A nursery school in the US has turned its emergency lockdown drill into a rhyme so youngsters know what to do if there is a shooting.

The instructions, written to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, was taped to a board in a Massachusetts kindergarten class.

An image of the poem telling children what to do in the event of a shooting was posted by a troubled parent who spotted it as she toured her child's prospective nursery in Somerville, a city northwest of Boston.

:: US school shootings: a deadly history

Georgy Cohen, from Massachusetts, said in her tweet: "This should not be hanging in my soon-to-be-kindergartner's classroom."

Thousands of people liked and commented on Ms Cohen's post, with many expressing concern and sadness at the song having to be displayed at the school.

Responding, Ms Cohen said: "The school is doing exactly what they need to be doing, and I am glad for it.

"My issue is with the political & cultural factors that brought us to this sad state. Please talk to your legislators about the need for gun reform."

The superintendent of Somerville Public Schools said lockdown drills were a sad necessity, adding that "unfortunately this is the world we live in".

Im only going to add one more comment to this: the school is doing exactly what they need to be doing, and I am glad for it. My issue is with the political & cultural factors that brought us to this sad state. Please talk to your legislators about the need for gun reform.

— Georgy Cohen (@radiofreegeorgy) June 7, 2018

The song reads:

Lockdown, Lockdown

Lock the door

Shut the lights off

Say no more

Go behind the desk and hide

Wait until it's safe inside

Lockdown, Lockdown

It's all done

Now it's time to have some fun!

There have been a string of gun attacks at US schools, with two mass shootings already this year: one in Parkland, Florida and the other in Santa Fe, Texas.

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They have sparked a wave of protests and fuelled demands for tighter gun controls.

The 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School left 20 children dead.

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