Elementary teachers looking for lesson plans and activities for Not Quite Narwhal will find this post helpful. It includes resource recommendations, free teaching ideas, and information about the book. You’ll have everything you need to deliver engaging interactive read aloud lessons based on this story.
With themes of inclusion, problem solving, and resiliency, this Not Quite Narwhal picture book by Jessie Sima is a favorite in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. It will be a big hit in your classroom too! Learn more about this book below!
Engage Your Students with Not Quite Narwhal Lesson Plans & Activities in 3 Easy Steps:
- Read a summary of Not Quite Narwhal. You can find it in the section below.
- Check out the teaching ideas for reading comprehension strategies, grammar topics and social emotional learning skills that can be taught using this children’s book.
- Download the book companion to make lesson planning simple with Not Quite Narwhal reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, teaching ideas & no-prep extension activities.
NOT QUITE NARWHAL SUMMARY
This story is about Kelp, a creature in the ocean that lives amongst the narwhals. From a young age, he knew he was different from the others. He could not swim, he did not like the same foods, and his tusks were not as long. Nonetheless, he loved his friends and they loved him.
One day, a current came and swept him to shore. he found a unicorn and realized he was one of them! They looked the same and even loved the same foods. After a while, he realized he missed his friends below the ocean. He returned to be greeted by a beautiful banner and welcoming friends!
Over time, Kelp has to decide if he should stay with his narwhal friends or return to shore with his unicorns. In the end, he decides to bring his two worlds together and create a beautiful, magical, utopia where all are welcome!
NOT QUITE NARWHAL LESSON PLAN IDEAS
Each of our 400+ Starts With a Story book companions come with a teacher’s guide to make lesson planning quick and easy, printable worksheets and digital resources that cover ALL of the standards-based reading comprehension skills.
When it comes to writing lesson plans and finding activities for Not Quite Narwhal, we’ve already done all of the heavy lifting for you.
We found this book was especially good at teaching the topics listed below.
READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
The text-based Not Quite Narwhal reading comprehension questions focus on:
- analyzing illustrations
- comparing and contrasting
- summarizing/retell
LITERATURE-BASED SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING LESSONS
We found this story to be a great SEL picture book to promote:
- inclusion
- problem solving
- resiliency
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY & WORD STUDY
- adjectives
- comma
- speech bubbles
NOT QUITE NARWHAL ACTIVITIES
You’ll receive all of the following resources aligned to the story:
- 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
YOU HAVE 2 OPTIONS! WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK COMPANION?
BOOK INFO FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS
What are the reading levels for Not Quite Narwhal?
- Lexile® Measure: AD590L
- Guided Reading Level: O
- DRA Level: 30
- Accelerated Reader Level (ARC): 3.2-3.3
Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
The book was written and illustrated by Jessie Sima.
What genre is Not Quite Narwhal ?
It is a fiction book. You may want to check out our genre activities or read our blog post, How to Teach Genre to Elementary Students.
How many pages are in the book?
The story is 40 pages long.
