There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey, a pumpkin, some snow…you name it, she has eaten it all. Students love to read these books, I believe, in part due to the playful rhymes and whimsical storytelling, but also for the silliness of an old woman eating so many things. For them, it’s shockingly unbelievable. Children are always entranced and amazed by her silly antics. As a teacher, I love to watch their faces as they listen or read in amazement about this old woman’s frolics and the funny ending object she creates when she spouts out her non-edible items.
Did you know you can use this same enthusiasm to encourage and motivate your students to write their own versions of these stories? Let’s delve into There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey: Writing Cumulative Tales with Canva.
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Types of Genre: Narrative, Humor, Fantasy, and Cumulative Tale
There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey is both fun and quirky. It is a narrative full of unexpected scenarios such as the swallowing of a balloon to bump a hat to the swallowing of a boat to anchor a balloon. Who knew someone could swallow so much? Giggle, giggle, giggle. These stories personify a perfect example of what the humor genre illustrates. Other genres this type of writing falls under are fantasy, holiday or seasonal, and a cumulative tale.
A cumulative tale is so much fun to read aloud and definitely holds the attention of the listener as well. These types of books depend on rhythm, rhyme, and especially repetition for their dynamic effect as it repeats action or dialogue throughout the story’s progression. Below are some great examples of cumulative tales.
- One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree, by Daniel Bernstrom
- A Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
- A Fly Went By, by Mike McClintock
- Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema
- Creep, Leap, Crunch: A Food Chain Story by Christopher Neal.
- By the Light of the Moon by Frann Preston-Gannon
- There Was a Tree by Rachel Isadora
- Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox
- The Napping House by Audrey Wood
- Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
Creation of Exaggerated Characters
The eccentric characters found in most cumulative tales play a vital role in driving the humor, rhythm, and repetitive nature of the story. Normally, these characters are silly and overzealous. For example, in The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the young caterpillar was so hungry he ate everything in sight, including a picnic meant for a family, just one week before he went into his cocoon.
The witch in Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson, is also a delightful character. Instead of a typical mean or spooky witch, she is friendly, warm-hearted, and a tad clumsy. One of the reasons I feel this story is so much fun is because this witch shows generosity, welcoming new friends onto her broom with kindness. Her willingness to help others leads to amusing situations, especially when the broom becomes overloaded!
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The repeated phrase, “Is there room on the broom for a…?” and the growing list of animals piling onboard create a playful rhythm for its readers and listeners. In addition, the witch’s unexpected friendship with a wide range of animals show the readers that she is indeed both a lovable and humorous character.
The wild antics of cumulative tale characters add humor to the stories and keep their readers’ attention. Due to these unique personalities, writers do enjoy bringing them to life through narrative writing. With this in mind, a lot of detail should be placed in creating these humorous characters in order to bring your students’ narrative writing to life.
Writing with the End in Mind
When planning a cumulative story, the writer must begin with the end of the story in mind first. What does the writer want to demonstrate, show, or create for the reader?
Creep, Leap, Crunch: A Food Chain Story, by
With the story, Creep, Leap, Crunch: A Food Chain Story, the author wanted to explain to the reader a food chain. Furthermore, he wanted to do it in a fun, creative, and repetitive way in which the reader could easily remember these scientific facts as well.
An easy way for the writer to accomplish writing with the end in mind is by using a graphic organizer to depict the different steps or list of important facts placed in order.
In Creep Leap Crunch: A Food Chain Story, the food chain depicted in the story follows this order:
- Sun – The source of energy for all life.
- Plants/Grass – The producers that create energy.
- Cricket – The primary consumer that eats the plants.
- Mouse – The secondary consumer that eats the cricket.
- Snake – The tertiary consumer that eats the mouse.
- Hawk – The quaternary consumer that preys on the snake.
- Fox – Another higher-level consumer that catches the hawk.
- Black Bear – The top-level consumer in this food chain.
Use Cumulative Repetition to Help Teach Facts
The story uses cumulative repetition to show how each animal in the food chain is connected, showing the flow of energy and the connection of the ecosystem. This method is truly a delightful way to write a story in an entertaining manner. It helps the reader to remember the different parts of the story, almost like the remembrance of the lyrics of a song.
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Use Facts to Create Fun and Imaginative Stories
The author used these facts to create this fun and imaginative story that can easily be remembered by the reader. Not only allowing the reader to remember the facts in a rhythmic and repetitive way, but by also creating a fun and engaging way to learn about science.
In There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey, the old lady swallows various items in an order that eventually leads to the creation of a Thanksgiving parade float. Here is the list of things she swallows and how they come together to form the float in the end:
- Turkey – The centerpiece of the float.
- Balloon – Represents a parade theme.
- Hat – Symbolizes parade attire.
- Boat – The base or structure of the float.
- Banjo – Provides musical decoration.
- Chains – Used to secure items on the float.
- Swan – Adds elegance and additional decoration to the float.
These items, once swallowed, combine together to create a grand Thanksgiving float, surprising readers and making for an unexpected and delightful ending to the story.
End Your Writing with a Twist
The key to writing an engaging cumulative tale is to prevent it from becoming too repetitive in which it becomes dull. Cumulative stories rely on a pattern that builds excitement and anticipation, but without a creative twist, they can feel overly anticipated as well. To keep readers engaged, the writer at some point must break the pattern in an unexpected, humorous way to add another level of excitement to the story.
The Mitten, by Jan Brett
For example, in the classic The Mitten by Jan Brett, a tiny mouse attempting to squeeze into the packed mitten triggers a humorous chain reaction, causing all the other animals to tumble out in a burst of frenzy.
Make your Cumulative Tale Fresh and Entertaining
What could you do to keep your cumulative tale fresh and entertaining? Here are some imaginative possibilities:
- Introduce an Unlikely Character: Add a character who is entirely unexpected and creates an element of surprise. For instance, if your story involves animals piling into a tree, a lumberjack could suddenly appear, ready to chop it down. This sudden interruption can lead to a humorous scramble as all the animals try to escape in time.
- Unexpected Reaction: Have one of the characters in the story react in a way that disrupts the pattern. For example, if a tale involves various animals entering a barn, the arrival of a skunk could make everyone else suddenly flee, reversing the sequence and creating a funny twist.
- A Change in Setting: Shift the setting unexpectedly to shake things up. Imagine a story where different objects are being placed on a picnic blanket, and suddenly, a gust of wind blows everything away. The characters must then chase after the flying items, breaking the sequence with lively chaos.
- An Unexpected Sound: Introduce a loud noise or event that causes a reaction among the characters. For example, in a story where a group of animals is slowly filling a small boat, the sudden crack of thunder could send everyone leaping overboard in panic, upending the expected pattern.
- A Sudden Reversal: Instead of building up to one large, dramatic climax, a reversal can happen where the smallest character has an exaggerated impact. Imagine a giant’s sneeze that sends all the carefully stacked characters flying, or a tiny ant that accidentally starts a chain reaction that collapses the entire pile.
Humorous Unexpected Ending
A humorous unexpected ending always leaves the reader and listeners in silly giggles and wanting more. One of my most favorite beloved surprise endings is when the hungry caterpillar emerges from the chunky cocoon as a beautiful butterfly. In the illustration that accompanies the story, it is so easy to tell that it is still the adorable little caterpillar, making the reader wonder how much this butterfly will spend its time slurping nectar.
Writing Cumulative Tales with Canva
A perfect way to have fun with the creation of these stories is to use Canva. When students can use Canva to help add pictures and facts to their graphic organizers, it makes notetaking so much more fun. Plus, when they get ready to actually create their story, it is easy to go back and grab the pictures they have already selected, speeding up the creation process.
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Copy and Paste Speeds Up the Writing Process
Also, since cumulative tales are full of repetitive phrases or sentences, it is easy for the students to copy and paste onto another page, thus speeding up the process. One might think of this as cheating when a student can copy and paste so much of the story. However, I have seen the benefit. What would once take several days to write a cumulative tale using pencil and paper, Canva drastically cuts the time so students are able to concentrate on other elements of the writing process.
Collaboration and Interaction is the Key
With this extra time, the class may enjoy actually viewing everyone’s story on an interactive board. Or they may spend this extra time creating another cumulative tale with a different subject. Thus, practicing the art of writing and sharing several cumulative tales.
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Step-by-step lessons show you exactly how to guide students in creating fun, publish-worthy tales with Canva!
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With my kindergartners and first graders, we worked together utilizing our interactive board and Canva to create a story about a little old lady who ate a farm. We wanted to include things found on a farm. Also, we wanted to use the little old lady’s quirkiness to teach others what one would find on a farm. The students loved choosing the unique items already illustrated in Canva’s vast graphics collection and placing it on their storyboard. They also loved dictating their sentences for me to type in.
Cumulative Tales Perfect for Upper Elementary Too
Furthermore, my upper elementary classes, in both fourth and fifth grades, enjoyed creating stories for me to share with the younger students. This method of sharing work between grade levels gives new meaning to the word collaboration. The stories they created ranged from food chains to how to create a robot through the writing of a fun and quirky cumulative tale.
Writing Prompts for Cumulative Tales
Below are more ideas one can try.
The Magical Potion: A cumulative tale in which a wizard adds ingredient after ingredient to a potion, each with its own peculiar effect, leading to a surprising result.
The Town That Grew Overnight: A story where each new character brings a unique addition to a developing town, such as a park, library, or shop, highlighting community growth.
Building the Perfect Treehouse: A humorous cumulative tale where a group of kids adds different features to their treehouse one by one—like slides, rope ladders, and snacks—until it becomes the ultimate hangout spot.
The Carnival of Wonders: A story where each new attraction is revealed one at a time, with each having its own magical twist that amazes visitors.
Speaking of carnivals, if you would like to learn more about carnival planning, check out our Create a Carnival Project-Based Learning Unit.
Conclusion
Cumulative tales, such as There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey, bring a unique blend of rhythm, repetition, and humor that captivate readers of all ages. These types of tales use rhythmic and repetitive language and quirky characters to create laughter and wonder, truly inspiring writers to engage in many storytelling adventures. Furthermore, by breaking the repetitive pattern with an unexpected twist, students learn to add humor and surprise, making their stories memorable.
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Whether your students are creating tales about animals piling onto a tree or imagining silly chain reactions, they will develop storytelling skills that go far beyond the classroom. Encouraging students to create their own cumulative tales, especially with tools like Canva, can transform the writing process into highly anticipated adventures. This method of writing allows students to visualize their ideas, integrate images, and structure their stories in a fun and engaging way, making writing a creative and enjoyable journey.
