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There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly | Simms Taback
92 posts | 55 read | 2 to read
In a traditional nonsense poem, an old woman swallows a fly, a spider, a bird, a cat, a dog, and a horse.
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leslovestoread

I‘ve always loved this line. “She swallowed the cat to catch the bird. She swallowed the bird to catch the spider. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.”

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leslovestoread
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leslovestoread
Pickpick

I love the “original” version of this book by Lucille Colandro. However, this is a fresh new twist on the classic story.

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baranskilydia13

I think this book is a fun way to introduce poems and the illustrations are very silly and exude a lot of color on the page and easily catch the eye of the reader and listener.

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baranskilydia13
Pickpick

I think this is a silly and goofy story that introduces children to poems in a fun and exciting way

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mlakota11

“There was an old lady who swallowed a fly, I don‘t know why she swallowed a fly. Perhaps she'll die.”
I like this quote because it sets the tone for the book‘s humor and cumulative storytelling. The line‘s catchy nature also makes it fun for children to recite along, enhancing the book's interactive experience.

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mlakota11

A standout moment in There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly is when the old lady, after swallowing a fly, continues to consume increasingly larger animals in a comical chain reaction. It exemplifies the book‘s charm and its ability to entertain through a simple yet endlessly entertaining sequence of events.

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mlakota11
Mehso-so

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly is a whimsical and engaging rendition of the classic cumulative tale. The book‘s vibrant, playful illustrations and rhythmic text create a captivating experience as the old lady‘s increasingly absurd choices lead to a series of amusing mishaps. It‘s a delightful read that encourages participation and laughter.

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Shelm1
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Shelm1

I absolutely love how the animals that she‘s going to eat are talking and making jokes on the bottom of the pages. It‘s very creative and I think kids will absolutely love this fun interactive element.

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Shelm1
Pickpick

The colors in this book are fantastic! They‘re so bright and captivating. I love how this story is a take on what‘s happening in the old lady‘s stomach. Having the little hole in the middle get bigger and bigger to show what she‘s eaten and to show how big she‘s getting is a very innovative idea.

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liz.eng

She swallowed the cow to catch the dog. She swallowed the dog to catch the cat. She swallowed the cat to catch the bird. She swallowed the bird to catch the spider. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she'll die.

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liz.eng

There are different animals watching the old lady swallow all these animals and insects and making different comments about why and how she is able to do this. There are different reasonings for why the lady swallowed the different animals and her reason for swallowing more afterwards.

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liz.eng
Mehso-so

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly by Simms Taback. This book is a Caldecott Honor Award Book. This lady started out by just swallowing a fly and then gradually started swallowing different insects and animals. After swallowing so many large animals she got so sick and and ended up dead.

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kayleenschultz12
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kayleenschultz12
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This book is filled with rhymes and colors that bring this crazy book to life. I like how it had cut outs of the stomach to give its a 3D kind of look when the old lady swallows something else.

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kayleenschultz12
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Pickpick

Another classic book that is full of color and bizarre scenarios that children enjoy

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erinhannahs

“That wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.“

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erinhannahs

A super fun, poetic story, about an old lady who swallowed a fly! Find out what happens!

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erinhannahs
Pickpick

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly was written by Simms Tadback. The book won a Caldecott Award in 1998. I really enjoyed this book! The book includes a fun story about an old lady who swallowed a fly and continues to swallow other animals to get the fly out! The story includes rhyming words which makes it a fun read! In addition, the illustrations are super bright and colorful!

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delaneylabelle23
There Was an Old Lady Who Swal | Cyndi Laupar, Weston Woods Studios

“I don‘t know why she swillers the fly. Perhaps she‘ll die”

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delaneylabelle23
There Was an Old Lady Who Swal | Cyndi Laupar, Weston Woods Studios

I liked how this book had rhyming words. I think that the students can listen to this as a read aloud and they can put their hands up when they hear a word that rhymes.

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delaneylabelle23
Pickpick

This is a classic when I was younger I loved this book. This book is good to read with younger students they always laugh when they listen to it in a read aloud.

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emileescengie

“Even the artist is crying”

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emileescengie
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The use of illustrations in this book were incredible. It was so creative for the illustrator to use pictures from other pages and just make a hole in the old lady!

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emmadomo

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don‘t know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she‘ll die.

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emmadomo

funny pictures that go along with what the old lady is eating. Very interactive

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emmadomo
Pickpick

This Caldecott awarded book sits on almost every early childhood elementary book shelf! It‘s funny and simply a classic. The genre is fiction: with focus on repetition and rhyming words. Intended for children to join the read based on the easy repeating.

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Oryx
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And this is the last page... bit dark...

Sapphire I was singing this to my granddaughter this weekend and my daughter and I laughed at how awful the lyrics are to old lullabies and baby songs. But babies love this one and my granddaughter falls asleep to rockabye baby. Also awful. 3y
50 likes1 comment
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Oryx
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Moving a bookcase around, so thought I'd share this gem of a book. It's so unusual.

TrishB It looks fab. 3y
Caroline2 Woooo that‘s an epic looking book!! 😯 (edited) 3y
marleed Oh cool. That‘s such a fun tale to experience with kids - over and over! 3y
47 likes3 comments
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tclivio
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There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly is a great book for Poetry! This book is about a crazy lady who swallows a bunch of animals! This book includes rhyming and repetition. It goes along great with EL 42( have students use timelines to arrange and sequence important facts and information) as well as UDL 3.2 (highlight patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships). This book is a great RA for your classroom. #ucflae3414sp21

tclivio https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/there-was-old-... Scholastic provides a great lesson plan. This website provides a worksheet where students are able to create their own version of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. The repetition and fluency within the reading of this book is also mentioned in the website! 4y
DrSpalding This would make an excellent read aloud and Scholastic is a high-quality resource. Well done. 4y
3 likes2 comments
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acassatta
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Pickpick

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly! 👵🏻 This TL, S, Caldecott Honor Book, is a classic story that has various retellings too. This version tells the story of an old lady who swallows a fly and continues on a path of swallowing various animals to get the fly out. The moral of the story is “never swallow a horse”. The UDL principle 1.3- offer alternatives for visual information is an exemplary match being a S book.

acassatta ESOL strategy #42- use timelines to arrange and sequence information could be a great activity to place each animal swallowed in chronological order. The following website shares 5 ways why storytelling in classrooms holds a valuable purpose... https://teach.com/great-educational-resources-the-power-of-storytelling/ #ucflae3414sp21 4y
AlexRobinson This is SUCH a great series! Literally a book for EVERY holiday or occasion from Valentine‘s Day to the first day of school! A very fun read for students and so many inspiring ideas to go along with it to teach them! I also LOVE your ESOL strategy you picked! Putting them on sentence strips to physically and visually show the sequence is a great option to expand on that strategy! 4y
PatriciaS I love this series of there was an old lady who swallowed a....so funny, I still remember the singing the song. Great book series for memorization and fun. 4y
Spearsall My connection to this book goes all the way back to kindergarten when my teacher would dress up as this lady all of the time and read the book to us! I remember it vaguely but your description flashed back some memories. Having this award it obviously is a must read and I need to include it in my class!! Thank you for the description and links 💫 4y
DrSpalding I like how you added simple images in your posts. What an awesome resource you found! I emailed this one to myself for further review and possible inclusion in my web course! Well done. This title would be perfect for storytelling… 4y
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Chaseb
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Pickpick

This TL Caldecott Honor book makes for a fun read aloud (RA), with cut outs in the pictures that make the illustrations come to life! In the story the old lady swallows a fly, then swallows more and more animals to to catch the fly, (spoiler) and ends with her dying from swallowing a horse. With redundant phrases, EL strategy 14 simplify and make speech redundant, is perfect for this book!

Chaseb This book would also be a fun and silly reader‘s theatre (RT) and have the students play the dog, cow, or cat that comment each time the lady swallows something! UDL strategy 8.3 foster collaboration and community is great for this book.
#ucflae3414sp21
https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/readers_theater
(edited) 4y
DrSpalding All 10 posts noted on time! You made excellent choices. This resource is excellent and you are noting the universal design principle well. Make sure you include English learner strategies and always expand on the website resource as it aligns to your selected teaching strategy/UDL/EL. You need to check the genre here...not MF. Hint... passed down by word of mouth. 4y
DrSpalding You fixed the genre correctly!📚 4y
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Hannacallaham
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Pickpick

What a classic! This book is so great for the classroom and is always a hit!! It is a Caldecott honor and fantasy/fiction! It is a fun picture book that keeps children‘s interest up with what she will swallow next!! I would incorporate storytelling for this book because I think the layout is perfect for that strategy and can make it so fun!

Hannacallaham For my ESOl strategies I would choose 14. Simplify your speech by making it slower and redundant as well as 15. Reinforce key ideas you present again and again. For UDL, I would use 2.5 illustrate through multiple media and 1.1 offer ways of customizing the display of information 5y
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MaddyJ
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Pickpick

This Caldecott Honor book is a TL classic about an old lady who continues to swallow things until... well I will let you find out for yourself! This is a book I remember reading as a young child and used to love! This is great to use for S because students will find it enjoyable to see fun images and is easy for the teacher to remember based on the tools they decide to use. #UCFLAE3414SP20

MaddyJ https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/there-was-old-... - Here is another great teacher resource from scholastic specific to this book! UDL principle 2.5 to illustrate through multiple media and EL 21 to record your lectures, presentations, or stories on audiotape, especially for new students who have very limited exposure to English. It is helpful to record your S for EL students to hear and see the story again! 5y
DrSpalding This is a great example of traditional literature. Scholastic provides such valuable resources that you can use to truly meet the needs of all students. 5y
3 likes2 comments
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maciforster
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Pickpick

This TL book is by Simms Taback. It is about an old lady who swallowed a fly and then continued to swallow other animals to catch the animal she has swallowed previously, such as how she swallowed the spider to catch the fly. It won the Caldecott. #ucflae3414f19

maciforster This book would be great for S because it‘s easy enough to remember and keep the students engaged. It goes with UDL principle 9.3 when thinking of why she did it and relate it to a student‘s own experience. It‘s also EL strategy #17 to help guide the students along the way 5y
maciforster This website is great for activities that you can do related to this book: https://www.funwithmama.com/old-lady-swallowed-a-fly-printables/ 5y
DrSpalding Excellent choice for quality children‘s literature and as you know traditional literature is just right for storytelling. Good choice. 5y
1 like3 comments
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sbombasi
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Pickpick

This TL picture book by Simms Tabak retells about an old lady who swallows a fly, amongst other things. This would be good for S, the lesson plan is great for creating a storytelling for this book for the students to perform. Works well with ELs too because a lot of parts would be repetitive and use of sequence. #ucflae3414f19
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/art-storytelli...

sbombasi The UDL principle 1.1 offer ways of customizing the display of information along with EL #17 provide contextual support through, audio, visuals, models, demonstrations, realia, body language and facial expressions aligns with this. 5y
DrSpalding Scholastic is a high-quality resource and you have a lined the appropriate universal design and English learner strategies that go along with your teaching strategy/resource. 5y
1 like2 comments
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dumma
Mehso-so

So so

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hmarkins

“There was an old lady that swallowed a spider that wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.“

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hmarkins

I would read this to children to lighten up the mood of the school day and let them kind of settle down and relax.

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hmarkins
Pickpick

I absolutely loved this book when I was younger and I forgot that it even existed. I think it's good for children because it's goofy and it rhymes which appeals to children.

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peytonfleming

Review: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback, 1998. Caldecott Honor Book. This book is a funny tale about an old lady who swallows a fly, amongst other things.
Blurb: This book is repetitive and would be great for a read aloud, making the children try to remember the order could be a good exercise.
Quote: “Moral: Never swallow a horse.“

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mack2799

“There was an old lady who swallowed a horse. She's dead, of course.“

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mack2799
Pickpick

Winner of the Caldecott Award. illustrations were intrigued and in a way, kept me involved throughout the story. It also gave a repetitive and rhyming structure that was interesting all the way throughout. The plot was good and kept you wanting to read to see where all this would end at.