Sequencing

• "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat" is an ideal book to use to teach or review sequencing. Make pictures of all of the items swallowed by the old lady. Then place them in order in a pocket chart as you read the book. Afterward, take the pictures, place them on a table and have the children help you put them in order again. Put the pocket chart, a few copies of the book and the pictures in your language arts center so the children can practice sequencing here, too.
  
  

Shared Writing

• Over a few days, work with your class to write a new version of the story. You might write one to go with another holiday, such as "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Reindeer." Another idea is write a version with a regional twist, using animals that are commonly found where you live. Write the story on large pieces of chart paper. When you have finished, let small groups of children illustrate the pages. Add a cover, staple the pages together and you will have a class-made big book that your students will love to read again and again
  
  

Mural

• Combine art and language arts with an interactive writing mural. First, brainstorm a list of all of the items eaten by the old lady. Then assign small groups of children to make pictures of each item and a group to make a picture of the old lady. Give them large pieces of chart paper, markers, crayons and construction paper to use for making the characters. Once all of the characters are cut out, arrange them on a large piece of bulletin board paper. Then make labels for everything on sentence strips using interactive writing. Add the labels to your mural.
  
  

Old Lady Puppet

• Make an old lady who swallows a bat puppet that the children can use to retell the story. Have the children color and cut out a picture of the old lady. Then glue the head to the bottom of a paper lunch sack and the body underneath it to make a paper bag puppet. Cut a hole under the head where the "mouth" of the puppet is and tape a plastic sandwich bag to the inside of the bag. Next, give the children pictures of the swallowed items to color and cut out. When you read the story again, the children can follow along, placing the eaten objects in the bag as the story progresses.