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Dandelion

Dandelion Lapbook Helps - here are some printables to help you get started on a lapbook or notebook!

Language Arts

Discussion and Critical Thinking
~Ask your child which Dandelion he/she likes better. The plain one or the dandy one?
~ Notice how Jennifer mentions in the letter “come as you are”. Does Dandelion follow her advice?
~ Why is the door at Jennifer’s home a “tall door”? Think of other animals at her party and imagine what their front doors would look like!
~At the end of the book Dandelion says, "From now on I'll always be just plain me."  Why is “just plain me” better? 

Titles
The author certainly had a lot of fun with this title! Discuss with your child the different ways we see the title in the story. Talk about how he is a “dandy-lion”. What is a dandy person? Someone who is always concerned with clothes and appearance. Also, how is Dandelion similar to the tiny flowers with the same name? Look out the “dandelion” crayon on a crayola box. Match it with the book’s illustrations and point out this is the color used the most throughout the illustrations.

Listmaking
You can write out a list from your student’s memory or just use this as a discussion lesson.  What different things did Dandelion do to get ready for the party?

Vocabulary
Frizzy- tightly curled
Manicure- to trim closely and evenly (such as fingernails)
Bouquet- a bunch of flowers
Mane- long heavy hair growing about the neck and head
Torrents- a sudden rush of liquid (such as rain)
Paced- to walk with slow steady steps
Apologized- to say you are sorry

Invitation Writing (and Hospitality)
Read and re-read the invitation Dandelion received from Jennifer Giraffe.   What information is important to include in an invitation?   Decide on an event to host for special friends or a family member.   Design invitations and send them off in the mail.  If you want to do something simple, invite daddy to a special dinner or grandma to an afternoon tea.  Discuss hospitality and let your student help you prepare the table and treats.

Real or Pretend?
Ask your student if this story is real or imaginary?   Discuss the elements of this story that make it fiction.  Introduce the word fiction to your older student (something told or written that is not fact). 

Social Studies

Human Relationships
Perhaps your child is too young to identify with Dandelion’s obsession with his looks, but you could point out how sometimes they can become too preoccupied with belongings like their favorite train set, or a particular movie, clothing with favorite character on them. Sometimes we even compared how many of these things our friends or neighbors have that we don’t. This is in a way the same thing Dandelion was doing. Another conversation point could be that in order for Dandelion to get “ready” for the party he had to pay for all those services. He spent a lot of money in things that were not necessary.

Learning Your Address
Miss Giraffe tells Dandelion that he has the wrong address.  What is an address? Discuss with your student and help him memorize his own address.

Occupations
Introduce your student to some of the occupations mentioned in this story.  Would he like to do any of these jobs when he grows up?  Why (or why not)?

Barber- person whose business is cutting and dressing hair and shaving beards
Tailor- a person whose occupation is making or making adjustments in clothes
Florist- a person who sells flowers and ornamental plants

Science & Health

Weather Changes
Notice how Dandelion wakes up to a sunny day, but suddenly the weather changes to windy-rainy. Point out or recall a time when you experience this kind of sudden weather change at home.

Weather Watcher
Help your student make and keep a simple weather chart.  Take a paper plate and draw a line down the center and another line across the center (so that you have four sections).  Paste one weather clip-art to each section.   Paste the arrow to a paper clip and let your student move the paper clip each day.  An older student can chart the weather on this bar graph.   (These files are also found in the Dandelion Lapbook Helps at the beginning of the unit.)

Introduction to Mammals
What other animals are at Jennifer Giraffe’s Tea Party?  (monkey, cheetah, zebra, hippo).   All of the animals in this story are mammals.  You may want to introduce this term to your student.  Mammals are animals who are usually covered in hair (fur); they also give birth to live animals (they don’t lay eggs) and nourish their young with milk produced by the mother.

Daily Exercise
At the beginning of the story we learn that Dandelion did his daily exercises.  You may want to start your day each day with some basic exercises—jumping jacks, toe-touches, hopping, marching to music, etc.

Art

Monochromatic
The illustrations in the story seem very monochromatic (having or consisting of one color) and yet all the animals in the story are colored the same or very closely to their colors in real life. Ask your child to look at the animals at the tea party and verify if they were painted the right color.

Motion
Notice the use of lines on the illustrations. How does the author show Dandelion running, or wet, or the wind blowing? It’s all in the direction of the lines. Practice making wind or someone with wet hair by copying the lines in the story.

Emotions in Art
Sometimes art can reflect an emotion. Look at the page where Dandelion is under the weeping willow. His hair looks just like the tree as if they are both sad.

Math

Shapes
There are so many shapes you can spot on this book! Here are some to get you started: diamonds on Jennifer, her steps, and Dandelion’s jacket & cap; rectangles on doors and Lou’s floor; cone on hat; cylinder on rollers.

Counting
How many flowers is Dandelion carrying on his bouquet? How many does he find by Jennifer’s steps? Can you spot where Jennifer places the flowers?

Telling Time
Use a play clock to show the following. What time the invitation said the tea began? Did Dandelion arrive on time? What time did he arrive the second time? How late was he? (a whole hour).

Bible
Discuss the following verses with your student:
~Psalm 139:14
~I Samuel 16:7

You may want to consider memorizing one of the verses this week.

Library List
The Tawny Scrawny Lion (Golden Books)
Dandelions: Stars in the Grass by Mia Posada
Randy’s Dandy Lions by Bill Peet
Andy and the Lion by James Daugherty
Noodle by Munro Leaf (book about being yourself)

Don Freeman Books
Corduroy
A Pocket for Corduroy
Norman the Doorman
Will's Quill
Fly High, Fly Low
Bearymore
A Rainbow of My Own

Fun Activities

1. Field Trip-- choose one or all of these places to visit with your child: a tailor, a barber shop, a flower shop.

2. I Spy: Spot the differences in the two pages where Dandelion is ringing the bell at Jennifer’s home; one with all his dandy looks and one without.

3. Buy a gold ink felt pen to write you invitation(s).

4. For fun lion projects and coloring pages visit http://dltk-kids.com/animals/jungle-lions.html

5.  Dandelion Craft

Supplies:
~2 wiggle eyes
~Sharpie black marker
~dark yellow yarn
~small yellow paper plate
~stems and leaves from fake flower
~hot glue gun/glue, if desired.

Make a lion face using the paper plate.  Glue the eyes on.  Draw a nose, mouth, etc. with the permanent marker.  Glue loops of the yarn around the outer edge of the plate to form a mane.  After the yarn is dry, add the stem with leaves to the back of the paper plate.  You may want to use hot glue to attach this (the adult will need to do this part without help from the child).