Corduroy Lost and Found Unit Study

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Corduroy the teddy bear slips out very early one morning to get a birthday present for Lisa. He spies what he thinks is a yellow balloon up in the sky and goes chasing after it, thinking that would be perfect for her. But when the sun rises, the “balloon” disappears. And now Corduroy is lost. Can he reunite with his best friend and find her the perfect birthday present?
from Corduroy Lost and Found at amazon.com

This sweet story continues to tell of the friendship between Lisa and her bear, Corduroy. Use our Corduroy Lost and Found unit study lessons to enhance your readings of the book.

Thanks to Christa Stepien for contributing this Corduroy Lost and Found unit study to Homeschool Share.

Corduroy Lost and Found Unit Study Lessons

Social Studies

Birthdays
In the book it is going to be Lisa’s birthday. Discuss your child’s last birthday, or their sibling’s birthday. What kinds of toys do they like? How do people know what to buy for them? If someone you know has a birthday coming up, discuss what kinds of things your child thinks they would like.

Discuss giving a present, and how it makes both the giver and the receiver feel.

Newspapers
The newspapers are delivered to the stand while it is still night, and Corduroy can still see the moon. Is the newspaper delivered in the wee hours of the morning in your area? Discuss having to get up early and deliver papers. Do you know anyone who has done this job? Is there anything else that happens very early in the morning in your area? (snow plowing, trash pick-up, etc.)

Lisa hangs posters looking for Corduroy. Has your child ever seen a poster for a lost pet? Discuss how someone must feel when they lose a pet or a toy that they love, and what it must mean to them when someone else finds it and takes the time to take care of it.

Being Lost
It is kind of Mr. Gonzales to save Corduroy for Lisa, knowing that someone would be looking for him. Discuss with your student what to do if they find something that is lost.

Discuss with your student what they would/should do if they ever found themselves lost. You may want to discuss why it is unsafe for your child to go somewhere without an adult, or come up with a “code word” to use with your child in an emergency (for example, if someone they are unfamiliar with comes to get them and says that you sent them, they can ask them for the code word).

Different Types of Houses
Lisa (and Corduroy) live in an apartment building. It has a lobby. Your child might be unfamiliar with this type of home. Discuss apartment buildings with many apartments. There are also two-family houses and one family houses. What kind of a house does your child live in? Would they like to live in an apartment (or if you live in an apartment, a different kind of house)? What are the positive things about living in different kinds of houses?

Art

Lost Bear Poster
Draw a “lost bear” poster for corduroy! Discuss what kind of information you would put on a poster, and why it is important to be as specific as possible. Maybe play a version of “I spy” where you give a vague description of something and see if your child can find it, and then give a specific description, so that your child can see how much easier it is to find something when you know more about it.

Drawing Night
You can see some storefronts through the bus window at the beginning of the book. When Corduroy goes out at night, he passes some storefronts. Have your child compare these storefronts. How does the illustrator make it look like night? (The windows are dark and shaded in.)

Math

Elevators and Ordinal Numbers (first floor, second floor, etc)
Has your child ever ridden in an elevator? Discuss how the numbers correspond to the floors. If you wish, you could discuss the idea of a lobby, ground floor, or basement as well!

Draw a picture of a building and number the floors. Make the building have as many floors as you would like (you may want to use a large poster board)! On a separate piece of paper, draw a picture of the elevator buttons. Take turns “pushing” a button and figuring out which floor you would end up on! You could also roll a dice to figure out which floor you will go to, or two dice and add the numbers to come up with the floor!

Role Play
Let your child pretend to sell newspapers. Use this as an opportunity to introduce the concept of money. Maybe even let them use some real money to run their “store” while they play! Do they think having a job is fun like Corduroy does?

Field Trip
Ride in an elevator and pretend you are in a rocket ship! You may want to discuss how it’s generally not polite to push random buttons in an elevator, and that you should only push the floor you need!

Science

The Moon
Why can’t Corduroy see the “balloon” during the day? Sometimes you CAN see the moon during the day! Look for it! The moon in the illustrations is a full moon. Would Corduroy have thought it was a balloon if it was a crescent? You might also use this opportunity to discuss the phases of the moon:

(These phases are in the northern hemisphere, and the crescent, quarter, and gibbous moons change sides when you are in the southern hemisphere—eg. The waxing crescent is the left side crescent moon in the southern hemisphere.)

New Moon- completely dark
Waxing Crescent- Right crescent of the moon
1^st quarter- Right half of the moon
Waxing Gibbous- heading toward a full moon, with sliver missing on the left side
Full Moon- Full
Waning Gibbous- Missing sliver on right side
Last quarter- Left half of the moon
Waning Crescent- left crescent of the moon.

Vision
Your eyes need light to see color. When you are in a dimly-lit room, you are actually seeing less color than in a brightly-lit room. You may wish to turn off the lights and compare the colors you can see in the dark with the colors you see when there is light.

Spanish
Discuss the words Mr. Gonzales uses, and what they mean.