We read the story, “Giraffes Can’t Dance”, by Giles Andreae. It is a story about Gerald, a giraffe who longs to dance like everyone else but he just can’t seem to get it right because his legs are too long and skinny.
Afterwards we discussed how the cricket gave Gerald the confidence to try his best and to not give up. Gerald may not dance like everyone else does, but he does dance.
Students then thought of something that they can do if they try their best. They created talking bubbles with their ideas and put them next to a Gerald head.
We then had a directed drawing lesson on drawing Gerald dancing – firstly on a practise white paper and then onto yellow construction paper. Student added the details in black Sharpie, cut them out, and glued them onto blue construction paper. They are all very unique and individualistic with the facial expressions and the dance moves. They are on the bulletin board outside of our classroom.
