We love a book that has a great plot, but also lends itself to teaching so many different skills. This week we are spotlighting Those Pesky Rabbits because it lends itself to a variety of instructional activities. There are great grammar concepts to teach, important reading strategies to practice, all on top of the story’s sweet message. Those Pesky Rabbits is a book that students in kindergarten to third grade alike will love to laugh along with and enjoy. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
The story Those Pesky Rabbits is about a bear that lives in the middle of nowhere and enjoys being alone. One day, a family of rabbits moves in and they build their house right next to Bear’s. This makes Bear very angry. Soon after they move in, the rabbits start visiting Bear at his house.
First, they ask for honey to bake a cake, then they ask for Bear to help them chop wood, and then they asked if he’d like to swap books. Each time Bear gets angry at the rabbits and does not help them. Finally, the rabbits ask if Bear wants to look at the stars with them. Furious, Bear tells the rabbits he just wants to be left alone. Later one day, Bear hears a soft knock at the door and finds a note and basket from the rabbits. After receiving the basket, Bear realizes that he has been feeling lonely and decides to visit the rabbits.
In the end, Bear realizes that he enjoys spending time with his new neighbors.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Those Pesky Rabbits is a great book to use if you want to discuss friendship and conflict resolution in your class. It also lends itself to many different reading strategies including synthesizing, analyzing setting and illustrations. The best part is, you can use the book for one short lesson, or extend it into several meaningful lessons. Take a look at just some of the skills you can teach.
- Practice the tricky strategy of synthesizing as students reflect on their opinion of Bear throughout the book.
- Look at the illustrations with students and discuss how they are used to convey messages the words might not.
- There is an example of a letter in the book which is a great opportunity to have students write their own letters.
- Engage students in informational writing by having them teach about the story’s lesson.
- Explore past and present verb tense with students.
- Discuss the use of prepositions and prepositional phrases.
- Help students think about friendship and conflict resolution.
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
Our Starts With a Story Book Companion is the only resource you’ll need to teach meaningful and engaging lessons with Those Pesky Rabbits. You will definitely want to add this resource to your classroom!
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- The Bad Seed by Jory John
- Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev
- Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
- The Donkey Egg by Janet Stevens
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!
