LEARN NC

Nursery rhyme illustration: dish running away with spoon.

Mother Goose in use: Rhymes that teach

By Lisa Wright

7 Learning about animals with Three Blind Mice

Learning outcomes

  • Students will gain an understanding of the relative sizes of animals by comparing them to mice.
  • Students will develop phonemic awareness by using alphabet letters to name foods that begin with the letters.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

40 minutes

Materials needed

  • Recording of “Three Blind Mice” 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 “Three Blind Mice” written on it
  • Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh.

Pre-activities

If you’re not using a flip chart, write the nursery rhyme on chart paper for students to see.

Activities

  1. Anticipatory set: Ask students what they know about mice.
  2. Listen to the song “Three Blind Mice” from the nursery rhyme CD, or read the rhyme to the class.
  3. Recite the rhyme while students look at the posted words on the chart.
  4. Sing the following song, “Hungry Mouse,” to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot,” and have the students name foods that begin with various letters of the alphabet:

    I’m a little hungry mouse.
    Can’t you see?
    Foods that start with
    ______ are for me!
    Would you please pack me
    a great big lunch?
    What do you think
    I’d like to munch?

  5. Have the students compare mice to different animals by having them fill in the blanks: A mouse is smaller than a ____________, but bigger than a _____________. For each animal the students name, talk about other ways in which the animal is similar to and different from a mouse.
  6. Recite the following fingerplay, showing students how to make each move:

    Here’s a little mousie,
    peeking through a hole     [Poke index finger through fist of the other hand.]
    Peek to the left [wiggle finger to the left]
    Peek to the right [wiggle finger to the right]
    Pull your head back in [pull finger into fist]
    There’s a cat in sight!

  7. Read the book Mouse Count.
  8. Conclude the lesson by asking the following questions:
    • What other things come in threes?
    • If the mice are blind, what other senses might they use?
    • What do you think mice like to eat?
    • What other creatures have a long tail like a mouse?

Assessment

  • Check oral answers for food words beginning with a certain letter.
  • Check oral answers for comparing the mouse to other animals.

Extension

Play the mouse trap game: Players (the mice) form a ring. Two of the players are chosen to be a mousetrap. They face each other, take hold of both hands, and hold their arms high. The rest of the mice march around in the ring — either to march music or a familiar tune — while going under the mousetrap made by the two players. When the leader blows a whistle, all mice stop and the trap comes down and catches any mouse that happens to be under their arms. The mouse who is caught goes to the center of the ring and the game proceeds. When the next player is caught, these two make a new mousetrap at the opposite end of the circle from the original one. Game proceeds until all mice have become traps.

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).

Healthful Living Education (2006)

Kindergarten

  • Goal 6: The learner will demonstrate competency in a variety of movement forms and proficiency in a few to gain competence towards lifetime physical activities (NASPE Standard 1).
    • Objective 6.01: Demonstrate non-locomotor movements using different parts of the body.

Science (2005)

Kindergarten

  • Goal 1: The learner will make observations and build an understanding of similarities and differences in animals.
    • Objective 1.01: Observe and describe the similarities and differences among animals including:
      • Structure.
      • Growth.
      • Changes.
      • Movement.