Literacy

* Group students in pairs (by passing out tongue depressor or color bracelets and have them locate their partner) and read story and have students share their thoughts on questions asked (click here) before, during and after reading the story, plus narrative questions (click for pdf)

* Things to share after reading book, singing and chanting song.

a) Say two words (one word from the song and another word that rhymes and a non-rhyming) and ask them if they rhyme. Ex. spider – house; spider – wider (Use other words from song – rain, out, cat, sun, etc.)

b) Tell me a word that rhymes with _____________(repeat this exercise with different words from the song) 

c) I am going to say a word from the song and you tell me what letter it begins with (select word from song)

d) Listen to the word I say and lets count the syllables (clap, snap, pat or stomp syllables with the class)

e) I am going to say a sentence from the story / song and you fill in the word that is missing

Example: The Itsy Bitsy spider went up the water  _____________  (continue with song leaving out last word)

f) I am going to say part of a sentence and you finish the sentence.

Example:

                    (teacher) The Itsy Bitsy spider

                    (students) went up the water spout.

                    (teacher) Down came the rain

                    (students) and washed the spider out 

g) Once they are able to accomplish the task by phrases you can now do it by word. (T = Teacher  and S = Students)

Example: (T) The (S) Itsy  (T) Bitsy  (S) spider  (T) went  (S) up (T) the  (S) water (T) spout  (continue with song)

* Complete a venn diagram comparing a spider to bird or cat with similarities in the middle (click for pdf)

* Complete a story map: title, setting, characters, problem, and solution.

* Use this song to practice echo reading, choral reading, buddy reading, and work on phonological awareness activities (click for example)

* Use pictures of characters to create a rebus chart reading (click for pdf)

* Create different ending to the story or talk about what happened to the spider when it reached the top of the water spout or why it wanted to get to the top of the water spout.

* As a class, create silly alliterative sentences.  Read and chant sentence:

Example:  The scary spider sang a silly song.  

Spiders spin spectacular webs in small spaces.

* Have student recite and chant this spider poem with movement:

I have a little spider, (bring hands and shoulder in to demonstrate little)

And I’m very fond of it; (hug yourself)

It climbs up on my shoulder, (use fingers climbing to your shoulder)

And then up to my chin;  (walk fingers to your chin)

It crawls down on my arm,  (walk fingers down your arm)

And then down to my leg;  (walk fingers down your leg)

Now it’s a tired little spider  (rock your spider to bed in your arms)

And it goes straight to bed. (place hands together next to your head and pretend you’re sleeping)

* Use this printout to sequence the story or to practice in reading, chanting and singing songs while holding up stick puppet. (click for pdf)

* Letter recognition (S)pider.  Write the word on the chart tablet and have children identify names and words that start with (S).

* Substitute words to introduce other similar meanings.  Itsy Bitsy can be the eency weency, itty bitty, super small, very little, etc.

Science

* Complete Venn diagram and compare characteristics of a spider and a person with similar characteristics in the middle.

* Compare spiders using this print out.  Talk about their differences and similarities.  Print two copies to create a matching game. (click for pdf)

* Discuss the spider and the anatomy of a spider and compare it to an insect: draw one of each using circles for body parts and lines for legs.

Legs
Insects: 6
Spiders: 8

Meals
Insects: a wide variety — some even eat plastic, paper, and lint
Spiders: mostly insects, but some even eat small frogs or mice

Antennas
Insects: yes — that’s how they smell
Spiders: no — they sense through bristles on their legs

Wings
Insects: usually
Spiders: never

Body Section
Insects: 3: head, thorax, abdomen
Spiders: 2: cephalothorax (seh-fuh-luh-THOR-ax), abdomen

* Print out multiple copies of the pdf and have children recreate the itsy bitsy song to match the insects.  Example:  The beautiful colored butterfly flew up the water spout, down came the rain….. or, The slimy and long worm crawled up the water spout, down came the rain…(click for pdf)

* Does the sun really dry up the rain? Introduce the three forms of water – solid, liquid, and gas 1) place water in ice cube tray; 2) once they freeze, lay an ice cube outside 2) see it melt 3) see the water evaporate  (you can also introduce mass and volume by tracing the ice cube and watching it melt and then tracing the puddle of water)

* Place the kids in a circle and have them pass the yarn across to different students until the yarn is finished…create a web and have students attempt to walk across the web without touching the web (yarn).  This is to reinforce how hard it is for insects to try to get out of a spider web.  You can also predict if items that teacher will toss into the web will be held by the web. (see illustration)

* Create a spider web using paper-plate, hole puncher, yarn, and black tempra paint to reinforce that spiders have eight legs and lives on a their web which catches their food (prey – great vocabulary). (click for illustration)

Math

* Use printout to cut and glue spiders on construction paper. Sequence size of spiders…small, medium, and large. (click for pdf)

* Use this printout to explore spatial words. Allow the children to tape their spider in different parts of the room.  Have students describe where the spider is climbing now.  (Example:  He’s under the table, behind the curtain, above the bookshelf, etc.) (click for pdf)

* Create a spider using 2 small circles and 8 toothpicks or pipe cleaners for legs and 4 pieces of black yarn for web. Trace and cut the circles and glue on constriction paper and glue 8 pipe cleaners / toothpicks for legs (you can try to break toothpicks to create a bent leg).  Get pieces of yarn to create a spider web on the top corner of the paper.  Count the 8 legs by chanting song of doubles:    2, 4, 8 who do we appreciate…spider, spider spider!

* Print and laminate these two spiders and place in the math center and have students measure the spiders using uni-fixed cubes, paperclips, and any other non-standard unit of measurement. How many cubes long is the spider? (click for pdf)

Social / Emotional

* Act out the song using stick puppets, masks or by assigning roles. (click for pdf)

* Ask kids if they like spiders.  Discuss what’s “cool” about spiders.  For example, they create beautiful webs, they eat other pesky bugs, and they are found in all parts of the world.  Discuss spider safety as well.

* Discuss emotions/feelings that deal with story situations.  Was the spider happy that he worked hard and climbed up the spout?  How did he feel when he got washed out?  What did he do after the sun dried up all the rain?  Is there something you tried to do that didn’t work out?  Did you try again?   Did you feel proud that you tried again and did it?

* Create a spider snack using two large marsh-mellows for the body and 8 pretzels for the legs.

Physical / Outdoor

* Sing or chant “Itsy Bitsy Spider” while incorporating movement to the song (visit movement link)

* Go outside and walk like a spider and for every step you take spell s-p-i-d-e-r, after spelling spider then walk faster and chant spider, spider, spider.

* Place masking-tape in a circle or a straight line and encourage children to use one foot in front of the other and balance as they walk on the tape lines and repeat the rhyme / song or the alliteration above or your own alliteration created by the class.  Change movement, criss-cross over the tape.

* Use yarn to create a huge web on the playground or in the classroom.  Kids need to crawl under it.  Lower the web once all the students have gone under the first height.

* Use the water table, straws and plastic spider rings to experiment with how much water it takes to “wash the spider out”

Literacy

* Group students in pairs (by passing out tongue depressor and having them locate their partner) and read story and have students share their thoughts on questions asked (click here) before, during and after reading the story, plus narrative questions (click for pdf)

* Things to share after reading book, singing and chanting song.

a) Tell me a word that rhymes with farm? (repeat this exercise with different words from the song – dog, child, wife, cat, etc.)

b) Listen to the words I say and tell me if they rhyme. dell: house / bell;  wife: baby / life; nurse: toy / purse; etc.(select a word from the song and a rhyming word and non-rhyming word)

c) I am going to say a word from the song and you tell me what letter it begins with: Farmer; Wife; Nurse; Child; etc.

d) Listen to word I say and lets count the syllables (farmer, wife, nurse, child, etc.)

e) I am going to say part of a sentence and you finish the sentence.

The farmer takes the _________.

The wife takes the __________.

The nurse takes the ________.  etc.

f) I am going to say part of a sentence and you finish the sentence.

Example: (teacher) The farmer takes (students) the wife

(teacher) The wife takes (students) the nurse (etc.)

g) Once they are able to accomplish the task by phrases you can now do it by word. (T = Teacher  and S = Students)

Example: (T) The   (S) farmer  (T) takes  (S) the  (T) wife           (continue with song)

* As a class create silly alliterative sentences.  

Ex.   The farmer takes the fluffy feathers. 

The wife takes the white windows,

The nurse take the nine Ninjas.

The child takes Chinese chicken.

The dog takes dirty dishes.

The cat takes candy cupcakes.

The rat takes red roses 

* Complete Venn diagram and compare a lamb to another living animal with similar characteristics in the middle (click for pdf)

* Complete a story map: title, setting, characters, problem, and solution.

* Ask students what is white and create a map on there answers.

* Use this song to practice echo reading, choral reading, buddy reading, and work on phonological awareness activities (click for example)

* Have students sing the melody by using the syllable Baa.  

 Example:  The fa fa fa fafa The fa fa fa fafa fafafafafa  etc.

(You can change initial letter to N, M, C, T or any other letter.  You can select the first letter of each of their name)

* Create different ending to the story or talk about who can take the cheese?

* As a class, create silly alliteration sentences. Read them, chant them, whisper, normal voice, and loud voice.

Example:  The farmer finds a friend The farmer find s a friend.  Hi-ho the derry–o the farmer finds a friend.

The farmer finds a fox… The farmer finds a frog, etc.

* Use this song to practice echo reading, choral reading, buddy reading, and work on phonological awareness. (see video example)

Math

* Count and sequence the number of characters.  Practice subtraction by taking characters away and recounting. (click for pdf)

* Show and compare characters by asking questions of size and weight.   Which is heavier? Lighter? Taller? Shorter?

* Who’s missing?  Place the characters from the printout in a row according to the lyrics.  Quickly review the order 3 times.  Have kids close their eyes and remove one character.  When they open their eyes, have them guess who’s missing.  Extension question:  Who’s missing in our class today?

* Print two copies of the characters to play concentration or matching games.  Extend by having them match to the character that follows in the song.  Example:  match the farmer to the wife; the wife to the child, etc

Science

* Have a cheese tasting.  Encourage parents to send different kinds of cheese for snack.  Have kids compare the similarities and differences.

* Talk about what different animals eat.  Have containers filled with corn, oats, hay, dog and cat food.  Compare.  As an extension activity, have kids practice filling containers themselves at a sensory station.

* What do the animals give us?  Use grocery store flyers and have kids cut out and match foods to the animal they come from.  Example:  cow=milk, cheese, steak, burgers; pig=bacon, pork chops, ham

* Science poem:  

The Farmer:

The sun is coming up (make sun with arms)

Farmer’s out the door. (walk in place)

He will feed the sheep (pretend to use pitch fork)

He will milk the cows. (pretend to milk cow)

He will ride the horse. (pretend to ride horse)

He will plow the field. (pretend to ride tractor)

Its time to go inside. (walk in place)

Supper’s on the table. (pretend to eat)

It’s time to go to bed (pretend to go to sleep)

Social / Emotional

* Everyone’s connected and equally important. Discuss the roles of each character in farm life.  Connect the farmer to the grocery; the grocery to the cook; the cook to the meal.

* Act out the song using puppets, masks, or by assigning roles. Choose a farmer. When the song calls for him to take a wife, he chooses a classmate to hold hands and join him, walking in a slow circle and singing to the music. The wife chooses a classmate to be the nurse and the nurse chooses someone to be the child. Those in the line continue holding hands and walking in a circle as each child chooses the next character in the rhyme. At the end, when the cheese is chosen, all the other characters sit down and the cheese stands alone.  (integrate various movements – slide, skip, march, walk, hop) as they go and get their partner)

* Discuss the cheese.  Is it a healthy snack?  Encourage kids to sing the song with new lyrics inserting healthy snacks in the blank.  If they name something high in sugar, guide them to think of something healthier.  Give the first example by inserting apples.

I eat a _____ for snack.  I eat _____ for snack.  Hi-ho the dairy-o,  I eat _____ for snack.

(sung to melody: The Famer in the Dell)

Physical / Outdoor

* Square dance.  Have the kids sing the song moving in a circle by locking elbows. After each chorus, switch directions.

* Print copies (2-3 sets for entire class) of characters and glue them to construction paper and laminate them. Place them in a circle facing down (so they can’t see the character from the story) and have children dance in a circle to the song “Famer in the Dell” and when the music stops the students land on a picture and need to name the character and tell the class who that character takes in the song.

* Assign each child a character and have a race to see which one on the farm is the fastest.

Literacy

* Group students in pairs (by passing out tongue depressor, colored bracelets, and having them locate their partner) and read story and have students share their thoughts on questions asked (click here) before, during and after reading the story, plus narrative questions (click for pdf)

* Things to share after reading book, singing and chanting song]

a) Tell me a word that rhymes with ________? (repeat this exercise with different words from the song – Mary; little; lamb; white; day; snow; play)

b) Say two words (one word from the song and a rhyming and non-rhyming word) and ask them if they rhyme  ex. Mary …David? Mary…Larry?

c) I am going to say a word from the song and you tell me what letter it begins with (select word from song)

d) Listen to the word I say and lets count the syllables (clap, snap, pat or stomp syllables with the class)

e) I am going to say a sentence from the story / song and you fill in the word that is missing

Example: Mary had a little _____________:  Its fleece was white as _______________; etc.  continue with the other phrases from the song.

f) I am going to say part of a sentence and you finish the sentence.                Example:

(teacher) Mary had a (students) little lamb

(teacher) Its fleece was (students) white as snow  (etc.)

g) Once they are able to accomplish the task by phrases you can now do it by word. (T = Teacher  and S = Students)

Example: (T) Mary  (S) had  (T) a  (S) little  (T) lamb  (S) little  (T) lamb  (continue with song)

* Complete Venn diagram and compare a lamb to another living animal with similar characteristics in the middle (click for pdf)

* Complete a story map: title, setting, characters, problem, and solution.

* Ask students what is white and create a map on there answers.

* Use this song to practice echo reading, choral reading, buddy reading, and work on phonological awareness activities (click for example)

* Synonyms.  Chant song and substitute words to expand vocabulary. Example: (synonyms)  little = small, tiny, petite, etc. big, large, huge, etc.

* Have students sing the melody by using the syllable Baa.  

 Example:  Baa baa  baa  baa  baa-baa-baa  baa-baa-baa  etc.

(You can change initial letter to N, M, C, T or any other letter.  You can select the first letter of each of their name)

* Create different ending to the story or talk about what the little lamb might be doing at school or where else she can go?

* As a class, create silly alliteration sentences. Read them, chant them, whisper, normal voice, and loud voice.

Example:  Little lambs love licking lollipops.

Little Lambs love to leap and laugh.

* Use this song to practice echo reading, choral reading, buddy reading, and work on phonological awareness. (see video example)

* Letter recognition for (M)ary and (L)amb .  List the words (students name) that have this letter and sound in the beginning.

* Write the nursery rhyme on chart tablet and identify upper case, lower case, commas, periods within the song.

* Using the pocket chart, cover a word with a red cover sheet.  Follow the words with your finger, and ask the kids to clap while they read the word under the red card. The can also whisper the red word.

* Make multiple copies of pdf and color them the seven colors mentioned and pass out lambs of various colors and take turns in having children call out their color and the class sings,

“Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Mary had a little lamb its fleece was _______ as _______.

(black as night; green as grass; red as an apple; orange as an orange; blue as the sky; brown as dirt; yellow as a banana) (click for pdf)

* Present a stuffed lamb / sheep animal. Call on students to listen and place the lamb in various positions in the room. (For example, on the chalkboard ledge, under the chair, beside the computer, moving through the door, moving around the table, etc.)

Science

* Discuss the process of making wool. 1) One haircut per year, usually in the summer; 2) sort the wool by color and condition (quality); 3) wash all the germs from the wool; 4) once the wool dries, comb the wool and remove tangles; 5) weave fibers to make yarn; 6) use yarn to create fabric: 7) fabric is then used to make coats, socks, carpets, jackets, pants and much more. Bring a role of wool yarn and a piece of wool fabric…WalMart!

* Introduce wool and have students touch it, walk on it barefoot and touch their neighbors arm to experience static electricity shock.

* Let students witness the results of static by placing balloons near their neighbors’ hair to see the hair react to static.  Place cheerios on floor and let children use balloons to pickup cheerios from the stactic…balloon does not touch cheerios.

* Study the difference between warm and cold.  Using a wool sock have the children test to see if they can feel the cold when they hold an ice cube with the sock over their hand and without.  You can also give them a wool sock, cotton sock, polyester sock and see which sock is warmer.

* Compare and list other animals that are “white as snow”. Play matching / memory game. (click for pdf)

* Pass around a piece of wool and cotton and compare texture (use cotton-balls to cover lamb). (click for pdf)  

Social / Emotional

* Act-out, recite, chant, and sing the song using stick puppets, masks or by assigning roles. (click for pdf)

* Discussion questions can be talked about in a group or with partners as conversation practice.

Topic A:  What would make you laugh at school?  Record their answers

Topic B:  Discuss the friendship between Mary and her lamb.  Relate the discussion to how the children feel about their pets and/or   friends.  Talk about “The Buddy System”: To be paired with someone to help them or protect them

Topic C:  Discuss which points in the story could be happy or sad.

* Was the lamb sad that Mary would be gone all day; is that why he followed her.

* Would the lamb feel lonely by himself all day?

* Was Mary happy to go to school with her friends?

Topic D: Wool is warm. “What makes you feel warm?” A sweater, hot chocolate, a blanket, a jacket, etc.

Topic E:  Sheering sheep is like getting a haircut.  Ask the children if they ever get haircuts.  Does it hurt?  Did they cry?

* Discuss “Rules” at school / home / etc.  What rules exist at your house? Have the class make a rule for the day and change the rule each day for a week.

Math

* Time the children with a stopwatch or by counting while student run 25 yards or around the playground.

* How long did it take for Mary and her little lamb to walk to school that day?  Would it have been faster by car or bus?  How do you get to school?  How long does it take? Ask them to report.  Create a graph with the answers.

* Create a timeline of the events in the story. Use the picture clips from the stick puppets.

* Use this printout to place the sheep in order (1-5) on their way to eat hay or gluing the assigned number of cotton balls on each lamb. (click for pdf)

* Have the children estimate and then count the number of cotton-balls that will cover the lamb.  Have the children select a specific number of cotton balls or pompoms.

* Have children practice picking up cotton balls with the chopsticks. (children’ sized chopsticks can be found in any Asian market but regular size will work as well). Kids learn to use chopsticks quickly and it becomes a writing ready skill.

* Group the cotton balls and have the children discover which group is more/less, big/little.  Incorporate more vocabulary by using the words: pile, heap, stack, mound or mass.  Extension:  Use colored pompoms, then sort and count by color.

Physical / Outdoor

* Sing or chant “Mary had a little lamb” forming a circle as a class and holding hands and walking one direction and changing directions each verse.

* Place masking-tape in a circle or a straight line and encourage children to use one foot in front of the other and balance as they walk on the tape lines and repeat the rhyme / song or the alliteration above or your own alliteration created by the class.  Change movement:  criss-cross over the tape. You can also have them in three lines and assign each group to  different color and have the first three go together while singing “Mary had a Little Lamb” and walking on their assigned colored line. (click for example: Illustration)

* Play “Follow the Leader”, to reinforce how the lamb followed Mary everywhere she went.  You can create various small groups to allow everyone to be a leader.

* Test their knowledge by have them squat as you give statements that are wrong.  When they hear the correct statement, they jump!  (sample questions)

Did Mary have a cow? No

Did Mary have a horse? No

Did Mary have a Lamb? YES!  (kids jump)

Did it follow Mary to the store? No

Did it follow her to church?  No

Did it follow her to school? Yes! (kids jump)

It made the children sad? No

It made the children mad? No

It made the children laugh? Yes! (kids jump)

Continue with different questions on where it followed her and what it made the children do.  Great way to promote story comprehension.