IN A DARK, DARK TOWN

 

 

 

In a dark, dark town

There is a dark, dark road.

 

And in the dark, dark road

There is a dark, dark house.

 

And in the dark, dark house

There is a dark, dark door.

 

Go in the door.

 

There are some dark, dark stairs.

 

Go up and up and up

And up and up and up the dark, dark stairs.

 

Now...

 

There is a dark, dark room.

 

Go in the dark, dark room.

 

In the dark, dark room

There is a dark, dark cupboard.

 

Open the dark, dark cupboard.

 

What is there in it?

This highly adaptable story can be simply listened to and acted out, or can be learnt by heart, or can lead to highly imaginative additions.

 

Preparation

1 Learn the story by heart.

2 Make a cupboard. Use a large piece of paper, folded, with a cupboard door drawn on one side. Or better still, cut the buttoms out of two large, flat cardboard boxes and hinge them together. Draw panels of a cupboard door on one, including a handle.

 

In class

1 Show the illustrations to the story on the overhead projector or give each pair of children a copy. Ask the children how many words they can give you about the picture. Help them to include: town, road, house, door, stairs, room, cupboard. Teach the word dark by saying that each object is dark. If there is any doubt put your head in the cupboard in your room or cover your eyes.

2 Tell the story several times until the children can repeat it with you.

3 Let them mime it at their desks with books for buildings and a ruler for a road and an imaginary door to open. The children can move their fingers for walking up the stairs.

4 Ask the children to imagine with you different things which could be in the cupboard.

Examples: There is an old elephant in the cupboard.

There is a cow in the cupboard.

There is an angry teacher in the cupboard.

5 Ask every child to draw one of the ideas and then to stick them inside the cupboard you have made.