Blackbirds are popping from this pie! Find out the origins and meaning of your favorite childhood rhymes.

• 1.

  Read the traditional nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence." What do you think the message is of this rhyme? Research the history of nursery rhymes, perhaps to celebrate Mother Goose Day on May 1.

• 2.

  To begin your Blackbird Pie, use Crayola® Scissors to cut a large recycled paper grocery bag into 24 strips. The strips should be about two fingers wide, and double the length of your hand.

• 3.

  Use 12 strips each to weave two square mats which will become your pie crust. Glue the ends of the strips in place with a Crayola Glue Stick.

• 4.

  Cut a circular form for the pie pan by cutting two sheets of construction paper in half the long way, then folding those sections in half (also the long way) to create reinforcing strips. Glue the ends of three of these strips together. Overlap the front and back ends to make a ring the size of a pie pan. Glue it closed.

• 5.

  Place the ring on top of your first woven pie crust to make the bottom of the pie. Pull the corners of the crust up over the ring, and glue them inside the ring. Glue the sections between the corners to the sides of the ring.

• 6.

  Crumple up paper bag scraps and fill your pie with them. Cover the pie with your second woven crust, and glue the corners in place around the bottom crust.

• 7.

  Cover your art area with newspaper. To make your pie appear to be browned, edge the strips of the upper crust with brown and yellow Crayola Washable Markers. Blend the color with a damp Crayola Paint Brush.

• 8.

  Create several blackbirds for your pie by folding black construction paper in half. Cut bird shapes that are connected in the middle. Decorate your blackbirds with Crayola Glitter Glue and Crayola Gel Markers to show the reflective nature of the birds' dark wings.

• 9.

  Use Crayola® School Glue to attach blackbirds to the tops of bent portions of flexible straws. Put glue on the bottoms of the straws and push them into the pie filling. Dry.

Standards

• LA: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
• LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• LA: Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
• LA: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade level topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
• SS: Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.
• VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.
• VA: Select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

Adaptations

• In small groups, students use the Internet to research typical ingredients for a pie. After listening again to "Sing a Song of Sixpence," students write a list of ingredients for a pie, basing the ingredients upon the history of this nursery rhyme. Compare the two!
• Provide the class with a list of nursery rhymes. In small groups, students select one nursery rhyme to investigate and discuss the meaning behind the words. Most nursery rhyme lyrics can be found online. Students report on their findings in the form of a video that can be uploaded to a classroom computer for viewing.