Mary Had a Little Lamb

About this resource

A whole week of Mary Had a Little Lamb, built for little hands: a cut-and-glue lamb craft (a girl, her lamb and a little red schoolhouse, cut into a 9-piece puzzle), the traditional rhyme printed line by line, rhyme words to trace, a story to put in order, a rhymes-with-lamb sort, a beginning sound L page, scrambled sentences and write-your-own-ending pages on three levels, in one print-and-go PDF for PreK to 2nd grade. Nothing to prep but scissors and glue.

The craft is one picture cut into 9 equal squares in three columns and three rows, so every cut is a straight line and there are only a few cuts. Children color the black-and-white pieces (or use the ready-colored set when coloring is not the goal that day), cut them out and glue each piece on its faint twin. Every glue box is exactly the size of its piece, and the nine pieces make the whole picture. A step page shows every step with one short sentence, and a small finished model sits on the page so a child can check their work.

Then the pack goes to work. The rhyme is on its own page, 8 lines, with the rhyming words (snow and go, rule and school) in color, and a page of 4 rhyme words (lamb, ham, ram, yam), each with a picture, to trace and write. Children draw one line of the rhyme in each of 4 boxes. On the story page they cut 5 cards and glue the 4 story cards in order (Mary has a lamb, the lamb goes with Mary, they go to school, the children laugh); one card is not in the rhyme and stays unglued. On the sort they cut 6 picture cards and glue each under "Rhymes with lamb" or "Does not rhyme". On the sound page they circle the pictures that start like lamb, 6 of 12, each with a plain /l/ sound. On the sentence page they cut two sentences into 5 word pieces each and glue them in order. Three write-your-own-ending pages: trace and draw, fill in the sentences with 4 pictured animals to choose from, or write a new rhyme. Every student page has one short instruction with a picture and a "My name" line.

What'S Inside

• Start Here: how the craft works, about the rhyme, the three levels and a five-day plan
• The rhyme: 8 lines, the rhyming words in color, with a picture of the finished craft
• Rhyme words to trace: lamb, ham, ram, yam, each with a picture and handwriting lines
• The lamb craft: a picture step page, 9 pieces to color and cut, the same 9 pieces ready-colored, and a glue page with the 9 twins
• Draw the rhyme: 4 boxes, one line of the rhyme beside each
• Story order: 5 cards to cut, 4 glue boxes, and a box to draw your best part
• Rhymes with lamb sort: 6 picture cards and 6 glue boxes
• Beginning sound L: 12 pictures to circle, with letter and word tracing
• Scrambled sentences: 2 sentences, 5 word pieces each, with glue boxes
• Write your own ending, on three levels (trace and draw, fill in, write a new rhyme)
• A "Who Did What This Week" class data page, with the answers for every page and sample lines for every writing level
• A family letter to send home
• A credits page (font and art license)

19 pages in all, 14 of them for students.

Cutting Built For Small Hands

Every cutting page has big squares or cards lined up edge to edge: 2.1 inches for the picture pieces, 1.45 by 2.3 inches for the story cards, 1.85 inches for the sort cards and 1.45 by 1.66 inches for the word pieces. 39 pieces to cut in all (9 black-and-white pieces, 9 ready-colored pieces, 5 story cards, 6 sort cards and 10 word pieces). You will need crayons, scissors and glue sticks. Card stock suits the craft pages.

Three Skill Levels

The three writing pages are trace and draw, fill in with pictured animals, and write a new rhyme. Easier: trace and draw, or a partner who holds the glue stick. Harder: writing a new rhyme and reading it aloud.

Who This Is For

Preschool, PreK, kindergarten and 1st to 2nd grade classrooms, self-contained special education classrooms, and paraprofessionals who want a nursery rhyme week with a craft, rhyming, sequencing, beginning sounds, sentences and writing attached, ready to print.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A printable PDF (print and cut). The lamb picture is a paper puzzle to color, cut and glue. It is not Google Slides, Docs or PowerPoint, and it has no fillable fields. The rhyme is the traditional nursery rhyme, printed in full so you do not need a book; everything else in the pack is original. It has no faces drawn by us: every character is licensed clip art. It is not a reading program and gives no guidance for any child, and it makes no claim about any student's age or rate of progress.