The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister is a favorite picture book of many young children. With its vibrant colors and glittering illustrations, it immediately grabs any readers attention. The story is about a fish who had sparkling scales which made him the most beautiful fish in the sea. He was admired so much that the other fish wanted him to share his scales with them so they could be pretty as well. The rainbow fish refused and the other fish were upset and would ignore him whenever he swam by. The rainbow fish became sad and lonely because none of the the other fish would look at him. However, after some good advice, the rainbow decided he needed to share his pretty scales with others and he gave all the fish one of his scales until he only had one himself.
This story teaches its readers a valuable lesson in sharing. Sharing is a very important factor in the goings of young children and this book gives them a glimpse of what could happen if they don't share with others.
After reading the story aloud to my students, I would ask them questions like:
- Do you think the other fish were right to ignore the rainbow fish?
- What would you do if someone refused to share their things with you?
- What lesson did the rainbow fish learn?
A classroom activity I would do with my students is have them each make their own rainbow fish and then post them all on a classroom board with blue backing to make it look like a fish tank. Also, I would have each student come up with a reason why sharing is important. I would give them a sentence that says "Sharing is important because...." then I would have them read what they wrote out loud.
Marcus Pfister is a Swiss author and illustrator of children's picture books. He has written many other books involving the rainbow fish like The Rainbow Fish Opposites and The Rainbow Fish Colors.
Pfister, M. (1992). The rainbow fish. New York, NY: North-South Books Inc
This is one of my favorite childhood books. Your motivational activities were great for influencing the use of art and inspiring them the importance of sharing. Another activity I would have the students do is for them to write their own story of a time they shared a part of themselves to help others. And then present that short story to the class, which could influence the good of sharing and helping others. Another activity would be to have the students work in groups each discussing their favorite part of the book and least favorite part of the book and why. Each student hearing another students perspective of the book could also assist with each of them understanding the meaning of the book.
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