THE OLD LADY AND THE PIG

SUMMARY

An old lady and her pig are walking home. They are almost home when they run into a fence. The pig refuses to jump the fence so the old lady asks a mouse to scare the pig so he will jump the fence and she can go home. But the mouse won’t help the old lady so she proceeds to ask a cat to scratch the mouse (to get the mouse to scare the pig, to get the pig to jump the fence, so the old lady can go home). The cat also refuses to help. The old lady then, in turn, asks a dog, a cow and a lion to help. The Old Lady and the Pig is a repeating story in which each new thread in the narrative is added to the previous threads. Young children enjoy these stories as much for the humor as for the intriguing mathematical structure of the narrative. Their anticipation and expectations of repetition usually keeps them very motivated and eager to participate.  

LANGUAGE FOCUS 

Conjunctions: so, and 
Vocabulary: house, old lady, pig, mouse, cat, dog, cow, lion (Instead of the animals used in the story teachers can use almost any set.)   
Action verbs: scratch, chase, lick, jump, eat, walk, see, look around (Again, you could choose others.)

Sentence Patterns: 
I don’t want to.
The old lady sees the (dog).
(Cat), (scratch) the (pig). 
(Cat), (scratch) the (mouse) so the (mouse) will (scare) the (pig) and (I can go home).
So the (cat) (scratches) the (mouse) and the (mouse) (scares) the (pig).

 (There are general questions that the narrator can ask while telling the story: questions about color, size, mood, number, and so on. Each teacher will have different questions to ask depending on the level and background of his or her students.)

CHARACTER FLASHCARDS

Download PDF file of Character Flashcards

Old Lady   
Pig
Mouse
Cat
Dog
Cow 
Lion
House
Fence

Print out the character and background pictures. Cut the pictures out, and attach magnet strips to the back (so they will stay on the board). Place the pictures on the board in the same arrangement as in the first picture below.

 Alternatively, you can print out and glue the pictures onto Popsicle sticks and perform the story on a little stage set up on a desk. When the children are familiar with the story you can get them to either role-play (using headband masks made from the pictures) or perform the play with the Popsicle stick characters. 

          THE SCRIPT          

Download PDF version of THE SCRIPT (with pictures and notes)
Download PDF version of THE SCRIPT (without pictures and notes)

1.    Introduce the main characters to the class. Hold up the old lady and say, “This is the old lady. Everyone say, ‘Hello, old lady.’ Then hold up the pig. Say, “This is the pig. Everyone say, ‘Hello, pig.’”

2.    Start to walk the old lady and the pig toward the house. Say, “The old lady and pig are walking home.” Point to the house. Say, “This is the old lady’s home.” You can ask the class a question or two about the house: “Is it a big house? Is it a pretty house?”

3.     Continue to move the old lady and pig towards the house. Say, “La, la, la. They are walking and walking and laughing, ha, ha, ha. They are happy.” Make the old lady and pig dance and skip a bit.

4.    Stop the old lady and pig in front of the fence. Make a screeching sound to make it more funny and have the pig tumble head over heels and knock against the fence.  

5.     Point to the fence and say, “Oh no. It’s a fence.” Bang the pig’s head against the fence. Then make the old lady say, “Silly pig, jump the fence. Jump the fence so we can go home.” Hold the pig and make him jump the fence. Then use your fingers to demonstrate walking to the house. Then return the characters to their position in line. (See the two pictures below.)

6.    The pig says, “Oh no, no, no. I don’t want to.” Hold the pig and shake your head. Tell the class. “Oh no. The pig says no.”

7.     Say and do, “The old lady looks around. She sees a mouse.” Point to the mouse. (Alternatively, you can ask a student to identify the mouse before you use it. “Where is the mouse?”) “Come here mouse.” Hold the mouse and say, “Okay.” Say and do, “So the mouse walks over to the old lady.”

8.    Pretend that the old lady is talking to the mouse. “The old lady says to the mouse, ‘Mouse, scare the pig. Scare the pig so the pig will jump over the fence and we can go home.’”

To demonstrate this line: hold the mouse near the pig and shout, “Boo!” Then make the pig jump the fence. Use your fingers to walk over to the house. Then place the characters back in line. (See the pictures below.)

9.     Say, “But the mouse says, ‘No, no, no. I don’t want to.’” Hold the mouse and shake your head. Tell the class. “Oh no. The mouse says no.”

10.   Say and do, “The old lady looks around. She sees a cat.” Point to the cat and say, “Come here cat.” (Alternatively, you can ask a student to identify the cat before you use it. “Where is the cat?”) Hold the cat and say, “Okay.” Make the cat walk over to the old lady.

11.   Pretend that the old lady is talking to the cat. “The old lady says to the cat, ‘Cat, scratch the mouse, so the mouse will scare the pig, and the pig will jump over the fence, and we can go home.’”

To demonstrate this line: hold the cat near the mouse and pretend to scratch it. Make a hissing cat noise. Then make the mouse jump and scare the pig by shouting, “Boo!” Then make the pig jump the fence. Use your fingers again to walk over to the house. Then place the characters back in line.

12.   Say, “But the cat says, ‘No, no, no. I don’t want to.’” Hold the cat and shake your head. Tell the class. “Oh no. The cat says no.”

13.   ***Repeat the above steps with a dog, a cow and a lion. For example, the old lady asks the dog to chase the cat, the cow to lick the dog and the lion to eat the cow. Only the lion agrees. The others all say, “Oh, no. no. I don’t want to,” and the old lady goes and looks for the next animal.

14.  When the old lady asks the lion to eat the cow he says, “Okay. I will eat the cow. So the lion eats the cow, and the cow licks the dog, and the dog chases the cat, and the cat scratches the mouse, and the mouse scares the pig, and the pig jumps the fence, and the old lady can go home.”

To demonstrate this line: hold the lion near the cow and pretend it is eating. Making chewing and gnawing sounds. Then pretend the cow is licking the dog. Pretend that the dog is really disgusted by this. Say, “Oh, yucky.” Get the dog then to chase the cat. Make this funny. Let the dog chase the cat all over the whiteboard. Then bring the cat near the mouse and pretend to scratch it. Make a hissing cat noise. Then make the mouse jump and scare the pig by shouting, “Boo!” Then make the pig jump the fence. This time get the old lady to jump the fence too. Make the old lady and pig walk together to the house. 

15.  Put the old lady and pig on or in the house and say, “Ah, home, sweet home. Let’s go to sleep pig.” Lay the old lady and pig on their sides and get the class to whisper, “Good night.”

      Note: for each repeated round of the story try to get the children to participate as much as they can. Use gestures to help lead your students. For example: “The Old Lady says to the cat. Cat scratch the mouse, so the mouse will… (say, “Boo!” and try to get your students to say the word scare) scare the pig and the pig will… (jump and try to get your students to say the word jump) jump the fence and I … (let the students finish the sentence).

Return to Board Stories