Lesson Plan

Clown Accordion Book

By  Marci Ruiz

Overview

Students follow directions to make the accordion book. For example, students write the text and read the book.

Objective

Students Will:

  1. Make a clown accordion book.
  2. Review the terms half, 1/2, middle, and center.
  3. Be able to spell the word clown.
  4. Be able to use each letter in the word clown to describe a clown.

Materials

  1. 2" die cut letters: red Cs, purple Ls, dark blue Os, green Ws, and orange Ns.
  2. Crayons
  3. Glue
  4. One 1" diameter foam circle or construction paper or a pom-pom (for nose)
  5. One 5" round white doily (for clown collar)
  6. One 2" X 5" sheet of red construction paper (for mouth)
  7. Optional: small feathers used to track text (use another sheet of red construction paper for a pocket to hold the feather)
  8. Scissors
  9. Six pieces of 2" lengths of yarn
  10. Two pieces of light blue 6" X 18" construction paper
  11. White glue and a glue dish (one per three students)
  12. Tape

Set Up and Prepare

  1. For each student, fold the two pieces of light blue 6" X 18" construction paper into thirds so that each section is 6" X 6". Tape the two sheets together to make one long accordion book with six squares.
  2. Re-crease the folds so they are accordion style. Use a fold to the left, a fold to the right, a fold to the left, etc.
  3. Die cut all letters.
  4. Using one set of all the above materials and following the steps below, assemble a sample book.

Directions

Clowns are funny people and they have funny books. Today we are going to make a funny, clown, accordion book.

Day 1
Step 1: Have students place their accordion book on the desk and flatten it out so they have a long row of six pages or boxes. (Students will only be working on the top side of the paper.)

Step 2: In box one, have students write, "My Clown Book by" and their own name.

Step 3: For box two, explain that this is going to be the clown's collar. Have the children fold the doily in half, put glue on one side of the half doily and paste it down in the center of the box with the flat part of the doily parallel to the top of the box and the curved part directed to the bottom of the box. Glue the red "C" on top of the doily so that it looks like the "C" is wearing a clown collar. Half of the "C" will be pasted to the light blue paper and half will be pasted to the white collar across the center of the straight white fold. Write the word "collar" above the "C."

Step 4: Students glue the purple "L" to the middle of box three. With a crayon, they draw short legs and long feet on the "L." Write "long feet" in the box.

Step 5: Students glue the dark blue "O" to the center of box four. Write "oval mouth" above the "O" letter. Students cut off the corners and points of the 2" X 5" red rectangle, and use a black crayon to make a smile inside this hot dog shape. They glue this across the center of the "O" so that it looks like it is smiling. Optional: This mouth can be made as a pocket to hold a feather, which can be used to track the text.

Step 6: Glue the green "W" to the center of box five. Have students fold the yarn pieces in half. Hold the folded piece on the side so that the yarn fold-point can be dipped into the glue. Glue the yarn pieces to the top half of the "W" so that it looks like the "W" is wearing a wig. Write the word "wig" in the box.

Step 7: Glue the orange "N" to the center of box six. Glue a one-inch foam circle, paper, or pom-pom to the center of the "N" so that it looks like the "N" is wearing a nose. Write the word "nose" in box 6.

Step 5: Fold bun in half lengthwise.

Step 6:Tape string to the hot dog, near the end. If the hot dog were on the ground, it would move like a pull toy.

Step 7: Place the red hot dog into the manila folded bun. Straighten the string so that it hangs off the end of the hot dog.

Step 8: Let the accordion books lie flat on the desk until the glue dries.

Step 9: Practice reading the book together while it is flat on the desk.

Lesson Extensions

  1. Have students buddy read the book.
  2. Have the students read the book to parents at home.
  3. Use a feather and track the words with a feather. Store the feather in the "oval mouth" pocket on box four.

Evaluation

  1. Did students get the connection between the word clown, with it letters, and the objects described on each page, or did they just follow directions?
  2. Were most students successful?
  3. Can students reread the text?

Assess Students

Teacher Observation:

  1. Were students able to follow the directions for making the book?
  2. Were students able to fold the doily and yarn in half?
  3. Were students able to paste objects to the middle and center of the page?
  4. Were students able to track the text in the story?
  5. Can students spell the word clown with and without the use of the book?

  • Subjects:
    Circus, Carnivals, Fairs, Parades, Arts and Crafts, Alphabet Recognition, Word Recognition, Spelling, Vocabulary, Early Reading, Early Writing, Following Directions
  • Skills:
    Spelling, Vocabulary
  • Duration:
    1 Hr
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