Milly-Molly-Mandy

Milly-Molly-Mandy
~
Lesson plans based on the books by

Joyce Lankester Brisley

(Copyright © Ruth Marshall, 2006)

Before We Set Out

We have used these lesson plans on several occasions, with different ones of our children. Each time, our lessons have followed a different course. Sometimes we have taken a more formal path; at other times we have meandered along, choosing to stop occasionally and enjoy the view.

Some of the following activities we have done each time we have read the Milly-Molly-Mandy stories; others we have only done once. Some activities are based on specific stories; others can be used with various chapters (or with any chapter) in the Milly-Molly-Mandy books. We try to keep activities fairly short and painless, and aim to enjoy ourselves without getting bogged down – and without destroying the child's enjoyment in the book. The language work for one chapter may occasionally take us several days to finish, but we continue reading further in the book while completing it.

The Milly-Molly-Mandy stories may seem, at first glance, as though they are written for girls, but I have only ever used these lesson plans with boys – and they have always been extremely popular in our family.

Titles we have read and enjoyed include:

	Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories
	More of Milly-Molly-Mandy
	Further Doings of Milly-Molly-Mandy
	Milly-Molly-Mandy Again [These first four titles are also available in one book: The Adventures of Milly-Molly-Mandy]
	Milly-Molly-Mandy and Billy Blunt

Finding Our Way

One of the first activities we always do is to make a map. We usually do this soon after reading the first chapter.

Photocopy the map from the front of the Milly-Molly-Mandy book (enlarging it to A4 size), and make a separate copy of one of the pictures of Milly-Molly-Mandy. The child colours both the map and the picture, then we mount them both on cardboard, and attach Milly-Molly-Mandy to the map with coloured wool.

The child can use his map to:

	Re-tell some of the stories, following the route Milly-Molly-Mandy took on the map.
	Show where particular events take place, or where Milly-Molly-Mandy's friends lived.
	Practice giving and following directions.

Activities

"Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Errands" (Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories)

Copy work: Have the child copy (or trace – if he is younger) the name of the story and its author.

Dictionary work: Look up the word “errand” in the dictionary. Check first to see that the dictionary you use has the word in it (some children’s dictionaries don’t!) An older child may write down the dictionary definition from dictation

Making lists:

	Write a list of all the people who lived in the nice white cottage with the thatched roof. Then copy the list in alphabetical order. Work together on this one. Does the child understand what is involved with this? Younger children may need to do this activity over two days. In our house, the boys copied (or traced) the lists side-by-side into their books, and the youngest one drew lines to match the names on his lists.
	Write a second list of the different things Milly-Molly-Mandy had to remember. Can the child put this list into alphabetical order? Again, work on it together, if necessary, and have the child copy (or trace) the list into his book.
	Have the child look again at the two lists: one of the people who lived in the nice white cottage with the thatched roof, and the other of the things Milly-Molly-Mandy had to remember. With what kind of letter does each of the words in the first list begin? What about the other list? Talk about why all of the words in one list start with capital letters, but none of those on the other list do. (People's names begin with capital letters). You may mention briefly that people’s names, and names of things have a name of their own: they are called nouns. Do not expect that the child will necessarily remember this: we are simply starting to lay the foundations for future understanding.

Composition: The child writes a description of himself, using the first three paragraphs of “Milly-Molly-Mandy goes Errands” as a model. He may dictate it for you to write out, and then he may illustrate it. (It is a good idea to make a collection of your child’s stories and narrations, and at the end of the year make a book with copies of the pages, to share with grandparents). [See below for an actual example, written by a 7-year-old.]

Game: “Milly-Molly-Mandy's Messages”. In this story, Milly-Molly-Mandy had a lot of things to remember. Can you do as well as she did?

For this game you need at least two players (three or four are better).

Each player begins by saying, “Milly-Molly-Mandy went to the shops and she bought…”
For example, the first player might say, “Milly-Molly-Mandy went to the shops and she bought some plums.” The second player might follow with, “Milly-Molly-Mandy went to the shops and she bought some plums and some sweets.” Then the next player might say, “Milly-Molly-Mandy went to the shops and she bought some plums, some sweets, and a cottage with a thatched roof…”

This is the kind of game children enjoy so much that they want to keep playing it at the dinner table!

"Milly-Molly-Mandy Spends a Penny" (Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories)

Talk about Money in English & older Australian stories.

If you can find pictures of any of the coins, look at them together and discuss how different they look to the dollars and cents we use today.

Explain the symbols £.s.d and what they mean (pounds, shillings, and pence).

Explain that there were twelve pennies in a shilling, and twenty shillings in a pound.

Talk about some of the things that Milly-Molly-Mandy could buy with a penny (a lot more than we could buy with 1 cent or even 5 cents today!)

Some children may be interested in doing simple sums involving pounds, shillings, and pence.

Amounts of money mentioned in the Milly-Molly-Mandy stories include:

	A farthing (one quarter of a penny)
	A halfpenny (or “ha’penny” – pronounced hay-penny)
	A penny
	Twopence (pronounced tuppence)
	Threepence (pronounced thruppence)
	Sixpence
	A shilling
	Half a crown (or two shillings and sixpence)

“Milly-Molly-Mandy Meets her Great-Aunt” (Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories)

Letter-writing. In this story, Milly-Molly-Mandy’s mother received a letter. It started off, “Dear Polly,” and ended “Your affectionate Aunt Margaret”.

	First of all talk about the things we usually see in a letter: the address, the date, the greeting, the body of the letter (what we want to say), and the signature. We don’t usually sign letters with “Your affectionate…” but we might end “Love…”
	To whom would your child like to write? If he has no ideas, suggest somebody who might like to hear from him. Have the child dictate a simple letter (you may need to suggest ideas) and then copy it as neatly as he can on to nice paper. Then post the letter. If your child receives a reply, he will quite likely be motivated to write more letters.

Family Tree: Use pictures of Grandpa, Grandma, Great-Aunt Margaret, Uncle, Auntie, Father, Mother, and Milly-Molly-Mandy, to make up a simple family-tree chart. Use this to explain the relationships between each one.

“Milly-Molly-Mandy Gets to Know Teacher” (Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories)

Grammar: Talk briefly about describing words. … Like "nouns" (the names of people or things), describing words also have names – they called adjectives and adverbs. Again, do not expect that the child will necessarily remember this: we are simply providing pegs on which later skills (and understanding) will hang.

Game: “The Teacher’s Cat”.
This is a good family game which provides practice with the alphabet, parts of speech, and vocabulary. Don't label it as "educational" – just play for fun. Play co-operatively to begin with, helping each other find words. Later on, older children may be expected to choose all of their own words quickly (or be out of the game), while younger children may still be given help.
Follow this pattern, choosing your own words in place of the italicised ones:

Player 1: The Teacher’s cat is an amazing cat. His name is Alfred, he lives in Africa, and he likes angling.
Player 2: The Teacher’s cat is a brave cat. His name is Benjamin, he lives in Bendigo, and he likes baking.
Player 3: The Teacher’s cat is a cautious cat. His name is Claude, he lives in Camelot, and he likes carol-singing.

... and so on, through the alphabet

“Milly-Molly-Mandy's Mother Goes Away” (Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories)

Grammar: Doing words – what did Father do? Mother? Uncle? ... (Have the child express his answers in complete sentences, and write them down). Say that these “doing words” are called verbs, but do not major on this, or expect that he will necessarily remember the term: as with the nouns and adjectives (see above). Remember we are providing pegs for later understanding.

“Milly-Molly-Mandy Minds a Baby” (Further Doings of Milly-Molly-Mandy)

Research project: – What can you find out about hedgehogs? This can be as simple or elaborate a project as you like:

	The easiest version would be to look up hedgehogs in a book (or on the Internet) – look at pictures, read a bit about hedgehogs, have the child tell Daddy some of the things he learned...
	If you want to do more – Draw pictures, write about hedgehogs, make a lap book...

“Milly-Molly-Mandy Helps to Thatch a Roof” (Further Doings of Milly-Molly-Mandy)

Vocabulary: What is a thatched cottage? Look at pictures of thatched cottages. Do some research to find out how thatching is done.
This is another project that can be as simple as looking at books, or may be far more involved. (Follow the child's interests here – Remember: you may find the whole process of thatching incredibly fascinating; but your child may be satisfied with looking at a couple of pictures, and anything beyond that would be overkill).

General

	Oral narration: After reading one of the Milly-Molly-Mandy stories together, ask the child to re-tell it in his own words. Try not to prompt him, but if it helps, he may look at the pictures that go with the story to prompt his memory. Write down his narration, and keep it for his end-of-year book. Caution: you may find that your child begins every sentence with “and”, or “so”, or “then” (or various combinations of those words!) Do not worry about this: it is quite normal. If it is your child’s first attempt at narration, ignore it, but if he has been narrating for some time, gently point it out, and see if he would like to edit the narration he has given before you make a final copy. As children become more aware of this, they take special care not to over-use some of these words.
	Composition: Picture story Choose one of the big pictures from a chapter you have not yet read. Talk about it together. (Who is in the picture? What is happening? What do you think might happen next?) Then ask the child to tell a story beginning "Once upon a time". Write it down, and keep it for his end-of-year book.
	Composition: Milly-Molly-Mandy had a dog. What was its name? Can you tell me some of the things Milly-Molly-Mandy and Toby did together? Find a picture (not from the Milly-Molly-Mandy books) showing a boy and a dog. What do you think the boy's name is? What is his dog’s name? Can you tell me a story about the little boy and his dog? Perhaps you could start with a description, like the one you wrote of yourself, and then tell about something the little boy and his dog did one day. (This would work equally well with a picture of a girl and her dog!) Keep this story for the child’s end-of-year book.
	Chapter activities: Some chapters include instructions (or provide inspiration) for making paper dolls, making toffee, knitting, card-making, letter-writing, going on a picnic... If you have the time and the inclination, do some of these activities together.
	Discussion: Then and Now. How are things different today, to when Milly-Molly-Mandy lived in the nice white cottage with the thatched roof?
	Re-read some of your favourite stories.

From Our School Diary

This is the actual record of our very first journey through the book. At the time, Andrew was 7, James was 5 ½ and Keith was 3.

Day 1 – "Milly-Molly-Mandy goes Errands" – We read the story. Andrew looked up "errand" in the dictionary, and James tried to do the same, but his dictionary didn't have the word. The boys copied/traced the name of the story and its author. Andrew wrote the dictionary definition down from dictation. We played a game which we called "Milly-Molly-Mandy's Messages" – "Milly-Molly-Mandy went to the shops and she bought some plums" – "Milly-Molly-Mandy went to the shops and she bought some plums and a cottage with a thatched roof" – "Milly-Molly-Mandy went to the shops and she bought some plums, a cottage with a thatched roof, and some sweets" ...]

Day 2 – Reviewed "Milly-Molly-Mandy goes Errands" – The boys wrote lists of the people who lived in the nice white cottage with the thatched roof, and of the things Milly-Molly-Mandy had to remember. They put both lists into alphabetical order, and copied/traced the first list into their books (I did all of the writing for Keith, and he drew lines to match the names from the two lists); then they cut out and pasted a picture of Milly-Molly-Mandy's family into their books. We talked about why all of the words in one list started with capital letters, but none of those on the other list .(People's names begin with capital letters).

Day 3 – We read "Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes to the Pictures". The boys copied out the lists of things Milly-Molly-Mandy had to remember (from "Milly-Molly-Mandy goes Errands"): the first list in the order she remembered them, and the second in alphabetical order. Keith drew lines to match the similar words in both columns.

Day 4 – We read "Milly-Molly-Mandy goes for a Picnic". Then the boys were shown a picture and asked what it showed. The inevitable answer: "Milly-Molly-Mandy" – Keith qualified this by adding, "and she is running". Andrew and James each gave their own version of what she was doing, and they were asked to give the information in a sentence. The final results: "Milly-Molly-Mandy is doeing [sic] some quick jobs" (which provided opportunity for a brief spelling lesson) and "Milly-Molly-Mandy goes errands". All three boys pasted the picture into their books. Andrew wrote his sentence unaided, and James copied his on to the page. The boys remembered that sentences begin with a capital letter, and end with a full stop.

Day 5 – We read "Milly-Molly-Mandy Looks for a Name". The boys each made a Milly-Molly-Mandy card for their new cousin, colouring the picture, cutting and pasting, and writing a message inside the card.

Day 6 – We read "Milly-Molly-Mandy Gets Locked In". The boys narrated the story, orally. Andrew began every sentence with "and", "and so", or "and then". His re-telling was very good apart from that, and he is going to try not to use "and" so much next time!

Day 7 – We read "Milly-Molly-Mandy's Mother Goes Away", and talked about describing words. (What present did Mother give Milly-Molly-Mandy?) Then the boys added describing words to cottage, apron, kitchen, flowers, cake... Andrew voluntarily put his "cake" words in alphabetical order (the only difficulty he had was where my hand-writing was not clear enough for him).

Day 8 – Writing a description, using "Milly-Molly-Mandy goes Errands" as a model. This was Andrew's account:

Once upon a time there was a big boy.

He had a Mummy, a Daddy, three sisters, and four brothers.

They lived in a house made of brown bricks, and there were brown tiles on the roof. It was a happy house, because they lived in it.

The boy was called Andrew. He had long legs, long arms, and was about four feet, three and a half inches tall. He had brown hair which needed cutting. He wore grey trousers, a grey shirt, white socks, and sandshoes.

He liked playing with Lego, running, and making things with wood. One of the things was a Ute and a trailer.

Day 9 – We read "Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes to the Sea" – The boys narrated part of the story, and then practised "swimming" in the lounge-room.