Three Hens and a Peacock is a charming tale written by Lester Laminack that tells the story of an unlikely group of farm animals who learn to appreciate each other’s unique talents. The book is filled with delightful illustrations that bring the characters to life and is sure to appeal to readers of all ages.

What is the story about?

Things were quiet on the Tuckers’ farm until…that peacock showed up. The peacock didn’t know what to do on a farm, so he spread his feathers and set to shrieking. When he wandered down to the road, cars began to stop to take a look at him. When they stopped, they bought tomatoes, corn, eggs, and milk. Business was booming…but trouble was brewing in the henhouse.

The hens thought they did all the work and the peacock just strutted around getting all the attention. The dog suggested they trade jobs. The hens could not get a car to stop no matter what they tried. The peacock couldn’t lay an egg no matter how hard he tried! After trading places once more, all was quiet on the farm again. Until…

Here are some fun book activities you can use with Three Hens and a Peacock.

Three hens and a peacock vocabulary

 I chose eight tier 2 words from this story and made a vocabulary card for each one. Each card has a word, a kid-friendly definition, an example sentence, and a photo representing the word. These can be printed or projected from the PDF. There is also a narrated video presentation.

Three Hens and a Peacock book activities

I call these activities “picture book challenges.” The goal is for students to solve the challenges (activities), discover mystery words, and crack a final code word. Why? To discover the answer to a joke! What do you get when you cross a peacock with a porcupine? They will want to complete their work because it feels like a game! Use the digital or the printable version. The digital version is ready to assign in Google and Seesaw.

How does a picture book challenge work?

After being taught the vocabulary words and hearing the book read aloud (a link to the story video is provided), students will:

1. Complete six book activities

2. Discover a mystery word for each challenge

3. Write the mystery words on a recording sheet

4. Crack a final code word that reveals the answer to the joke

Let’s take a look at these reading activities.

First, for challenge #1, students match the vocabulary words and definitions with a cut-and-glue activity. Each puzzle piece has a letter below the word. When the pieces are in the right place on the puzzle mat, these letters make a word. This is the “mystery word” for challenge #1. The pieces also make a picture if they are put together correctly, making it self-correcting.

The activities for challenges 2 – 6 include:

✔️A nonfiction passage about peacocks. Students answer 5 multiple-choice questions and underline the evidence in the passage.

✔️A point of view cut and glue activity

✔️Subject Verb Agreement

✔️Determining if a sentence is complete or run-on

✔️Answering multiple choice comprehension questions about the story

Digital Book activities

A digital option is included in this resource. This picture book challenge can be assigned in Google and in Seesaw.

Writing ideas for Three Hens and a Peacock

⭐The illustration on the last page of this book shows something falling out of a truck, just like the peacock did. This leads the reader to think the story will start all over again!

Circle stories like this one can really help students with making inferences and drawing conclusions.

Your students could write about what they think fell out of the truck at the end of the story.

Prompt them with questions like:

Do you think the peacock will be jealous of whatever it is?

Do you think the peacock and the new farm friend will trade jobs?

What might this new animal be good at?

Will the hens be involved this time?

Pin this image of Three Hens and a Peacock to your favorite classroom or book activities Pinterest board so you can find it when you need it.

🥚🦚 A sequel to this delightful book was published in February of 2023…Three Hens and the Enormous Egg. This time the animals decide to work together to rescue an enormous egg that falls from a truck in the road in front of their farm. They have no idea what’s inside. Working together is, however, not without challenges when three bossy hens are involved. What a great book to use when teaching oviparous animals!!