Nursery Rhymes and Classic Tales...

This is one of my favorite units-not only is it essential for young children to have a strong background in nursery rhymes, but it's great fun!  In keeping with the year round goal of creating our school family, we read the traditional rhymes then add our own classroom touch by rewriting them to be more helpful and caring.  We use the positive nursery rhymes from I Love You Rituals by Dr. Becky Bailey as a contrast and example, then rewrite them our own way!  I'm always amazed at the creativity and uniqueness of each year's class in their interpretations and rewriting.  Since this is one of our first units, we read them, talk about their background and meaning, reread them, contrast the positive vs. the traditional, dramatize them both ways, then work together to create wall stories or murals of them.  Not only are we developing literacy but working as a community to create and express our learning, strengthening our school family.

Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men,
couldn't put Humpty together again.
(Traditional)

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All Mrs. Taylor's Kids-boys and girls,
put Humpty together again.
(Rewritten by Our School Family)

This is a wall story created by tearing white fingerpaint paper and gluing it on a large egg shape like a collage.

Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill,
to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
and Jill came tumbling after.




Mrs. Taylor's Class went up a hill,
to fetch a pail of ice cream.
They all fell down, but didn't frown,
and asked each other, "Are you okay?"
(Rewritten by Our School Family)

This is a wall story created by using tissue paper to make a collage for the hill, then adding self portraits of us falling down the hill.
 

There Was a Kindergarten Teacher Who Lived in a House
We rewrote this from There Was an Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe.  Our new version went, "There was a kindergarten teacher who lived in a shoe.  She had so many children, she knew just what to do.  She gave them chocolate chip cookies and cups full of juice.  She S.T.A.R.red with them a lot and hugged them real tight."  We illustrated by drawing a self portrait and putting it on top of a photograph with our name.  It was one of our first books so the kids loved to use it to learn and reach each other's names!

 
Little Miss Muffett and Friends
We adapted this by sticking our own names in instead of Miss Muffett's!  We illustrated by cutting out our faces and then adding a body sitting on a tuffet.  A spider ring on yarn can be used to visit on each page and say, "Have a helpful day!"

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eaters
This is created straight from Dr. Bailey's "I Love You Rituals" version of Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater.  It goes "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, had a friend he loved to greet.  Treated him with kind respect, and every morning hugged his neck."  We changed it to make it plural, taught it to our Big Buddies, then illustrated it with photographs of each Big/Little Buddy doing the rhyme together.  We added each buddy's name as well.