Lesson Plan

Clifford and the Big Ice Cream Mess Lesson Plan

  • Grades: PreK–K, 1–2, 3–5

About this book

Grade Level Equivalent:
Lexile Measure: 340
Guided Reading Level:
Age: Age 3, Age 6, Age 8, Age 4, Age 7
Genre: Classics, Dictionaries, Series, Media Tie-In
Subject: Pets, Seasonal Themes, Seasons, Summer, Summer Themes

Subject Area: Language Arts

Book Summary
When Emily Elizabeth's friend Charley decides to offer a group of tourists ice cream from his father's closed ice cream shop, something goes terribly wrong with the machine. Surrounded by an ice cream mess, Charley and Emily Elizabeth learn an important lesson about asking for help.

Objective
Children will participate in book talks to gain and share meaning, retell the story, and make connections to real-life experience. They will also write a response to the story.

Before Reading
Show the children the book Clifford and the Big Ice Cream Mess. Ask them to look at the illustration and describe what is happening. Can they predict how the problem might be solved?

Teaching Plan
Ice Cream Mess Booktalk Activities

  • Ask the children to recall the sequence of events in the story and record their answers on a sheet of chart paper. Ask the students to describe the setting. Who are the main characters? Invite them to summarize the story. What is the story about?
  • Engage the class in a discussion about the meaning of the story. Ask questions to encourage sharing of ideas. What do you think the author wanted us to learn from this story? Do you think that Charley did something wrong when he gave the tourists ice cream? What would your students have done if they were in this situation? How do you think Charley's father felt when he came back and saw the ice cream mess? What was the lesson that Emily Elizabeth and Charley learned?
  • Ask the class if they have ever been in a similar situation where they should have asked for help, but did not. Have they ever done something that they know they are not supposed to do? What lessons did they learn from these situations?

Ice Cream Mess Writing Response
Materials

  • Lined paper or lined story paper
  • Pencil, markers, and crayons
  1. Provide the children with the suggested writing materials. Write the title and author's name on a chalkboard or chart paper. Ask the class to copy the information on the first lines of their paper. Ask them to write on the following topic:
  • What would you have done if you were with Charley and Emily Elizabeth?

2. Work with the students to edit their work. Then invite them to create drawings to illustrate their responses.
3. Invite the class to share their responses during group time.

Other Books About Things Going Wrong
Let's Find Out About Ice Cream
by Mary Ebeltoft Reid
Nonfiction, full-color photographs show the step-by-step process of how ice cream is made.

I Like Ice Cream
by Robin Pickering
Young children will enjoy learning about the process of making ice cream and the many ways of eating it.

Curious George Goes to an Ice Cream Store
by H. A. Rey
The ice cream store is the perfect setting for Curious George to create mischief and havoc and triumph in the end.

Other Clifford Books by Josephine Page
Tummy Trouble Big Leaf Pile

Teaching plan written by Risa Young

  • Subjects:
    Cooperation and Teamwork, Main Idea and Details, Literature, Plot, Character, Setting, Summarizing, Literature Appreciation, Listening Comprehension, Expository Writing, Literary Response, Writing Prompts, Friends and Friendship, Teacher Tips and Strategies
  • Skills:
    Main Idea and Details, Plot, Character and Setting, Summarizing, Listening Comprehension, Descriptive Writing, Expository Writing
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