Cover of Do Unto Otters
Do Unto Otters
📚
Friendship 3rd & 4th Grade
By Laurie Keller

Book Guide

Do Unto Otters

A story that explores friendship and opens a conversation with your child.

★★★★★ Loved by families
Read the Guiding Questions Find this book →
♥ This book teaches: Friendship. showing up for someone else.

Before, During & After Reading

Guiding Questions for Parents.

Definition: A friendship occurs when two or more people are able to experience respect, trust, and kindness in their relationship.  In short: Build bonds that last forever.   Summary: The wise saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” is the theme of this story. But there’s one significant change - “others” is substituted by the word “otters.” Otters are playful creatures that live near the water and eat crustaceans like clams and crayfish. For those who like to laugh and learn, there are lots of good tips, funny plays on words, and humorous illustrations about how to be a good friend and neighbor.     Lesson Objectives: 
  1. Students will be motivated to practice greater consideration for others, including saying please and thank you frequently  (in five different languages). 
  2. Teachers can guide students in discussions about practicing the golden rule. Students can create stories and act out situations in which characters do and don’t practice the golden rule. 
  Guiding Questions: 
  1. Describe what an otter is. If you don’t know, look it up. 
  2. What is the Golden Rule? 
  3. How do you say please and thank you in a language other than your own? 
  4. Do you think that practicing the Golden Rule in your relationships will help you get better at making and keeping good friends? Why or why not? 
  5. What are three ways to show that you are honest? 
  6. What are three ways to show you’re considerate? 
  7. What are some ways to show you know how to share? 
  8.  Are you able to apologize when you do something wrong? Explain your answer. 
  9. Are you able to forgive someone when they hurt you? Explain your answer. 
  10. Using some of the tips in this story, how could you be a better friend?  I could do this ….more often. I could do this …less often. (fill in the blanks)
🌿   Virtue Connection: Friendship means showing up for someone else, consistently.

Hands-On Practice

Activities for This Story.

Activity: Students listen to the resource video and are launched into a game of Golden Rule Bingo. They review the definition of the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you have them do for you,” and the examples that are written in the Bingo squares. 

Materials needed: the resource video; the teacher-made Golden Rule Bingo boards, one per student - vary the arrangement of the Golden Rule examples on the student boards so it can be a contest, meaning that one student will achieve Bingo before the others because of the varied placement of the examples on their board; a teacher’s copy of all the Bingo examples to read off as they play the game - cut the examples up so the teacher can pull them randomly out of a hat; chips to mark the Bingo boards
I do what I promise to do I say please when asking for something I say thank you when someone does something for me I play fair and don’t cheat in games and sports 
I admit when I make a mistake I apologize when I’ve hurt someone  I take turns  I do acts of kindness
I respect others and don’t tease I forgive someone who has hurt me When I have a conflict with someone, I try to resolve it I don’t ask anyone to let me copy their test or homework
I respect all people and I don’t tease anyone I say “excuse me” when I should I am friendly to new students  I show respect to my parents and teachers


Directions: Show the resource video and launch the Golden Rule Bingo game after reviewing the definition of the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would want them to do for you.” Call on students to take turns reading through the examples that are written in the Bingo squares. Tell them to read the example and give a quick explanation of why they’d want to be treated that way using this format and responding to these questions: What is an example of this? How do I feel if another treats me like this? How do I feel if someone doesn’t treat me like this? Sample: “I do what I promise to do - when someone promises me that they’ll play with me on the playground, and they follow through on that promise, I feel good. If they go off and play with someone else and forget what they promised, I feel bad.” After discussing each example, give directions for the Golden Rule Bingo game, pass out the cards and chips, and play!  Directions for Golden Rule Bingo: “These are all examples of what it means to treat others the way you want to be treated. When I read an example, place a chip on top of it. When you have filled in a column or a row, call out BINGO! I’ll keep reading examples until everyone’s board is completely filled.” 

Wrap it up: Explain that the purpose of this activity is to have fun learning how to make and keep friends by following the Golden Rule. Let them know that if they want to be a true friend, they need to treat others the way they want to be treated. 

About the Story.

This guide is part of the Values & Virtues library, a free collection of 400+ book guides and activities organized around 12 core virtues for children from pre-K to 6th grade. Each guide includes Guiding Questions designed to open a real conversation with your child in 10 minutes or less.

Read-aloud video · Best with headphones

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