A Dog Day

This lesson plan for primary-aged learners is designed to be used with the picturebook 'A Dog Day' by Emily Rand.

Author

Gail Ellis

Introduction

This is a story about a day in the life of a dog, and the dog, an Airedale Terrier who we see sitting on the front cover, is waiting to go for his daily walk in the park. His owner, however, tests the dog's patience by taking him on a number of errands before his walk. This is an easy-to-follow story told from the dog's point of view in rhyming couplets across each double spread:

He always has to stop and talk.
I thought that we were on a walk!

This is Emily Rand's first book for children.

Drawing Words

The story notes for A Dog Day are aimed at children of primary school age*. However, picture books operate on many levels, satisfying children of different ages and with different language abilities, so it is difficult to be specific about age-level suitability. A picture book can be used as a springboard for a wide variety of related language and learning activities. You know your children best, so the suggestions in the story notes are for you to select from and to adapt accordingly.

You will need a copy of the picture book. Study the picture book and the story notes carefully and decide which key vocabulary you may need to pre-teach before you read the story aloud, but only pre-teach vocabulary that may be difficult for children to work out the meaning of themselves. The story notes are divided into three stages, before reading, reading the story, and after reading. Decide how long you will spend on each stage, depending on your time available and your children's interests and language abilities. The main linguistic and learning aims are indicated in the attached document Scope and sequence.

*The primary age range varies from one education system to another, with some children beginning at age five in some countries and at age seven in others, and some children finishing at age 10/11 in some countries and at age 13/14 in others. The average age is 6–11 years.

Materials