Fall Language Festival: The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

As we brace for Hurricane Sandy, we are pulling out the flashlights, extra blankets, and books for when we lose power.  I can’t promise that I will have any posts up for the rest of the week, but I did want to get up the last fall language lesson of the season.  Before I do, I want to thank all of you for supporting the Fall Language Festival throughout the month.  It has been a lot of fun watching my readership grow and spreading the word of children’s literacy and language.  A very special thanks to my sponsors, Natural Earth Paint, Pages Corner, and Judy’s Colors. Now on to the book review and language lesson!

One of our favorite books this fall has been The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything. The story is about a little old lady who goes out for a walk on a windy fall day to collect her herbs and nuts. As evening nears, she encounters bizarre objects that have come to life, including shoes that clomp, a tall black hat and a big pumpkin head. With each new object she encounters, she proclaims that she isn’t afraid of anything and hurries along her way.

When she meets up with the big scary pumpkin head she is frightened and runs all the way home, without looking back. When she is finally back in her cottage there is a knock on her door and it’s all of the objects. She tells the pumpkin head that she is not afraid of it, and the head sadly asks what is to become of the objects. She whispers a secret to the pumpkin head and says good-night.

The next morning, she went to her window, looked out into her garden, where she saw all of the objects assembled into a scarecrow, happily scaring the crows away.

Language Learning with There Was An Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

Combining Words Stage (around ages 2-4) Around age two (sometimes later), a language explosion will occur and your child will learn new words daily. By age three, your child will use simple sentences. By age four your child can ask and answer a wide variety of questions.

Vocabulary Concepts in The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

Nouns: path, herbs, spices, cottage

Adjectives: afraid, brave, dark, sliver, big, tall, fast, huge, scary, safe, quiet, unhappy,

Verbs: Each of the objects has a different verb associated with it and the text is repetitive, so children have plenty of exposure to each of the action words. The verbs are clomp, wiggle, shake, clap, and nod.

Interactive Reading with The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

*Bring this story to life by using props while you and your child share the story. Before you read the book show your child the pictures of all the objects you need to collect. Then help your child collect the objects around the house. Use large and small clothes to compare and contrast.

Once all objects are collected read the story with your child, having them carry out the actions in the book with the props. I mean how could you resist this fun?

* As children begin to put sentences together, they love to predict the lines in a book. The repetitive text in this book makes for a fun shared reading experience. Encourage your child to fill in the text by pausing every now and then at various repetitive lines.

* Talk to your child about things that scare them and things that make them happy.

* Teach your child about scarecrows, by creating your own with leaves or if the weather is awful build one inside using newspaper.

If your short on time kids have just as much fun building their scarecrow on the floor.

If you enjoyed this post, please share the love on twitter, pinterest or Facebook. Also, check out the previous Fall Language posts, featuring more books and great craft projects. Tomorrow I may or may not have a great scarecrow activity for you (pending the storm).

Linking up to Made By You Monday, Sharing Something Saturday, The Cure for the Common Monday, Make the Scene Monday, Tuesday Tots, The Mommy Club Wednesdays,Seasonal Celebration Sunday, The Children’s Book Shelf, and Sunday Showcase

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• Fall Nature Walk Language Lesson
• Fall Language Festival: Ten Apples Up On Top
• 5 Little Pumpkins featuring Halloween American Sign Language

 

Tagged as: children's books, fall, Language, language development, literacy, scarecrows