The Ugly Duckling is part of our Starts With a Story Collection, which includes more than 600 picture book companions based on high quality children’s literature that support you in delivering highly-engaging interactive read alouds with follow up activities. Learn more about this children’s book below! - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
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SUMMARY
"The Ugly Duckling" by Jerry Pinkey takes place in the midst of a beautiful summer day, a duck rests upon her six eggs. Five of them were small, while one was oddly shaped and once the eggs hatched, it was clear that the oddly shaped egg contained an ugly duckling. Other ducks made fun of him, hens pecked at him, and his siblings were mean to him. Finally, he ran away from home, venturing to a cottage in the woods. There, he stayed with an elderly lady, a cat, and a hen but he still he felt out of place and left to venture in the pond. during the harsh winter he saw beautiful swans flying above him, but he dared not to follow out of fear. He was freezing and, with a few events, just survived the brutal weather. Once spring came, he joined the whirring birds flying and he was amazed by these creatures. That is, until a girl noticed that he was the best looking of all the birds in the pond. He recognized that without all of his struggles, he would never had known what true happiness was. And this- this was exactly it.
 USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Our read aloud lesson plans for this picture book come with reading comprehension questions (with sample student responses), 30 writing prompts, teaching ideas for grammar skills, social emotional learning discussion ideas, and more. Check out our list below to get a sneak peek at some of the skills this resource teaches.
- Have students sequence the important events in the story. This is an important skill when it comes to retelling a story.
- Analyze the setting of this book. Discuss where and when it takes place.
- Teach a lesson on making connections to enhance comprehension.
- Help students to analyze what the author’s purpose for writing the book might be.
- Complete a mini lesson on synonyms.
- Discuss a social emotional learning concept such as resiliency.
- Lead a class discussion on the importance of individuality.
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
- 30Â 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 book is a must have for your school or classroom library. Your students are going to love completing these activities for the book and you will be impressed with how much they learn. You will want to read this book to your class every year.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will love the similar books listed below, which can all be found in our free picture book list.
- Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andrade
- Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell
- Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
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!
