LEARN NC

Nursery rhyme illustration: dish running away with spoon.

Mother Goose in use: Rhymes that teach

By Lisa Wright

6 Sorting with Old Mother Hubbard

Learning outcomes

  • Students will gain practice sorting objects according to their properties.
  • Students will practice reading by reciting a familiar nursery rhyme while following the text.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

40 minutes

Materials needed

  • Toy refrigerator
  • Toy cupboard
  • Perishable and non-perishable toy food — one item for each student
  • Recording of “Old Mother Hubbard” from nursery rhyme CD, such as 100 Songs for Kids or text version from nursery rhyme book
  • Nursery Rhyme Flip Chart or large chart paper with the nursery rhyme “Old Mother Hubbard” written on it
  • “Let’s Get a Pup,” Said Kate by Bob Graham

Pre-activities

  • If you’re not using a flip chart, write the nursery rhyme on chart paper for students to see.
  • Make sure toy cupboard and toy refrigerator are near the reading area.

Activities

  1. Anticipatory set: Discuss the meaning of the words fetch and bare.
  2. Listen to the song “Old Mother Hubbard” on the nursery rhyme CD or read the rhyme to the students.
  3. Have students recite the rhyme from the chart. As they say the appropriate part of the rhyme, have students bark at the cupboard. When the students bark shrug your shoulders and hold your hands out like there’s nothing you can do.
  4. Give each student a food toy. Call the students a few at a time and have each student put the food in the refrigerator or cupboard, depending on its appropriate place.
  5. Read the book “Let’s Get A Pup,” Said Kate.
  6. Conclude the lesson by asking the students the following questions:
    • Was there food in the cupboard for Mrs. Hubbard? How do you know?
    • What types of food go in the refrigerator? What types of food go in the cupboard?
    • What are some reasons the cupboard might be bare?

Assessment

Check to see if student places food in the correct place (cupboard or refrigerator).

Extension

  • You may extend the lesson by serving bread sticks as a snack. Discuss what would be the cheapest or easiest way for Mother Hubbard to fill her cupboard and refrigerator.
  • Make paper dog bones available in the math center for students to sort and count.

North Carolina curriculum alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Kindergarten

  • Goal 1: The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies to read and write.
    • Objective 1.02: Develop phonemic awareness and knowledge of alphabetic principle:
      • demonstrate understanding that spoken language is a sequence of identifiable speech sounds.
      • demonstrate understanding that the sequence of letters in the written word represents the sequence of sounds in the spoken word.
      • demonstrate understanding of the sounds of letters and understanding that words begin and end alike (onsets and rimes).

Mathematics (2004)

Kindergarten

  • Goal 5: Algebra - The learner will model simple patterns and sort objects.