The Little Old Lady Who was not Afraid of Anything
by Linda Williams,HarperCollins, 1986.
Activities ©1998 Nancy Polette

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ABOUT THE BOOK
Once upon a time there was a little old lady who was not afraid of anything until one windy autumn night, while walking in the woods, she hears CLOMP CLOMP.
"I'm not afraid of you," says the little old lady. But the noises keep growing. CLOMP CLOMP, WIGGLE WIGGLE, SHAKE SHAKE, CLAP CLAP....and the little old lady who was not afraid of anything has the scare of her life! But by using her head and coming up with a great idea, the little old lady finds that all turns out just right in the end.
INTRODUCING VOCABULARY
Find two words that go together and tell why..
lady glove herbs
basket silver shoes
moon chair cottage
afternoon shirt basket
scarecrow dark home
PRE READING SENTENCE STARTERS
Choose one sentence starter to complete. Add ___ more sentences on the topic.
1. Walking alone in a forest
2. Things some people fear are
3. People gather herbs because
4. Reasons to walk fast are
HIGHER ORDER QUESTIONS
1. Suppose the old lady met only the shoes on the path. How would the story change?
2. The little old lady kept saying she was not afraid. Was this true? Why or why not?
SEQUENCING
Cut apart the story strips and put them in order to tell the story.Add capital letters and punctuation marks where they belong.
1. she met a shirt two gloves and a hat
2. went for a walk in the forest.
3. she ran home and sat in her chair
4. the next morning she found a scarecrow
5. she met two big shoes and a pair of pants
6. one afternoon a little old lady
7. on her way home
8. she met a huge scary pumpkinhead
PLAY THE PHONICS GAME
Find two words that are alike and one that is different.Explain your choices.
EXAMPLE: Which word does not belong?
shining spices windy  
(Windy does not belong because it has a short i
lady woman forest pumpkin
cottage clomp wiggle collect
shake herbs clap nod
afraid boo scare spice
middle silver shining windy
SING THE STORY (Tune: Are You Sleeping?)
Little old lady (name)
Little old lady (name)
In the forest (where)
In her cottage (where)
Gathering and walking (what)
Running and whispering (what)
Read this book. Read this book.
(Use the pattern to write about the pumpkinhead.)
WRITING ACTIVITY
What could you do with a scarecrow?
You could________________________________
And you could____________________________
It would be fun to _________________________
And _____________________________________
This is what you could do with a scarecrow.
WRITING ACTIVITY
Look at the scarecrow
That grew from some clothes
Slowly, slowly from some clothes
In the garden it grew and grew
Look at the scarecrow
It's brand new.
(Use the same pattern to write about something else that changes.)
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Finding out about pumpkins.Find the answer to these questions.
1. Where are pumpkins found.
2. How big does a pumpkin grow?
3. How long does it take a pumpkin to grow from a seed?
4. What are pumpkins used for?
Use the answers in this story:
Some pumpkins have their own ________________ Where they take_____________________to grow. Sometimes they grow as big as__________________ And sometimes people____________________. But to this very day, some pumpkins have their own__________________
FIVE SENSES REPORT
Under each heading list at least three words to describe a forest
Sights Sounds Smells Colors Tastes
___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________
___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________
___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________

Use the words in a five senses report
The forest is (color)_______________________
It sounds like____________________________
It tastes like_____________________________
It smells like_____________________________
It looks like______________________________
It makes me feel like_______________________