Unlock Literacy with Giraffes Can't Dance Activities for the Classroom
Welcome to your one-stop resource for Giraffes Can't Dance activities. If you're looking to inspire creativity, foster a growth mindset, and dive deep into character analysis with your students, you've come to the right place. Based on the tale of Gerald the Giraffe, these activities are designed to engage and encourage meaningful discussions.
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Giraffes Can’t Dance Summary
Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae is about a giraffe named Gerald who discovers his inner dancer despite thinking it is impossible.
Gerald is tall, awkward, and clumsy but wants to dance. The other animals laugh at him when he tries to join the Jungle Dance because they think giraffes can't dance. Poor Gerald feels useless and sad.
Out of nowhere, a cricket starts cheering him on and gives him some advice that changes everything – “Sometimes, when you're different, you just need a different song.” It inspires Gerald to find his rhythm, and he's over the moon when he realizes he can dance.
The other animals are amazed at his newfound talent and ask how he got so good. Gerald tells them everyone can dance when they find the music they love, showing how we can overcome obstacles and achieve our dreams if we believe in ourselves.
Giraffes Can’t Dance Read-Aloud Questions
The Giraffes Can't Dance questions encourage your students to think critically about the story, character development, plot progression, setting, and underlying themes, helping to improve their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.
I have over 90 questions to use before, during and after reading the Giraffes Can’t Dance book in this activity pack. Here are some questions you can ask before reading the book.
Here are some questions you can ask before reading the book.
- Think about things you are or are not so good at.
- How do you feel when you can't do something as well as you wish?
- Does it matter if you are not good at something if you enjoy doing it?
- Describe the problem faced by Gerald and how he solved it.
- How did the illustrations help you understand Gerald's journey?
- How would you describe Gerald? What are his character traits?
- Why is it a problem to make assumptions about yourself and others?
- How does the giraffe feel when he can't dance like the other animals?
- What is the turning point in the story for the giraffe?
- How do the other animals react to the giraffe's dancing at the beginning and the end of the story?
- How does the story change from the beginning to the end?
- How does the cricket help the giraffe in the story?
- How would you describe the giraffe's character development throughout the story?
- Can you predict what would happen if the giraffe never met the cricket?
- What connection can you make between the giraffe's experience and real life?
Giraffes Can't Dance Inference Activities
The Giraffes Can't Dance book helps students draw conclusions based on clues from the text and illustrations.
Inferring from Images: The vibrant illustrations provide visual cues that help students infer what's happening or how a character feels. For example, students can look at Gerald's facial expressions and body language to infer his emotions.
Inferring from Text: The story's text allows students to make inferences. For example, when the other animals laugh at Gerald, students can infer that he feels sad and embarrassed even though these feelings are not explicitly stated.
ACTIVITY: Create worksheets with passages or illustrations from the Giraffes Can't Dance. Ask students to write down their inferences and the clues they used to make them.
Understanding Characters' Feelings: The book provides opportunities to infer characters' feelings based on their actions and words. For example, students can infer Gerald's feelings of embarrassment and, later, joy.
ACTIVITY: Ask students to identify Gerald's feelings at different points in the story and explain what clues they used to make their inferences.
Inferring Themes: The Giraffes Can't Dance book deals with self-confidence, individuality, and acceptance. These themes are not directly stated but can be inferred by examining the events and characters in the story.
ACTIVITY: After reading the story, discuss its themes. Ask students to provide evidence from the text to support their inferences.
Inferring Character Traits: The story allows students to infer character traits based on characters' actions and words. For instance, students can infer Gerald's determination from his decision to dance in his own way.
ACTIVITY: Have students choose a character and list their traits, explaining what actions or words led them to these inferences.
Giraffes Can’t Dance Character Analysis Activities
Giraffes Can't Dance's main character, Gerald, goes through a significant transformation, providing many opportunities for students to analyse his character traits, actions, feelings, and motivations. Here's how:
Actions and Motivations: Gerald's actions, like trying to dance and embracing his uniqueness, can be analysed.
ACTIVITY: Discuss with students why Gerald acts the way he does and what motivates him. Why does Gerald want to dance? What makes him keep trying even when others laugh at him?
Understanding Characters' Feelings: The book provides opportunities to infer characters' feelings based on their actions and words. For example, students can infer Gerald's feelings of embarrassment and later joy.
ACTIVITY: Ask students to identify Gerald's feelings at different points in the story and explain what clues they used to make their inferences.
Inferring Character Traits: The Giraffes Can't Dance book allows students to infer character traits based on characters' actions and words. For instance, students can infer Gerald's determination from his decision to dance in his way.
ACTIVITY: Have students choose a character and list their traits, explaining what actions or words led them to these inferences. They can create a character trait map identifying and providing evidence for each trait.
Traits Influence Actions: The story clearly shows how character traits can influence actions. For example, Gerald's determination leads him to find his own way to dance.
ACTIVITY: Ask students to identify an action of a character and discuss what trait caused that action. This helps them understand the link between traits and behaviour.
Traits Change Over Time: The book demonstrates how characters can change. Gerald, for instance, goes from being self-conscious to confident.
ACTIVITY: Students can create a timeline for Gerald, marking key events in the story and noting changes in his character traits at these points.
Giraffes Can't Dance Cause and Effect Activities
Giraffes Can't Dance clear cause-effect relationships in the storyline include:
Cause: Gerald, the giraffe, believes he can't dance like the other animals. Effect: Gerald feels sad and different from everyone else.
Cause: A cricket advises Gerald to find his music and dance to it. Effect: Gerald realizes that he can dance when it's to his own “music,” which is a metaphor for embracing his unique abilities.
Here are some Giraffes Can't Dance activities for teaching cause and effect:
Identifying Cause and Effect: After reading the Giraffes Can't Dance book, discuss the causes and effects of the story. Ask students to identify what happened (effect) when Gerald believed he couldn't dance (cause) and then what happened when he found his rhythm (cause).
ACTIVITY: Use a graphic organizer to visually map out the cause and effect relationships in the story.
Clear Cause-Effect Relationships: The book presents clear cause-effect relationships, such as Gerald's lack of confidence (cause) and his inability to dance (effect).
ACTIVITY: Ask students to identify these relationships in the story. They can create a chart listing the causes and effects they find.
Emotional Causes and Effects: The Giraffes Can't Dance book shows how emotions can cause actions. For example, Gerald's feelings of embarrassment cause him to run away.
ACTIVITY: Discuss emotions as causes and their effects on our actions. Students can provide examples from their own lives.
Cause and Effect in Problem-Solving: The book shows how identifying the cause of a problem can lead to its solution. Gerald realizes his belief that he can't dance is what's really preventing him from dancing.
ACTIVITY: Ask students to think of a problem they've solved. They should identify the cause of the problem and how understanding it helped them find a solution.
Cause and Effect in Plot Development: The story's plot is driven by cause and effect relationships. Gerald's decision to dance in his own way (cause) leads to the other animals' admiration (effect).
ACTIVITY: Students can create a storyboard showing the major events in the plot and the cause and effect relationships between them.
2 thoughts on “Unlock Classroom Literacy with Giraffes Can’t Dance Activities”
looking for parent involvement activities
Hi Rebecca,
This website is written for teachers, though parents are more than welcome. I don’t have any specific parent activities, but on each picture book page (like this one) there are activities related to the books. If you do a google search you will find many articles with parent activities for picture books!