Little Red Hen Builds a Chopper

If you were modernizing the story of the Little Red Hen and acting it out for your classmates with a limited number of props, how would you do it? This is how Ida, Jared, Elaine, and Jacob did it.

With about 2 minutes of planning--from the point in the 15?-minute planning process when the idea clicked till the end of the time--they decided that they would build a custom chopper (which I discerned at some point was not a helicopter but a motorcycle. Silly me.). No wimpy bread baking projects here. Jared would be the builder and the others would be the naughty chick children, except that they were very specific kinds of unhelpful children. Ida was German, Elaine was a lazy American, and Jacob was Amish.

Jared began by setting to work on a rolling desk chair he confiscated from one of the offices. "Would someone please help me with putting this frame together? "Nicht ich," spouted Ida. "Not I," from Elaine. "Ich vill net," Jacob said.

"Then I guess I'll do it myself."

"Would someone bring me those chrome handlebars over there?"

"Nicht ich."

"Not I."

"Ich vill net."

"I need help with these wheels," Jared said. "Will someone please help me?"

"Nicht ich. Not I. "Ich vill net."

When Jared's busyness subsided and he stood back to survey the project, he said "Who wants a ride in this new chopper?"

"Ich, I, Ich"

Jared pointedly ignored all of them and stalked over to where one of the girls' leather jackets was waiting. He put it on with as much aplomb as he could muster, given the fact that it was rather too small for him and getting into it was a bit awkward. Then he hopped onto the "chopper" and sped away behind the nearest row of offices.

It was another Friday afternoon at Pilgrim.