ISH BY PETER H. REYNOLDS
An Interactive Read-Aloud Lesson Plan
This is a wonderful story about a creative boy named Ramon, who loves to draw until he is teased by his older brother for the way his pictures look. The boy’s younger sister helps him learn to think “ish-ly.” She also helps him focus on his creativity rather than getting things just right. This is such an important lesson for our students to learn at the beginning of the year.
I taught this interactive read-aloud for 4 days in my classroom. After I read the story with my class during the first day, we discussed the author’s central message. We had a great conversation as a class about not giving up and always trying our best. We talked about how there isn’t always a “right” way to do something and it is more important to be creative.
Ish Lesson Plan Ideas
Next, we revisited the story and focused on the meaning of the suffix -ish: kind-of like, similar to, or creatively. My students loved drawing what they thought some of the ish words looked like. I love it when my students beg me to read a read-aloud story again. This book was no exception. They were all begging me to revisit Ish a third time. Their understanding of the story truly deepened each time we revisited the story and they knew it! Asking text dependent questions during each read-aloud really gets my students thinking about the text in a different way each time we take a closer look.
Finally, we revisited the page in the book with Ramon’s art inspired ish writing and together, we studied how he crafted his ish poem. We talked about his theme (ponder) and how he used repetitive wording and make believe words in his poem. Then, I had each student write their own ish themed poem. I had them use repetitive wording and make believe words in their own poem just like in the story. They really enjoyed the writing activity and I love how their poems turned out.Once we were finished writing they read their poems aloud in small groups. See other ways I get my students to hold discussions in small groups here.
As a culminating project, my students create their own ish drawing to accompany their writing. They made a beautiful bulletin board.
Back to School Interactive Read Alouds
Love these lesson plans? Great news! These 4 day Ish read aloud lesson plans, text dependent questions, graphic organizers, and art instructions are readily available for you to purchase here. We did all the hard work for you! It is available individually, and in our September 1-2 Bundle: Interactive Read-Aloud Curriculum.
Still skeptical? Download a free Read-aloud for here. We know you will fall in love with these 4 day lesson plans and your students will be begging for more.
Looking for November read aloud suggestions? Check out our K-1 Read Alouds for November along with our K-2 Read Alouds for November.
Here are a couple more of our favorite read alongs. One focuses on friendship (One Cool Friend) and the other looks ahead to the first snowfall of the season (The Snowy Day).
