Overview

Teaching With Clifford's Big Idea: Help Others
Children love to help others and grow in self-confidence when their efforts are recognized. Through reading and language, children can learn ways in which friends work to solve challenges and unselfishly serve others.

Teach: Too Small, Too Big!
Objective: The following activity nurtures essential:

• language and literacy skills
• critical thinking and problem solving skills

When Clifford was a puppy, he was too small to fit into any Halloween costumes. After reading Clifford's First Halloween (Clifford the Big Red Dog Series) by Norman Bridwell (Scholastic), have children identify what Clifford did to solve his problem. Now read Clifford's Halloween by Norman Bridwell (Scholastic). In this story, Clifford is not a puppy anymore; he's grown too big to fit into any costumes. Have children identify, again, what Clifford did to solve his problem. Help children recall story details, compare the two stories, and lend suggestions about how they might have helped Clifford with his size challenge.

Practice: "Orange" You Glad It's Autumn (or Fall)?
Objective: The following activity nurtures essential:

• fine motor skills
• cognitive thinking skills
• science and discovery

Read Clifford's First Autumn (Clifford the Small Red Puppy) by Norman Bridwell (Scholastic). Take about how Autumn, or Fall, is one of the most anticipated, colorful seasons of the year. Use these fun ideas to celebrate one of Autumn's, or Fall's, most brilliant colors, orange:

• Jack-o'-lanterns: Divide class into small groups. With supervision, help groups draw patterns and carve. Encourage children to use their senses to express smell, texture, color, shape, and sounds (thump before and after carving). Collect seeds. Season with salt and cinnamon. Toast seeds in small appliance for children to enjoy while lights are dim and Jack-o'-lanterns are glowing.
• Orange Box: Have children bring anything orange from home to put in an orange box or basket. Study, compare, and draw objects during language time.
• Buckets of Colors: Ask children to help by filling small buckets with crayons or chalk for centers and sidewalk play.
• Squeeze It!: Supervise children as they make their own orange juice with a juice squeezer. Use this opportunity to discuss the nutritional value of oranges. Invite a producer grocer to come and share about orange varieties, etc.

Extend: As we grow, we change, we learn, and we become the best we can be!

• Help children compare how they have grown and changed since their own "puppy days." Ask children to bring a baby picture from home. Make two displays: one with baby pictures and one with current school year pictures. Place a picture of Clifford as a puppy atop the baby display and Clifford grown up atop the current picture display. Encourage children to express how everyone has changed through out the years. Don't forget to add your picture in there for children to see how you were once a "pup" yourself!

Clifford’s Library: These books support Clifford's Big Ideas and reinforce early literacy skills:

• Clifford the Small Red Puppy by Norman Bridwell (Scholastic)
• Clifford's Good Deeds by Norman Bridwell (Scholastic)