build vocabulary and comprehension through take-home storytelling.
- Engage families in a shared literacy experience.
Materials
- Pigs by Rozanne Lanczak Williams
- White construction paper with a pig outline (one per child)
- Pink paint + brushes (for pig art)
- Copies of the Take-Home Packet Pages (listed below)
- Extra sheet of paper with 15–20 small pig outlines, numbered 1–10
- Stapler for assembling packets
- Crayons or markers
- Optional: printed outlines of shoe, door, sticks, gate, pig pen (for students who need support)
Lesson Flow
1. Read-Aloud & Word Work
Read Pigs aloud to the class.
Discuss:
- What happened in the story?
- What did the pigs do?
- What things did the pigs need or use?
- What sound does /p/ make? /i/? /g/? /s/?
- Spell the word P-I-G-S together.
Have students clap the sounds: /p/ – /i/ – /g/ – /s/.
Practice blending: p…ig…s → pigs.
2. Pig Art (Cover Page Craft)
Give each student the pig outline and have them paint it pink.
This becomes the cover page of their take-home packet.
Title it:
Literacy Take-Home Activity for Pigs
Write student names at the bottom.
3. Assemble the Take-Home Packet
Each child receives the following pages.
At the top of each page, print the instruction as listed.
Page 1 – Cover Page
Title: Literacy Take Home Activity for Pigs
(Attach the painted pig artwork.)
Page 2
Instruction: Draw a picture of a shoe for your pigs.
Page 3
Instruction: Draw a picture of a door for your pigs.
Page 4
Instruction: Draw a picture of pigs with sticks in their mouths.
Page 5
Instruction: Draw a gate for your pigs.
Page 6
Instruction: Draw a picture of a pig pen for your pigs.
4. Optional Support (for emerging artists)
If drawing these items is too difficult for your learners:
- Provide simple outlines of a shoe, door, sticks, gate, and pig pen.
- Students can color or trace instead.
- This still supports comprehension and vocabulary.
5. Numbered Pig Page
Provide the extra page with 15–20 tiny pig pictures (shrunken from a coloring book or clipart).
Number ten of the pigs 1 to 10.
Students:
- Color all the pigs
- Review their numbers
- Practice counting aloud at home
6. Send Home the Packet
Tell families:
“Your child can use this packet to retell the story of Pigs at home! Ask them to show you the shoe, door, gate, pig pen, and pigs with sticks — and listen to them retell the story in their own words.”
Encourage families to:
- Ask questions
- Point to each drawing
- Practice spelling the word pigs
Classroom Extension Ideas
- Retelling Cards: Create picture cards of the main objects and let students retell the story in small groups.
- Word Building: Use magnetic letters to spell PIG and PIGS.
- Art Center: Let students make more pigs using shapes (circle head, oval body, triangle ears).
- Sensory Table: Fill with pink rice or shredded paper and add toy pigs and sticks.
- Math Tie-In: Have students sort pigs by size, color, or number tag.
Assessment
Check whether each child can:
- Say or spell the word pigs
- Retell at least part of the story
- Match at least some drawings to key story elements
- Count numbered pigs correctly
- Show fine-motor engagement (cutting, coloring, drawing)
