Formula Writing - "There Was a Sad Peasant Who Swallowed a Pheasant"

What is a fun, non-threatening way to get a child writing? Formula writing! Formula writing has been an enjoyable way to have my children write creatively within a structured framework. One very successful example of formula writing took place in our homeschool during our Middle Ages unit last school year.

First, I shared lots of examples of the formula writing that I wanted them to follow. For this assignment I read aloud to my children all of the books that I could find that followed the same pattern as the book "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." There were more than I would have imagined and they were quite amusing!

• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Pam Adams
• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! by Lucille Colandro and Jared D. Lee
• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Shell! by Lucille Colandro and Jared D. Lee
• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell! by Lucille Colandro
• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout by Teri Sloat and Reynold Ruffins
• There Was a Coyote Who Swallowed a Flea by Jennifer Ward

Since we were studying the Middle Ages at the time, the assignment was to write an original story using the "There Was an Old Lady" formula with a Middle Ages theme.

My daughter (6th grade at the time) wrote a delightful story, "There Was a Sad Peasant Who Swallowed a Pheasant." She published her final, edited and illustrated copy in a hard-covered book from Bare Books.

There was a sad peasant who swallowed a pheasant. I don't know why he swallowed a pheasant, it could make a nice present.

There was a sad peasant who swallowed a cat. Since he swallowed the cat I think he'll be fat!

He swallowed the cat to catch the pheasant, I don't know why he swallowed a pheasant, it could make a nice present.

There was a sad peasant who swallowed the king's dog! What a hog!

He swallowed the dog to catch the cat, he swallowed the cat to catch the pheasant, I don't know why he swallowed a pheasant, it could make a nice present.

There was a sad peasant who swallowed a cow! Now how did he swallow a cow?

He swallowed the cow to stop the dog, he swallowed the dog to catch the cat, he swallowed the cat to catch the pheasant, I don't know why he swallowed a pheasant, it could make a nice present.

There was a sad peasan who swallowed some ribbon. The town's peddler gave him the ribbon, such a nice gift to be given.

After receiving the ribbon, the sad peasant arrived to his daughter's wedding. But the sad peasant did not have a present to give to the bride.

So he thought for a moment.

Then he coughed, sneezed, turned this way and that, and out popped all the things he had stuffed down his hatch!

The cat darted off, the dog right after. And the cow ambled off, in quite a hurry. But the pheasant stayed with the sad peasant.

So he picked it up, tied the ribbon onto it, and gave it to the bride. "Oh, thank you Father! This is the best gift we have gotten! We will keep her forever."

After that the sad peasant wasn't so sad anymore, in fact all he had was smiles galore!

This formula writing project could easily be adapted for any unit study or current focus of study. I'm thinking..."There was a smart astronaut who swallowed a star" or "There was a tired pioneer who swallowed a steer" or well, I'm sure your children will have much better ideas than me!