Here Comes Clifford...
an online unit.

This unit has been designed for my transitional first grade class but can easily be adapted to suit the needs of your primary students.

The first week in September is the birth “week?” of a very famous, big, red dog and the perfect time to do a class unit on this popular celebrity.

KWL Chart About Dogs
I like to begin many units with a large chart with three horizontal sections; What you Know, What you Want to Learn, and What you Learned.  This chart can be made on a large sheet of butcher block paper and stored wherever you have room.  Obviously, the third section must be completed after the completion of the unit. This chart will give you some idea as to what your students’ prior knowledge is on the subject, as well as their interests.

Word Map About Dogs
As an alternative to the KWL chart, you may decide to make a Word Map about dogs with your students.  Either should give you the same information.

Clifford, the Big Red Dog

Compare/Contrast
Pre reading:  Construct a Venn Diagram (on red paper or in red marker?).  Use this to compare/contrast things large pets and small pets can do well, and those that both can do well.
If you haven't told the students what the new unit is about, invite them to guess a famous
pet they will be learning more about.
Literacy:  Ask students to add any details about large and small pets they may have left out before reading.

Recalling Details
Allow students to draw their favorite picture of Clifford from the story.

Story Elements
List; title, author, setting, characters.  Add/modify as you continue to read additional “Clifford” stories.

Clifford the Small, Red Puppy, Clifford's Puppy Days

Sequencing
Literacy:  Fold a large paper into three sections for each student.  After reading both stories ask students to (1) draw a picture of Clifford as a small puppy, (2) a medium puppy, and (3) as a large puppy.
I printed an open font which read; Clifford, the Small Red Puppy by Norm Bridwell.  I then cut and pasted the heading to fit three on each paper.  I ran enough copies  for all my  students.  They colored the writing red and glued it to the top of their sequential drawings.

Clifford’s Family

Graphing
Literacy:  Construct a bar graph showing the number of Clifford's parents, brothers and sisters.
Make a large grid for students to use in constructing a graph showing their parents, step parents (if they wish), brothers, and sisters.  Be sure to make room for grandparents since some children live with theirs and/or may want to include them.

Clifford's Manners

Listing
Literacy: Help students to list good manners.  You might also want to turn these into a class book by letting each child give you an example of good manners, you write or type then print it out and let the child illustrate.  Bind together and place in the reading area.
 
 

Addition, Following Directions
Dog Bones   Use dog biscuits and two plastic “doggie” bowls to make addition practice “dog gone fun!”   Program red, dog shaped cards with appropriate addition problems.  Students choose a card, put the number of the first addend in the first bowl, and the number of the second addend in the second bowl.  Then instruct students to count the dog bones altogether.   You may want them to copy the problems and answers onto a piece of paper or whiteboard.

One to One Correspondence
Using red dog cards again, trace a given number of dog biscuit outlines on the cards.  Students put the correct number of biscuits on each card.  They may put the cards and biscuits in sequential order.

Counting Practice
Draw, duplicate or whatever pictures of a doghouse on several sheets of construction paper.  I usually use half sheets. Also have a supply of small dog biscuits or paper "dog bones" available.   Write a number and/or number word 1-10  or whatever you want the children to practice counting; one on each doghouse.  You could use the words 'first, second, third, etc.".  Laminate or cover the  construction paper if possible.  Students put the houses in sequential order and then place the correct number of small dog biscuits or bone cutouts on the paper.  You can add patterning by using different colors of construction paper, doghouses, or dogs.
 
 

Class Book
Each Clifford story starts with similar lines.  “Hi, my name is Emily Elizabeth and this is my dog Clifford.’  Preprint one for each student; “Hi, my name is   (student) and this is my    (pet)    (pet's name).  (Pet's name)  likes  _____________.  Glue these onto large sheets of paper and distribute to students.  Assist them in the writing as needed and instruct them to draw a picture of themselves and their pet or a pet they would like to have if they don’t own one.  Compile into a class book and place at the reading center.

Patterning
Draw four lines of dog outlines onto a sheet of paper.  Choose red and one other color for the dog patterns.  Call out patterns such as “ABBA, ABBA”, etc.  Students color the dog outlines according to your directions.

Literacy
I got the following poem from a "cyber colleague," Melissa Tonnessen, who wrote it.  I have it on a black line for the children to illustrate and add to their poetry journals.  I also have a laminated copy which the students may choose to read during "Early Bird" time or when they are at the Writing or Reading Centers.  Thanks, Melissa!

Looking at the World Thru Red Glasses
Give the students a large blank paper and ask them to imagine what the world (their backyard, schoolroom, etc.)  would look like if everything were red.  Let them draw a scene using only red crayons, markers, etc.  They pay more attention to detail than you would think!

Clifford Faces
Trace two long ears onto a sheet of 9x12 construction paper.  Distribute these, a white paper plate, glue, crayons and scissors.  Students draw Clifford's face without the ears, then glue  them in place on either side of the plate.  Cute results!

Red Day/Clifford Headbands
At the end of this unit, it is fun to have a "red day" where all the children and you wear only red.  You can add to the fun by making these simple "Clifford" headbands.  You will need a sentence strip for each child, two red construction paper ears ( you can use the same pattern as for the above activity) staples, stapler and an optional dog biscuit for each child.  If you use the dog biscuits, you will need to hot glue them onto the front of the headband before you start.  Have the students cut out the dog ears.  Then just staple the ears on each side of the band, size to fit the child and put 2 or 3 staples to hold.  Little Cliffords!