Notes
| Synopsis | A story told in rhyming couplets about hope over fear and that good comes after bad. |
| Lesson access | via url-link or QR-Code |
| Equipment | tablet, phone or laptop, internet connection, perhaps headphones |
| Resources | dictionary (online or paper), craft materials |
| Language Skills | listening, vocabulary (verbs), speaking (read along) |
| Cross-curricular Links | art, science |
| Values | resilience, friendship and positivity |
| World Day | National Find A Rainbow Day; National Day of Hope |
STEP 1: Look at the Cover
| Notice | What do you see on the front cover? What do you notice about the fox? Where do you think they are? Where are the fox and the girl sitting? |
| Personalise | Have you ever seen a rainbow? Where was it? How do rainbows make you feel? |
| Personalise | Have you ever seen a fox? Where and at what time of the day? |
| Translanguage | Find three adjectives to describe a fox in your language and in English |
| Predict | Why do you think the girl and the fox are together? |
| Think | What do you think ‘rain before rainbows’ and ‘clouds before sun’ mean? |
| Check | Look up the meaning of these words: to creep in, to duel, to sow. |
Step 2 and Step 3: Listen and Watch
| Part A | Listen and watch for general understanding and enjoyment. |
| Part B | Listen and watch again and answer the questions, pause and replay when you need to. |
| What is the girl looking back at? How do you think the girl and the fox feel? | |
| What do the fox and the girl climb? Why? | |
| What type of dreams does the girl have? | |
| How do dark days make the girl feel? Do they make you feel the same way? | |
| Who do the girl and the fox fight against in dark days? | |
| From 0.55 – 1.22 Smriti Halls reads in a louder and faster voice. How does this make you feel? | |
| What sound does thunder make? What actions do the lightening, the wind and the waves make? | |
| What helps you when you are in trouble? | |
| Which friends help the girl and the fox? | |
| What can you find with the help of friends? | |
| What happens in the story after a dark day filled with clouds and rain? | |
| How do the colours change during the story? How do they make you feel? What kind of ending do the colours suggest? |
Step 4: Add your Voice
| Review & Make Notes | Watch again and write down or draw the different types of weather you can see. Which type of weather is your favourite? Why? |
| Review & read along | Read along with the author as she reads the beginning of the story. Can you hear which words rhyme?Rain before rainbows. |
| Remember | Can you remember any other words from the story which rhyme? |
| Create | Do you know any words which rhyme with fox? Can you create a rhyme with your rhyming words? |
| Research | The rainbow has 7 colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Do you know why? |
| Think | During the Covid-19 pandemic, many children have been drawing pictures of rainbows and displaying them in their windows. Do you know why? Have you drawn a rainbow? |
| Think | What does the rainbow mean for you? Can you see a connection between the rainbow and the feelings of the girl in the story? |
| Crafts | What would your own rainbow look like if you could choose your own colours? Draw, paint or make a collage. |
| Think | What do you think is the message of this story? |
| Your Opinion | Which is your favourite part of the story? Why? |
Step 5: Share and Evaluate your work
| Share | Send your work to your teacher or share in your virtual classroom. |
| Evaluate | Complete the evaluation sheet to reflect on your learning. |
Need Help ?
Part A: Read and complete. You can write or say your answers. You can do this on your own, in pairs or in a class discussion.
Part B: Think about how well you did. Choose and draw the smiley face that fits best.
Want More?
| 1 | Have you ever been out in the countryside at night? How does it make you feel? Draw a picture of the countryside at night. |
| 2 | At the end of the story we see the plant growing process. Sowing and planting. Roots before shoot. Stem before flower. Leaf before fruit. Choose a fruit or vegetable from your own country and draw and label its growing stages from seed to fruit or vegetable. |
| 3 | Watch the video of children in the UK drawing rainbows during the April 2020 lockdown Click Here Draw your own ‘keep safe’ rainbow. |
Learn Sign Language
If you enjoyed the read aloud, why not learn some Sign Language. Watch Leanne sign Rain before Rainbows and learn how to sign: rain, rainbow, clouds and sun.
©Ellis, G. & Gruenbaum, T. for PEPELT 2020
Rain Before Rainbows by Smriti Prasadam-Halls and illustrated by David Litchfield published by Walker Books 2020
Video © Peters Storytime in Partnership with Walker Books
Picturebooks in European Primary English Language Teaching 