Not Afraid of Anything

"I'm not afraid of you," said the little old lady bravely.  "You can't scare me!"
Sometimes during the month of October we need to put on a brave face.  There are lots of ghosts, goblins, witches, skeletons, and monsters that pop out at us.  It's called Halloween fun!

During October I like to read the book, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, by Linda Williams, to my students.  It reinforces the idea of being brave in a scary situation.  Plus the story is filled with refrains and lots of action.

The little old lady leaves her cottage to go for a walk.  It begins to get dark.  Only a sliver of the moon is shining through the night.

Suddenly she stops and sees two big shoes on the path, clomp, clomp.  She says, "Get out of my way, you two big shoes! I'm not afraid of you."  Bravely she continues on, but the shoes follow her.

Then she stumbles onto a pair of pants that go wiggle, wiggle, a shirt that goes shake, shake, gloves that go clap, clap.  But she is still not afraid.

Next, comes a tall black hat that goes nod, nod and a very scary pumpkin head that shouts boo, boo!

The little old lady runs home and locks her door. 

Then she hears a knock on the door.  Should she answer it?  Of course, she's not afraid of anything!

She opens the door and sees the shoes, pants, shirt, gloves, hat, and pumpkin head that have come to scare her.

Again, she tells them she is not afraid of anything. "What's to become of us?" asks the sad pumpkin head.

The little old lady has a brilliant idea.  The pumpkin head, hat, gloves, shirt, pants, and shoes join together to make a scarecrow that scares the crows away from the garden.

Extending the Reading Experience

Initial Reading:  Read the story to your students with lots of expression.

Second Reading:  Involve your students with body movements.

When you read: the shoes go clomp, clomp, at the same time stomp your feet, one, two.  (If I am sitting in a chair I will pat my thighs, one, two.)  Encourage your students to follow along in the same way.

The pants go wiggle, wiggle.  At the same time wiggle your whole body.

The shirt goes shake, shake.  At the same time shake out both your arms. 

The gloves go clap, clap.  Clap your hands two times.

The hat goes nod, nod.  Nod your head two times.

The head went boo, boo!  Say it loudly and make a scary face.

YOUR STUDENTS WILL LOVE TAKING PART IN THIS STORY.

After you have had fun with this story please click on over to my FREE scarecrow art product and have your students make a scarecrow art picture.

Happy Harvest!

Kathy

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