While we may never know why she swallowed that fly, zany storybook spin-offs about everyone's favorite old lady provide the perfect opportunity to teach readers at every level. Begin by reading aloud a few versions of this side-splitting tale. (Try Lucille Colandro's There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! for a seasonal twist.) Then create a chart to compare and contrast the versions with your students.

The predictable pattern of the old lady tales offer fluency practice kids will love. Try this schedule of repeated readings. First, read a traditional version of the story aloud to the class, such as Simms Taback's There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Penguin, 1997). Then read the story again, inviting students to chime in. Stage a third reading by having one group read the left-hand pages and another group read the right. Next, challenge small groups of students to deliver a practiced and fluent reading of another version of the story. Give the groups time to practice each day and encourage them to do so at home. Perhaps prepare a dress-up box with wigs, shawls, and old costume jewelry for the children to use for their readings. As a surprise, consider coming to the performance dressed as the old lady!

Whether she burps out a snowman or abruptly decides she's full, almost all of the old lady stories end with a laugh. Invite students to get their creative juices flowing by writing their own final twist — an important narrative skill. First, on the board write the last few lines of a favorite version of the story, such as those in Teri Sloat's There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout. What observations can your students make about the author's writing? Sloat uses rhyme, alliteration, and capital letters, for example. Can your students use these same techniques to write a new ending as a class? To extend, encourage children to write their own twist. Have them illustrate their endings and post them on a bulletin board for all to enjoy.

After your students are familiar with the old lady's saga, invite them to write their own version using the Reproducible below. First, encourage children to brainstorm a list of five objects their old lady will eat. What would happen to her if she gobbled these items? Why does she do it and in what order? Once children have a plan for their stories, hand out one copy of the reproducible cover and four copies of the inside page to each student. Have children stack the cover on top of the inside pages and staple to make a book. Encourage them to draw the old lady's snacks inside her stomach! Share the new versions with a rollicking read-aloud.

Build estimating skills by encouraging kids to guess the total weight of one of the old lady's feasts. Begin by having students estimate the weight of classroom objects. How much does a textbook weigh? A piece of chalk? Students can test their guesses using a scale. Then invite groups of children to write a list of the items eaten in one version of the old lady story. Encourage students to use the classroom objects as a guide to estimate the weight of each item. Add together the guesses to estimate the total weight. How do these totals compare with the average amount Americans eat each day (about five pounds)?

 
Hannah Trierweiler is the assistant editor of Instructor. This article was originally published in the October 2004 issue.

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