Rainbow Fish To The Rescue

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Rainbow Fish is torn between his new found friends and a lonely striped fish who is not allowed to join the group because he lacks a shiny scale. When a dangerous and hungry shark suddenly appears, Rainbow Fish must decide: Should he risk losing his new friends – maybe even his life – for the little stranger?

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• Compare this book to the original. Can you make a list of similarities and differences between the two?
• Create a new adventure that features Rainbow Fish.
• Write your own story based on the title ‘Rainbow Fish to the Rescue’.
• Research the author and plan an interview with him.
• Rainbow Fish swims in his ‘school of fish’. Can you find out collective nouns for other animals? Could you make a poster to teach others about them all?
• Make a list of words and phrases that can be used to describe where Rainbow Fish lives.
• Retell the story from Rainbow Fish’s point of view (or from the point of view of the little striped fish).
• Rainbow Fish has a ‘sparkling silver scale’. Can you think of any more alliterative phrases that can be used to describe a fish (or another creature)?
• Can you find any other examples of alliteration in the story?
• Write a set of instructions to teach others how to play ‘flash-tag’.
• Rainbow Fish ‘reluctantly’ swam off to join his friends. Can you think of other adverbs to use in this sentence? How does this change the meaning?
• Create a poem to describe the rainbow fish. Use our Poetry Planner to help you to think about the words and phrases that you could include.
• Can you rewrite this story in the form of a playscript? Could you perform this to an audience?
• Write a thank you letter from the little striped fish to the Rainbow Fish and his new friends.
• Record your own retelling of this story, using this example for ideas:

Science

• Create some food chains based on an ocean habitat.
• Create a report about some of the creatures included in the story.
• The fish have ‘sparkling silver scales’. Why do things sparkle? Can you find out more about materials that reflect light and those that don’t?

Computing

• Create a game in which a fish has to avoid being caught by a shark.
• Create an animation to retell this story.

Design Technology

• Create some fish puppets and use them to retell this story.

Art

• Create your own picture of Rainbow Fish and the others in his school.
• Look at photographs of coral reefs and use them as the starting point for your own artwork.
• Look at the different colours used in the illustrations. Can you use paint to try and mix some of these colours?

Geography

• Find out about environmental issues that are affecting coral reefs. How can people help to protect them?

PSHE

• The other fish aren’t very kind to the little striped fish. How should they have behaved? Can you write a story with similar issues?
• Carry out some role-play activities involving Rainbow Fish, the little striped fish and the other fish to investigate their actions and emotions at different points in the story.