There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly Interactive Activity

As I mentioned in my last post, summer is a time I love to create new activities for my students! This is actually a project I made a few summers ago, but I realized I never blogged about it, so here you go! (I apologize in advance for the terrible photo; it was taken a long time ago, and the actual activity is packed away in my classroom, so I can't retake it right now).

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly Interactive Reading Activity

Apparently I am all about literacy activities involving old syrup bottles these days, haha!
For this activity, I chose to use an old Mrs. Buttersworth brand bottle, since it's shaped like a woman. You could really use any type of canister or container that will fit tongue depressors. I've even included two labels for that purpose, one with the wording "Old Lady" and one with the wording "Old Woman" so that you can be consistent with whichever version of the story you have.

The prep on this is pretty simple, and once it's done, you'll have this activity for years! Just print out the animal labels and glue or Mod Podge them to tongue depressors. Honestly what took me the longest was getting the label off the syrup bottle! I finally found an awesome tip about using peanut butter--sure enough, it took off all of the sticky residue! Of course, I then washed it VERY well to make sure there was no trace of peanut butter left, what with peanut allergies being common in the classroom. I'm pretty sure it was the oil in the peanut butter that broke down the adhesive, so if you're concerned about it, you might try another type of oil first.

This book was my favorite version of this story when I was little.
I was SO EXCITED to find it at a used book store several years ago.
Of course, any version will work with this activity!

This activity can be used to keep students engaged during the actual reading, as they can come up to put their animal in the Old Lady canister as it occurs during the story. It can also be used as a retelling or sequencing small group, as the students can work on recalling the order after they hear the story. My students absolutely love both options, and get so excited when it is their turn for their animal!

I like that this activity not only works on sequencing and retelling, but it is also easy to incorporate some letter recognition and beginning sound phonological awareness. "We need the bird. What sound do you hear at the beginning of b-b-bird? What letter makes that sound? Do you have that letter on your stick?" Of course, there are pictures to help scaffold the learning, too.

Get this activity here, and I hope you continue to enjoy a productive yet restful summer!