After reading "The Rainbow Fish," talk about happy feelings. Give students a cut-out fish shape, aluminum foil scales and a paper that says, "I feel happy when ... " with space for three sentences. Instruct students to finish the sentences and to glue on the fish shape and scales. Have them color the picture then however they wish.
Collect photos or drawings of fish. A great option would be to take a field trip to an aquarium or fish store and take digital photos. Otherwise, print up pictures from websites or cut them from magazines. Then have students think of various categories or descriptions of fish. Examples include biggest, smallest, most colorful, weirdest, and so on. Have the picture displayed on a small poster in the room with the describing word.
Talk to the class about friendship and what they would or wouldn't be willing to share with a friend. Then read the book "The Rainbow Fish" together. Afterwards, pass out shiny paper scales and have the students write a word or sentence that describes a trait they wish for in a friend. Next, have the students glue or tape their scale onto a large fish drawn on poster board.
Construct a foil pond area on the floor and cut out some shiny, heavy tagboard fish with a magnet glued to their sides. Take vocabulary words from the book "The Rainbow Fish," and when a child correctly reads a word, they get to fish for a turn. The next player gets a chance to read another vocab word and win a turn to fish. Play continues until the pond is empty.