Materials Needed:

• Copy of the 'Hey Diddle Diddle' nursery rhyme
• Book: 'The Dish Ran Away With the Spoon' by Susan Stevens Crummel & Janet Stevens
• Construction paper (various colors)
• Crayons, markers, or colored pencils
• Safety scissors
• Glue stick
• Craft sticks (optional, for puppets)
• Paper plates (1 per student)
• Plastic spoons (1 per student)
• Googly eyes (optional)
• Yarn or string (optional)
• Pictures representing characters/events (for sequencing)

Day 1: Rhyme Time Fun

Introduction (10 mins)

Start by singing or reciting the 'Hey Diddle Diddle' nursery rhyme together with enthusiasm. Ask: "What silly things happen in this rhyme?"

Activity 1: Rhyme Reading & Rhyme Finding (15 mins)

Read the printed rhyme together slowly. Point out the words as you read. Ask the student to listen for words that sound the same (rhyme). Help them identify pairs like 'diddle/fiddle' and 'moon/spoon'. Clap the rhythm as you read it again.

Activity 2: Meet the Characters (15 mins)

Talk about each character/object: the cat, the fiddle, the cow, the moon, the dog, the dish, the spoon. Use simple drawings or cutout pictures. Ask questions like, "What is the cat doing?" "What did the cow jump over?" "Who laughed?"

Activity 3: Act It Out! (10 mins)

Assign roles (or play all roles!) and act out the rhyme. Pretend to play a fiddle, jump like a cow, laugh like a dog, and run like the dish and spoon. Repeat several times for fun.

Activity 4: Rhyme Scene Drawing (20 mins)

Provide construction paper and drawing tools. Encourage the student to draw their favorite part of the nursery rhyme or the whole scene. Talk about their drawing as they create it. Optional: Cut out characters and glue them onto craft sticks to make simple puppets.

Closure (5 mins)

End Day 1 by singing/reciting the rhyme one last time, perhaps using the puppets if made.

Day 2: The Dish and Spoon Adventure!

Review (5 mins)

Start by reciting 'Hey Diddle Diddle' together. Ask the student to recall the characters and what they did.

Activity 1: Story Time - The Dish Ran Away With the Spoon (20 mins)

Read the book 'The Dish Ran Away With the Spoon'. Pause to look at the illustrations and discuss what is happening. Ask questions like: "Why did the Dish and Spoon run away?" "Who did they meet?" "How did the story end?" Compare the book's story to the original rhyme.

Activity 2: Rhyme Sequencing (15 mins)

Use simple pictures representing the key events/characters of the original rhyme (cat playing fiddle, cow jumping, dog laughing, dish and spoon running). Mix them up and ask the student to put them in the correct order as they happen in the rhyme. Recite the rhyme to check the order.

Activity 3: Dish and Spoon Craft (20 mins)

Give the student a paper plate (the dish) and a plastic spoon. Let them decorate both using markers, crayons, construction paper shapes, googly eyes, yarn, etc. They can create faces or patterns. Encourage them to make their dish and spoon characters unique.

Activity 4: Moon Jump Game (Optional - 10 mins)

Cut out a simple moon shape from paper and place it on the floor. Play music and have the student pretend to be the cow, jumping over the moon each time the music stops (or whenever they like!).

Closure (10 mins)

Have the student show off their decorated Dish and Spoon characters. Ask them to use their characters and pictures (from sequencing) to retell the 'Hey Diddle Diddle' rhyme or a part of the 'Dish Ran Away With the Spoon' story in their own words.