Corduroy

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                                                               Corduroy

                                         By Don Freeman, The Viking Press, 1968

 

 

                                               

 

Concepts and Themes

  • Overalls, shoulder strap
  • Button
  • Escalator
  • Multiple floor buildings
  • Palace
  • Mattress/buttons on a mattress
  • Night watchman
  • Saleslady
  • Chest of drawers
  • Sewing
  • Friends

 

 

Expanded Core Curriculum Activities

 

Orientation and Mobility

  • Hunt for Corduroy’s missing button

Pretend that you are looking for Corduroy’s missing button.  Review all of the spatial concepts presented: up the escalator (use steps) on top of the bed, on the shelf, etc.  Have a button for finding at the last location.

 

  • Escalators

Explore the concept of an escalator by going to a department store.  Listen for the sounds of the escalator and of people talking, practice stepping on and off with an adult initially providing the timing cues.  Discuss how an escalator can go up or down.  Have the child identify by sound which direction the escalator is headed.

 

  • Multiple floor dwellings

Explore concepts such as basement, first floor, second floor, through real life experiences either in a home, school, or store.  Can also use a doll house as a model, having the child identify each floor.

 

 

Social Interaction

  • Discuss if Lisa and Corduroy were friends.  What do friends do for each other?  What did Lisa do to help Corduroy

 

 

Independent Living Skills

  • Compare fabric swatches and talk about how each feels.  Examine the corduroy fabric and talk about how it is different.  Have the child feel and identify what type of fabric the clothes they are wearing

 

  • Use a large button and show how a button is sewed on, have the child help to pull the thread through.

 

  • Give each child in a group a fabric swatch.  Ask for who is holding which fabrics.  Introduce fabric match activity

 

  • Make a fabric collage. 

 

  • Role play shopping: Have a toy cash register, items to buy, money, within a pretend “store”.  With a group of children, rotate the role of cashier. Children should have opportunities to understand the concept of the exchange system, money for an item.  For children who are ready, they can begin to learn the concept of dollar bills vs. coins.

 

 

Career & Vocational Education

  • “Saleslady”: discuss the different names that the child may be familiar with such as cahier or clerk.  Talk about the duties of the salesperson. 

 

 

Visual Efficiency Skills

  • Print out picture of Corduroy for matching buttons or craft activity.

www.state.ar.us/childcare/cord5.html