Little Miss Muffet
To Begin....
Copy the rhyme on tag paper for easy reading. Add graphics or pictures to enhance meaning.
Rhyme on Chart Stand with Rings
Book Suggestions
The Little Miss Muffet and Other Nursery Rhymes book by Lucy Cousins is an attention grabber. My students adore the illustrations. To introduce the poem, this book works well. The book is listed in the Nursery Rhyme Book Suggestions section of this web unit.
Little
Miss Muffet's Count Along Surprise
Another resource to incorporate counting with the rhyme. This book is listed in the book section if you would like to learn more about this resource extension.
ART.....
TLC art has a project for the rhyme. To see the resource book for the nursery rhyme art projects, go to the resource book section. This is an example of the Little Miss Muffet project one of my students made.
LITTLE MISS MUFFET ART
LANGUAGE
ARTS.....
* Vocabulary - identify key words (curds and whey, tuffet), etc. Have pictures or bring the named items to the class. I have a small tuffet that we use to practice acting out the rhyme. Bring props such as a bowl, spider, etc. to use when students are acting out the rhyme.
* Sentences Pocket Chart - Make several pocket chart activities to use in mini-language lessons. Take sentences from the poem, use student's names to make the activity more interesting and meaningful, and vary the focus of the lesson each day. Some mini-lesson suggestions for this rhyme are:
* Asking and telling sentences
* Verbs
* Common Nouns
* Proper Nouns
EXAMPLE OF ASKING AND TELLING SENTENCES
WRITING ACTIVITIES:
Journals - Free form or guided topic -
* What makes you feel afraid?
* Would you run from a spider?
* What would happen if Miss Muffet did not run away?
* Imagine another animal came to visit Miss Muffet. Describe the animal and what she would do.
WRITING PROJECTS
Pattern Poem Book - Skeleton and Muscle
Copy the poem on chart paper. Leave out specific words from the poem. Explain that the students are going to make a group poem using the "skeleton" frame. As they brainstorm ideas and words to complete the pattern, their effort will add the "muscle" to the skeleton. The following example of the skeleton and muscle was used during this writing workshop in my classroom:
Little _____________ (title)
Little ________ __________
_______ (verb) _______________ (where)
_______________ (ing verb)___________.
Along came a __________(person, animal, etc)
That/who ________ (past tense verb) beside _____.
And ______ (verb) _____________ away.
Little Maria Lupita sat on a bench,
Eating her frijoles with rice.
Along came a coyote who howled and he stared
And the frijoles and rice flew into the air!
Suggestion:
If you are going to use the patterned writing as a writer's workshop, here is a time saving suggestion. Laminate a large piece of butcher paper. You can write the poem on the butcher paper using overhead markers, make word cards that can be stuck to the paper with tape or velcro as the students add information to the pattern, and have shared writing activities. For writing activities and lessons that have a pattern you use (language poems or sentence builders) frequently, laminate the butcher paper and add velcro. Leave the word cards and the chart with the finished pattern at a center. Students can read and change words to create new patterns.
SCIENCE INTEGRATION - Spiders
Information about spiders may be located in the Bats and Spiders unit. Activities, lesson plans, resources, and more.
* Spider Books - link to Spinning Tales... spider resource and literature book section.