Teach Word Recognition Skills with this Tale of Jeremy Fisher Lesson Plan for an Elementary Class

Teach Word Recognition Skills with this Tale of Jeremy Fisher Lesson Plan for an Elementary Class
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The beauty of this lesson about one of the Beatrix Potter characters is kids have so much fun listening to the funny story, they don’t realize how much they are learning about vocabulary development and word recognition skills. It’s quick and easy to present, and requires little pre-class preparation or supplies.

Supply List for Jeremy Fisher Lesson

You will need:

  • The Complete Tales of Peter Rabbit and Other Favorite Stories, Beatrix Potter, [Running Press, 1986]
  • Drawing paper
  • Crayons or marker
  • Flash cards for these words: frog, trout, rat, fish, newt, tortoise, water-beetle, buttercups, larder, minnow, macintosh, galoshes

Make flash cards from blank index cards by printing words on the front of the card and gluing an appropriate picture on the back. Including a picture with the word helps word recognition and reinforces visual learning. Laminate the cards for durability.

Discussion Questions for Jeremy Fisher

Try these questions to engage the kids:

  • What is the name of the frog in the story?
  • What does Jeremy Fisher like to do when it rains?
  • How many of you like to go fishing – why or why not?
  • How many fish did he catch?
  • How many fish caught him?
  • What kind of sandwich did he eat for lunch?
  • Would you like to eat a butterfly sandwich – why or why not?
  • What did Jeremy and his friends eat for dinner?
  • What kinds of foods do you like to eat?

Vocabulary Activities

Try these fun classroom activities to reinforce the lesson:

  1. Use the flash cards and let the children pair up and take turns saying the words.
  2. Write simple sentences on the whiteboard and let students choose the correct card to fill-in the blank. For instance:
  3. Jeremy Fisher was a ________. Or Sir Isaac Newton was a _________.
  4. Let each child choose a flash card and draw a picture representing the word.

Lesson Extension Activities

If time permits, use these fun activities to encourage deeper learning and retention.

  1. Play the “Hot Potato” game but instead of a potato, use a “hot frog”. Cut a large frog shape out of poster board, and color it green with light brown spots. Play the song “Three Blind Mice” while the kids pass the frog around the circle. The person holding the frog when the music stops is out. Continue until all the kids are out.
  2. Give each child drawing paper and crayons or markers. Ask them to draw their favorite thing from the story. Guide them by asking questions like: “Tell me what you liked best about the story. Would you like to draw that?”

Try some or all of these books to reinforce the elements of this lesson:

  • Oscar & the Frog: A Book about Growing, Geoff Waring, [Walker Books, Ltd., 2008]
  • The Speed Trail: a Feather, Fur, and Frog’s Hair Adventure, D. C. Dubois, [CreateSpace, 2009]
  • Four Freckled Frogs: a Book about Consonants, [Chrysalis Education, 2004]

If you found this lesson plan based on Beatrix Potter characters useful in your classroom, you might like to try these other lesson plans based on Beatrix Potter books.

This post is part of the series: Teacher Lesson Plans Beatrix Potter Books Unit

Here are teacher lesson plans for books by Beatrix Potter like the Tale of Peter Rabbit and The Tale of Jeremy Fisher.

  1. Tale of Jeremy Fisher: Lesson Plan to Encourage Word Recognition Skills and Vocab Development
  2. An Grade School Lesson Plan Based on The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher