There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves

Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves Sequencing Cards

We read the book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves, many times. We use sequencing cards to retell the story using a pocket chart. I love using sequencing cards that have both the image as we and the words. We can use them for ABC orders, writing, and so much more. You may be surprised by how many learners need this extra step for vocabulary purposes. 

Then we use the cards to support our sequencing printable. It is a great integration with ordinal numbers as well.
You can check out a student in action working away right here. Many of my students struggle with sequencing but use the cards we ordered on the pocket charts to help guide them. 

Writing Integration

We also use the book to support our writing. The upper-grade teachers in my school suggested that we encourage having our writers restate the question when answering, so you can see how we make that happen here.

Because our little learners are just beginning to write, we also encourage them to use support with word walls and such. One sight word we didn’t know yet was ‘and’ so you can see me writing that word for them when conferences with them. My students read what they write to me. We work on correcting their work so it makes sense.

I also encourage my students to draw a picture of what they wrote. This is another learning standard for them and just a good practice to start early and encourage at every step along the way. There are three versions to choose from to aid multiple levels of learners.

Reading Comprehension for There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves

One of the most important skills my kinders need to leave my classroom with is the ability to comprehend what they are reading. Each week we play one reading comprehension game. I collect data on how many questions they get right. Once we really build our knowledge of books, I can quickly see who is struggling with understanding what they are reading. The best part is… my students are constantly reviewing comprehension skills AND they all know they are playing a game.

The game is simple. Every student gets one unifix cube and puts it on the start spot. If they answer their reading comprehension question correctly, they roll a die and move that many spaces. The first to get to the end wins. These games get heated and are so much fun. When I say my students RUN to this game, I do mean RUNNNNN.

Vocabulary

For an independent game, we can use this matching activity to practice vocabulary from the book.

There is also an alphabet version with initial sounds. You can use both versions so you can differentiate to meet the needs of your students. 

Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves Reader

To help work on sight words and reading skills, we use these printable readers. For this book, we work to look for the sight word “ate” and color it on each page. We can also work on tracking text, turning pages, and using pictures for support with reading.

We place these books in our book boxes and use them for reading to ourselves and reading to someone else.

Puzzles

This is another great vocabulary-building center or word work activity. I take these large word wall pieces and turn them into puzzles for the students to build.

CLICK HERE for this unit, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves.