An engaging read aloud can be a gateway to many different learning opportunities for early elementary students. One story that I have always loved reading with students is I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! There are so many ways that you can enhance the read aloud experience with additional mini-lessons. In this post, I’m going to share some of my favorite I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More activities that are the perfect complement to this read aloud.
The Importance of Read Alouds
Students can strengthen their comprehension skills while listening to stories being read out loud. As we have seen illustrated in Hollis Scarborough’s popular infographic of the Reading Rope, language comprehension is one of the essential strands of reading development.
It’s important for us to help young students develop this comprehension strand long before they’re decoding words, and read alouds are a great way to do it!
I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More Activities
I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! is a clever, colorful picture book written by Karen Beaumont. In this story, a young boy gets his painting supplies confiscated for painting the walls of his house. However, he sneaks his supplies out of the closet and begins to cover himself in paint, one body part at a time.
To make this read aloud even more engaging for your students, you might decide to sing the text of the book to the tune of the “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More” folk song.
While this is a fun story to share with your students as-is, you can enhance the read aloud experience with a variety of activities and mini-lessons. Here are just a few of my favorites:
1. Inferring
The only reason the boy from the story finally decided not to paint anymore is because he ran out of paint. This provides a fun opportunity for students to practice making inferences.
Students can think about whether or not the boy’s mom will buy him more paint now that he has run out. They can use evidence from the story to support their answer. It’s always so fun to see what the students come up with, especially the illustrations that go with their sentences.
Young students can also express their thoughts with just pictures if they’re not quite ready to write sentences.
2. Retelling & Sequencing
Another important skill that your students can practice is retelling the story. Both oral and written communication require sequencing skills, which students can practice as they put story events in order while retelling.
You can use picture cards to put the story events in order as a class. After putting all of the cards in the correct sequence on a pocket chart, students can work with partners or individually on their own sequencing activity. The anchor chart you created as a class will be a handy reference for the students as they work!
3. Summarizing
After retelling the story events in order, students can then practice summarizing the story. You can use a framework to help students summarize the most important details from the story:
- Somebody: Who was the main character?
- Wanted: What did the character want?
- But: What was the problem in the story?
- So: How was the problem solved?
- Then: How did the story end?
You can add these questions to an anchor chart and discuss the answers as a class. Students can then practice summarizing the story out loud to a partner, referencing the anchor chart as needed.
4. Connecting
Making connections is an important part of comprehension! You can help students practice connecting with the story by asking them what would happen at their house if they painted all over themselves. Would they lose video game privileges? Would they have to clean up the mess?
It’s fun for students to put themselves in the situation from the book and imagine what would happen in real life. They’re always so excited to write and draw their connections to the story.
5. Opinion Writing
There are many different fun things to notice about this story. First, the paint added to each body part is more than just a mess. In fact, many of the illustrations show that the boy has painted colorful designs and patterns on himself!
With so many things to notice about this story, your students will likely have a favorite part! This can serve as inspiration for an opinion writing activity. Students can write and illustrate a sentence describing what they liked most about the story and why.
6. I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More Craft
Finally, you can incorporate some fine motor practice into your day with a fun craft inspired by I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More!
Students can use watercolor paint to decorate their own self-portraits. They can decorate each body part just like the boy from the story, using their own designs and patterns. I love the little hand cutouts!
The self-portraits are the perfect craft project for any time of year, especially during seasons when you could use a pop of color. The completed crafts look so cheerful on a bulletin board display!
Printable Activities for I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More!
If you would like to share this story with your class, I would highly recommend adding some engaging mini-lessons and activities to make the most of your read aloud. It doesn’t take long to put together these lessons! In fact, I have assembled a resource with everything you need to create a meaningful read aloud experience for your students, from lesson plans to printable activities to assessments. All you need to do is add the book!
These I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More activities are included in a set with three other engaging read aloud options. The set includes research-based activities and lesson plans for all four books. Just head over to my TPT store to take a closer look at everything included in this time-saving resource.
Save These I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! Activities
Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite teaching board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these activities when you’re looking for a fun way for students to practice important comprehension skills.
