Pigs Is Pigs Short Story Teaching Guide

Pigs Is Pigs by Ellis Parker Butler
A Short Story Study Guide by Margaret Whisnant

This short story study guide for Pigs Is Pigs, one of the funniest stories ever put on paper in my opinion, includes a copy of the story, now in public domain.

The 5 Different Teaching Components are as follows:
2 Story Quizzes
Factual Comprehension Multiple Choice Test (10 questions)
Standards-based Challenge Quiz (14 CCSS-aligned questions)

2 Story-Based Activities
Expanding Numbers (analysis)
Circling Around the Interurban Express Company (sequencing)

Vocabulary Study
Alphabetized word list (28 words)
Word list in story order with definitions
Dictionary Digs (student work sheets)
Etymologies (student work sheets)

Informational Texts
Ellis Parker Butler—Biographical Sketch (with CCSS-aligned study questions)
Bureaucrats and Red Tape (with CCSS-aligned study questions)
Guinea Pigs Q & A (with CCSS-aligned study questions)

Thinking and Writing Prompts
The thinking and writing prompts vary in difficulty from basic to challenging. Some are appropriate as individual assignments; others as group activities. Teachers have plenty of pick-and-choose options.

Full Answer Keys are included.

I have also added a Suggested Teaching Sequence for using the materials.

Special Note: Pigs Is Pigs has long been one of my favorite short stories. I used it as a fun, read-aloud in my classroom for years. Imagine my delight when I learned that it was older than I thought (1905), and in public domain! Just had to work it up and share it.
Though it’s more than 100 years old, Pigs Is Pigs is just as entertaining and relevant as it was the day it was first published in the September 1905 edition of American Illustrated Magazine.

Star Trek fans will be happy to know that one of its most famous episodes, The Trouble with Tribbles, is based on Pigs Is Pigs.