There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose! By Lucille Colandro and Valentine Mice! by Bethany Roberts are two Valentine books I like to use with my students. I created book pictures along with visual and written questions to go with each book. Click each book title below if you would like a copy of these resources to use with your students.
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose! is great to work on those sequencing skills. I use the smaller book pictures while we read the story and the larger pictures to re-sequence the story after we finish reading it.
I put a piece of hard Velcro on each page which corresponds with one of the small book pictures. I put soft Velcro on the back of the small book pictures so the students can attach the pictures into the book while we read the story. I also put a piece of hard Velcro on the cover of the book and have the students attach the old lady picture to the cover to answer the questions “who is the story about?”
After I read each item the old lady swallows I have the student match the corresponding picture into the book. For the first page “there was an old lady who swallowed a rose.” I have one of the students find the picture of the rose and attach it into the book. For some of my students, I may provide them with a visual field of 2 pictures to select from and add it to the book. “A rose or candy”. For my higher functioning students I like to ask follow up questions while reading such as “what color is the rose?” I constantly review the order of the items the old lady swallowed. So on the first page I hold up one finger and say “first rose”.
On the second page, “there was an old lady who swallowed some lace.” After one of the students places the lace on book I review “first rose, second lace.” Then I continue to read the book.
For my students who can, I have them repeat what the old lady swallowed on each page to help them remember and practice those sequential terms. “first rose, second lace, third glitter”
Hopefully by the end of the book the students can remember all 7 items the old lady swallowed and in the correct order. I have my students take the larger book pictures and place the items in the correct sequential order. For some of my students I provide them a choice of 2 items as they work on identify which item came next. I have the students take turns re-telling the story to the group while using the pictures for the visual support they need.
After you finish the book, you can have the students answer the visual or written questions. Depending on your students’ level you can leave the larger pictures out to help the students answer the questions or you can see if the students can do it without the added visual support.
Valentine Mice! is another great Valentine book I like to read with my students. This book is a little longer and there are a lot of pictures to attach to the book while reading it. On the cover, I have the student attach the Valentine’s Day picture to indicate what holiday the Valentine Mice are celebrating.
Use the picture and the questions to match up what pictures to attach where in the book. On the first set of pages it reads “Valentine Mice deliver valentines-red, pink. Skip! Hop!” I ask the students “who delivers the valentines? and have them attach the picture of the mice. I also “what do the mice deliver?” and have them attach the picture of valentines on the page.
I continue to read the book and have the students find the picture to match in the book. Again, you can reduce the visual field of choices depending on your students’ skill level. I like this book because it uses simple language and has clear pictures.
On the page, “one to the rabbit, two for the squirrels, three for the chipmunks. Zip! Nip!” I like to have the students count the animals. We touch each animal as we count.
The book is great to build up some new vocabulary terms. For example, we talked about footprints and how to make footprints and where to find footprints.
We talk about feelings during the book. The three mice are worried and scared when they can’t find little mouse. They feel happy when they find the little mouse.
You can have you students complete the visual or written questions after the book. Use the visual pictures to help your student answer the questions.
Hope you enjoy these resources!
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YES!!!!!! Was just hoping that you would make a resource to this Old Lady book…THANK YOU FOR DOING THEM!!!!!
Great activity..
On the questions for Valentine Mice, the squirrels and the chipmunks are mixed up. It has a picture of the chipmunks for who got 2 Valentines and a picture of the squirrels for who got 3 Valentines but in the book it is the opposite. Just wanted to let you know, I didn’t realize it until I was using it with a group of children.
Hi Denese! Thank you for bringing that to our attention! It has been corrected. Please redownload the resource!