There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly
Author: Retold by Simms Taback
Illustrator: Simms Taback
Publisher: Viking
Date: 1997
Awards: ALA Notable Book, Caldecott Honor Book (1998)
Ages: 4-8
Topics: picture book, predictable book, American folksong
Summary: Enjoy this popular American folk song of the old lady with an interesting appetite that includes a fly, a spider, a bird, a cat, a dog, and more.
Topic Connections
Cumulative Songs
- Chad Gadya from Wikipedia
- Cumulative song from Wikipedia
Felt Board Materials
- The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly from Enchanted Learning
- Felt Board Story: I know an Old Lady
Folk Music
- Folk Music from Wikipedia
Story Retellings
- There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly from Wikipedia
- There Was a Frog Which Swallowed A...
Includes words and music
Learning Connections
- Culmuative Songs. Lots of songs such as "The Twelve Days of Christmas" build from verse to verse. Explore other cumulative songs. Which is your favorite.
- Flannel Board Fun. Create a flannel board or puppet retelling of the story.
- Full Face. Take a digital photo of your mouth open. Find photos of interesting objects to add to your mouth. Create your own silly book.
- Healthy Old Lady. Rewrite the story, so the old lady is eating healthy food.
- Sing a Song. Let's sing American folk songs!
- There Was... Change the person and objects in the story. Create an alternative story. Use Rhyming words in your story.
- Which Lady? Compare different versions of the story. Compare both the words and the illustrations. Which do you like best and why? Combine your favorite elements of each.
Teaching Connections
- There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
- Try a lesson
- There Was an Old Woman
- There was an Old Lady That Swallowed a Fly
- Let’s Read with Expression
- There was an Old Lady
- There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (PDF)
- Try a WebQuest
Learn More
Do a Thinkfinity search for lessons related to this book.