Paired Texts > A Fishy Christmas

by Charlotte Blessing 2013

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

Sweetened Condensed Milk
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Vashanti Rahaman

In "Sweetened Condensed Milk," a young boy visits his childhood home in Trinidad and connects with his family and culture.

Pair “Sweetened Condensed Milk” with “A Fishy Christmas” and have students talk about how the characters navigate a different culture. How does Ishmael in “Sweetened Condensed Milk” adjust to life on the island of Trinidad? What does Walter from “A Fishy Christmas” find challenging about living in Zanzibar? What do both characters miss about their lives in the United States, and how are they able to overcome these feelings of being homesick?

4th Grade Short Story 630L
Emergency on the Mountain
Emergency on the Mountain
Kerry McGee

In Kerry McGee's short story "Emergency on the Mountain," a girl studying medicine helps a boy when there is an accident.

Pair “Emergency on the Mountain” with “A Fishy Christmas” and have students discuss how the characters in both texts use their problem-solving skills to help out a friend in need. How does Ana from “Emergency on the Mountain” act quickly to help Rafi when he gets hurt? How do Walter’s family and friends come together to rescue Hamisi’s dad in “A Fishy Christmas”? What lesson do both stories teach about helping others?

4th Grade Short Story 660L
To Catch a Fish
To Catch a Fish
Eloise Greenfield

In "To Catch a Fish," a speaker shares a new way of catching a fish.

Pair “To Catch a Fish” with “A Fishy Christmas” and have students discuss the thematic connections between the two texts. What advice about catching a fish does the speaker in “To Catch a Fish” give to the reader? What lesson about fishing does Hamisi’s father learn in “A Fishy Christmas”? What advice might the speaker from the poem give to Hamisi’s father about catching fish?

3rd Grade Poem