It is so important to teach students about growth mindset. Chances are, you have a student in your class who doesn’t like to try new things or take changes because they are afraid of making a mistake. Read alouds are a great way of teaching students the importance of perseverance and always trying your best. We recommend reading Peter H. Reynolds book Ish. There is so much you can teach with this book in addition to growth mindset. If you students loved The Dot, they will love this book too! - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
Ramon had always loved drawing. He would draw pictures of anything, anywhere. Then one day, his brother laughed at his picture of a vase. Ramon tried and tried to fix his drawing so it would look like the vase of flowers, but he couldn’t get his drawing to look just right. He notices his sister come into the room and take one of his crumpled up drawings.
Ramon chases Marisol up to her room to find that she has hung up all of his crumpled drawings. He tells her the drawing was supposed to be a vase but he couldn’t get it to look right. Marisol tells Ramon she thinks it looks “vase-ish.” This inspires Ramon to take a second look at all of his drawings. He starts to draw again and feel free as he creates imperfect drawings. Ramon learns that things do not have to be perfect and he can still enjoy activities like writing and drawing.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Ish is a great mentor text for teaching students important reading comprehension strategies, writing skills, and grammar concepts. All of our book companions come with activities that relate to these subject areas. Check out just some of the skills included in our book companion!
- Practice identifying important plot features such as problem and solution
- Have students practice making connections as you read the book.
- Integrate expository writing by asking students to explain the events that happened in the book.
- Ask students to write about their opinions toward drawing, painting, etc.
- Use examples from the book to teach a lesson on irregular verbs.
- Teach a lesson on nouns and prepositions.
- Discuss what growth mindset is and why it is important.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
This resource is all you will need when it comes to planning your read aloud for the book Ish. Gone are the days when you have to brainstorm discussion questions, look online for student activities, and spend hours gathering resources. Now everything you need is included in this book companion allowing you to make choices on what you want to use with your students.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
- The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
- The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett
- After the Fall by Dan Santat
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
