The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources
Author: Roald Dahl

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me - Group Project:

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The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Book Review

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake is a delightful story about a trio of amazing animals and a little boy named Billy.

Just like Roald Dahl and Charlie Bucket (Roald Dahl's most well known character), Billy has always dreamed of having his very own sweet shop filled with "Sherbert Suckers and Caramel Fudge and Russian Toffee and Sugar Snorters and Butter Gumballs."

Billy meets the unusual owners of the Ladderless Window Cleaning Company who advertise that they will "Get your windows cleaned without a lot of dirty ladders leaning against your house."

Roald Dahl has created some amazing animal characters to achieve this window cleaning phenomenon: a giraffe with a magical neck that extends to great heights, a pelican with a retractable beak that holds plenty of water, and an agile and energetic monkey. These amazing animals, along with Billy who has become their manager, "Will polish your glass, till it's shining like brass."

The Ladderless Window Cleaning Company is hired by the Duke of Hampshire to clean the 677 windows of his huge Hampshire House. While doing an impressive job of cleaning all of the Duke's dirty windows, the animals notice a jewel thief inside the Duchess's bedroom. Using his huge beak, the Pelly catches the Cobra, the cleverest and most dangerous cat-burglar in the world.

To show his gratitude for their help, the Duke of Hampshire invites the three animals to live on his estate for the rest of their lives. The Giraffe will be able to eat her favorite flowers from the Duke's plantation of tinkle-tinkle trees, the Monkey has thousands of giant walnut trees to choose from, and the Pelican is delighted to learn that the finest salmon river in the whole of Europe is found on the Duke's property.

When the Duke learns of Billy's wish of turning the Grubber into a marvelous new sweet-shop, he sets into motion and quickly turns Billy's dream into a reality. The story ends with Billy saying goodbye to his three best friends as they leave his fantastic sweet-shop, but "No book ever ends, When it's full of your friends, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me."

This is a short book to read to your students. Although The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me may appear at first to be for younger elementary school students, I have read this story to my Grade 5 students numerous times and used the projects found on this page with upper elementary school students with great success.

If you are completing a Roald Dahl author study with your students, this is a splendiferous book to read aloud to your students, especially if they are already familiar with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl's best selling book.

In addition to the fun projects that are found on this page, I have my students compare the characters of Charlie Bucket and Billy by either writing an essay or by using a character venn diagram.

All of the teaching resources that are found on this page include a second version of each resource that contains British spelling rules (colour instead of color, favourite instead of favorite, etc).

Below you will find some of The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me lesson plans that I have developed over the years as I have read this book to my students. My students love completing the fun project that I have created specifically for this book, which you can find below.

A very DETAILED description about this
Giraffe Project is provided below.

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me Group Project

An Extra Large Giraffe Project Based on Roald Dahl's Book

Giraffe Group Project:
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me Lesson Plans

• Secure payment method through Paypal.
• Use your credit card or Paypal account.
• Download link is emailed to you today!
• Print as many copies as you need.
• Save and reuse this fun project forever!

One of my students' favorite projects during the entire school year is this extra large group project for The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me.

For this cooperative group project, students work together to describe Billy, The Duke of Hampshire, and the three animals that make up the Ladderless Window Cleaning Company.

In addition to writing character descriptions, students write a 6 line rhyming poem in the same style that Roald Dahl uses throughout the story. There are also four areas on the giraffe templates for students to draw pictures that represent the characters and the poem that they wrote together.

I believe that it is important for students to go through the steps of the writing process.

For this reason, my students never begin their The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me group projects by writing on their final draft giraffe templates, instead they write on first draft worksheets.

Next, my students edit and revise their work together and I circulate around my classroom and provide assistance as needed.

This set of The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me teaching resources contains three worksheets for students to write their first drafts on.

On my first draft worksheets, I have designed the writing line spaces to match the spaces on the final draft giraffe templates.

• The Ladderless Window Cleaning Company (the 3 animals and their special abilities)
• Billy and his dream of owning a sweet shop
• The Duke of Hampshire and how he rewards Billy and the animals for cleaning his windows and catching the Cobra
• 6 line rhyming poem written in the same style that Roald Dahl uses in the story

TEACHING TIP:

This extra large group project requires a lot of orange and yellow coloring materials to complete these fun giraffe projects. A few days before my students begin working on their final draft giraffe templates, I assign a homework assignment, or an extra credit task, of bringing in orange and yellow coloring pencils and markers.

By having my students bring in some of these materials from home, it helps to not dwindle down all of the yellow and orange coloring materials that I have in my classroom. Students also enjoy bringing in orange and yellow glitter to help them put some sparkly touches on their giraffe group projects.

This set of The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me lesson plans includes step by step directions on how to assemble the 9 project templates into a large giraffe.

Depending on the age of your students, you could assemble these giraffe projects ahead of time for your students. Each giraffe takes me around 10 minutes to assemble myself.

Older students are able to assemble this large group project on their own. I have given my Grade 5 students the assembling directions worksheet (shown below), and they were able to assemble these large giraffe projects themselves.

Final Draft Giraffe Templates:

Students should proofread and edit their first drafts together before they begin working on their final draft giraffe projects.

This unique and fun group project for The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me includes 9 printable worksheets with templates that assemble into a large giraffe.

When the project has been assembled, the finished giraffe measures 21 inches x 36 inches.

There are four boxes on the giraffe templates for students to draw pictures of the different characters.

Your students will love working on this activity together and these finished group projects will make a dynamic and eye catching classroom or hallway display.

Optional Pelican and Monkey Templates:

In order to make this project look more like Quentin Blake's illustrations, this set of teaching resources includes a pelican template to glue on top of the giraffe's head and a monkey template to wrap around the top of the giraffe's neck.

Below are examples of the extra two worksheets that are included in this of Roald Dahl lesson plans. This example shows the black and white pelican and monkey templates. There are also color templates included in this set of teaching resources, but they are not shown on this page.

Grading Rubric:

After your students have completed their group projects, they can evaluate their projects using the group project grading rubric that is provided in this set of The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me teaching resources.

After the group has graded their project, there is also an area on the grading rubric for the teacher to evaluate the project.

Color Templates:

When I am first introducing my students to a new project, I believe that it is important for them to have a visual example of what their final draft projects will look like. I always assemble the project myself beforehand and display it at the front of my classroom.

To save you time in coloring the project that you show to your students at the beginning of this assignment, I have included color giraffe templates for you to use so that you do not have to color these templates yourself.

You can also choose to print these color templates and give them to your students to use for their projects. This will save your students time in having to color the giraffe templates themselves.

Bulletin Board Display Ideas for
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me:

I know that it takes teachers a lot of valuable time to assemble their bulletin board displays. Many teachers spend hours of time cutting out large display letters or making a banner on their own at home on their computers.

This time is valuable and better spent on developing your classroom curriculum and grading papers, so I have designed a matching 5 page banner for your bulletin board display.

If you have access to a laminating machine, you can laminate your banner so that it is durable and you can use it year after year for bulletin board displays of your students' The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me group projects.

In addition to the above banner, I have created 16 accent pieces (pelican, monkey, giraffe, book, and jewelry) to assist you in decorating your bulletin board display featuring your students' finished giraffe projects.

Blank Bulletin Board Accent Pieces:

Bulletin Board Accent Pieces With Titles Written On Them:

Bulletin Board Accent Pieces
With Poems From the Story Written On Them:

More Fun, Extra Large, and
Scrumdiddlyumptious Projects
For Roald Dahl's Books:

Click on the book covers below to view
the fun, unique, and extra large projects that I have
designed for these popular novels and picture books.