Woof! Woof!: The focus of this lesson is to promote the concept of being truthful and making good choices in the school setting through literature and cooperative learning experiences.
Teaching with Clifford’s Big Idea: Be Truthful
Every action, honest or not, has a consequence. When we communicate with children about honesty, choices, and consequences early in life, they learn the value of truthfulness.
Teach: The Truth is…
Objective: The following activity nurtures essential:
- social and emotional skills
- critical thinking and problem solving skills
- language and literacy skills
Read Clifford Goes to Hollywood by Norman Bridwell (Scholastic). Clifford’s adventure to find fame and fortune can help bring awareness to children that sometimes what we think might be fun, really isn’t so great when it’s without family and friends. Have children share how they value their material possessions. Ask who would like to have a new room full of toys, or be a famous movie star or action-hero? Help children weigh what’s really important in life like enjoying family and special friends…even if they are a challenge somedays! Discuss what Clifford didn’t like about being famous and having new things and what he did to help his situation. Ask children to share why it’s important to think about decisions we make before we act on them, and how being truthful with ourselves can help us make better choices at school and at home.
Practice: The Golden Rule Rules!
Objective: The following activity nurtures essential:
- social and emotional skills
- critical thinking and problem solving skills
- cooperative learning skills
Discuss ways in which everyone can care for each other in the classroom environment like taking turns, being courteous, sharing, and being responsible for materials and school property like books, playground equipment, and classroom items. Help children learn the expectations for positive classroom behavior by cooperatively creating, not a list of rules, but instead, “good choices” for everyone to follow. Add the list of choices to a door or bulletin board stating the Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated. It’s a simple rule that children can recite, remember, and practice. Take time daily to recite the Golden Rule and recognize children as they model “good choices” throughout the school year.
Extend: Expressing personal feelings is an important part of building a healthy self-image!
- Give children frequent opportunities to freely express feelings through art and journal writing.
- Role-play situations to help children make decisions how to resolve conflicts in the school setting. By giving children a plan to follow when challenges arise, they can make better choices for themselves.
Clifford’s Library: These books support Clifford’s Big Ideas and reinforce valuable early literacy skills:
- Clifford’s Riddles by Norman Bridwell (Scholastic)
- True Francine by Marc Brown (Little Brown & Company)
- Subjects:Discovery and Learning, Cooperation and Teamwork, Literacy, Cause and Effect, Summarizing, Listening Comprehension, Feelings and Emotions, Early Social Skills, Environmental Print, Equality, Fairness, Justice, Following Directions, Sharing and Taking Turns, Honesty, Kindness and Compassion, Responsibility, Loyalty, Manners and Conduct, Respect, Sharing, Tolerance and Acceptance, Friends and Friendship, Understanding Self and Others
- Skills:Development of Reading Comprehension, Cause and Effect, Making Inferences, Listening Comprehension
