LEARN NC

Nursery rhyme illustration: dish running away with spoon.

Mother Goose in use: Rhymes that teach

By Lisa Wright

5 Learning numbers with Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Learning outcomes

  • Students will recognize and use ordinal numbers
  • Students will develop phonemic awareness by rhyming words

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

40 minutes

Materials needed

  • Materials to make flower stems and petals for ordinal number activity (See “Pre-activities” below):
    • Card stock or construction paper
    • Black marker
    • Masking tape or stick-on magnets
  • Magnet board, if you’re adhering magnets to the flowers
  • Sprinkler can
  • Artificial flowers
  • Recording of “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” 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 “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” written on it
  • All About Seeds by Susan Kuchalla and Jane McBee or I’m a Seed by Jean Marzollo and Judith Moffatt

Pre-activities

  • Prepare the paper flower stems and petals for the ordinal number activity:
    • On card stock or construction paper, draw and cut out ten flower tops with petals.
    • On each flower top, write one ordinal word: first, second, third, through tenth.
    • Draw and cut out ten stems with leaves for the flowers.
    • On each stem, write a number from one to ten.
    • Stick magnets or masking tape on the back of the flowers and stems, and hang them up in the classroom prior to the lesson. Put the flower tops in one group and the stems in another, but keep the numbers of each in random order.
  • If you’re not using a flip chart, write the nursery rhyme on chart paper for students to see.
  • Set up the artificial flowers and the sprinkler can in the classroom.

Activities

  1. Anticipatory set: Explain to the students that contrary means stubborn; wanting your own way.
  2. Listen to the Mary Mary Quite Contrary song on the nursery rhyme CD or read the rhyme to the class.
  3. As you read the rhyme, let students take turns “watering” the artificial flowers.
  4. Have students come up to the board and match the flower tops (ordinal numbers) to the correct stems (cardinal numbers) using magnets or tape.
  5. Ask the students to name other words that rhyme with grow.
  6. Read the book All About Seeds or I’m a Seed.
  7. Conclude the activity by asking the students the following questions:
    • What else grows in gardens?
    • Do you think Mary had a lot of friends? Why or why not?
    • What do flowers need to grow other than water?

Assessment

  • Check to see if students match the ordinal numbers with the written numbers.
  • Check oral answers for closure questions.

Extension

This lesson can be extended by serving sunflower seeds as a snack. Discuss where the seeds come from.

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 1: Number and Operations - The learner will recognize, model, and write whole numbers through 30.
    • Objective 1.01: Develop number sense for whole numbers through 30.
      • Connect model, number word (orally), and number, using a variety of representations.
      • Count objects in a set.
      • Read and write numerals.
      • Compare and order sets and numbers.
      • Use ordinals (1st-10th).
      • Estimate quantities fewer than or equal to 10.
      • Recognize equivalence in sets and numbers 1-10.