Nursery rhyme comprehensions Many of the nursery rhymes we know today originated in the 18th century and have evolved over the last 300 years. Teachers have used them in many ways, including to sing, to help with reading and for acting out. Nursery rhymes can also provide a rich source of material for helping children to comprehend written texts. They are short and sweet, have intriguing ideas and mysterious meanings, making them ideal to use in the classroom. Children should listen to, share and discuss a range of them, which will help with developing vocabulary and a better understanding of how written language can be structured. We have just published four sets of activities using these nursery rhymes: Jack and Jill Incy Wincy Spider Hey Diddle Diddle Baa Baa Black Sheep The activities include putting in missing words, matching phrases and answering questions about the text. Don’t just use them as comprehension texts, but try some of the other activities suggested above. Go to Nursery Rhyme Comprehensions