Swimmy loves to explore the beautiful sea but there is a problem.  How to keep the bigger fish from eating him and his friends.  Join Swimmy on his adventure and see how he solves this difficult problem.

Materials

•             26 fish colored in a variety of colors (red, yellow, blue, green, orange, and purple)  Put alphabet letters on the fish
•             2 whole fish, those with large scales work best
•             Checkerboard fish pattern

Vocabulary

•             Fierce (to be really aggressive and angry)
•             Marvel (to see something really wonderful)
•             School of fish (a group of fish that swim together)

Before Reading the Story

             When everyone is sitting down and ready to listen, tell the children that you have a problem.  Explain your problem and let the children help come up with solutions to solve it (I wanted to go outside to play with my friend but I could not find my shoes and it was cold outside; the big kids in the neighborhood keep teasing me because I wear glasses etc).   Encourage the children to come up with a variety of solutions. Remind them that at school solutions means solving a problem without violence. Show the children the cover of the book and tell them that the story today is about a fish named Swimmy who has a problem.  Let’s read the story and see if he can come up with a good solution.

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; progresses in responding sympathetically to peers who are in need, upset, hurt, or angry; and in expressing empathy or caring for others. AND Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Reading the Story

            Make sure that you stop throughout the story and ask questions to know children’s comprehension (Do you know what it means when the author says a school of fish?  How do you think Swimmy felt when all his brothers and sisters were eaten by the big tuna fish?  Look at Swimmy swimming in the ocean, what do you think marveled means?  Have you ever seen something marvelous?   How do you think Swimmy will get his new friends to swim with him?

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions; and for other varied purposes.

After Reading the Story

            Go back through the story and re-look at the pictures.  Can the children name any of the marvelous creatures that Swimmy saw in the sea? 

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

Give each child a colored fish.  Have the children stand up and swim their fish behind their back, through their legs, over their head, around their foot, etc.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; builds an increasing understanding of directionality, order, and positions of objects, and words such as up, down, over, under, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front, behind.

            Ask all the orange fish to swim over to the door and the blue fish to swim to the table.  Choose a destination for each color fish and see if the children can follow through without your help.  Tell all the red fish to hold their fish high and the blue fish to hold their fish low.  Ask all the green and purple fish to swim together. 

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions.

Discovery

            Bring in 2 whole fish (those with large scales work best).  Have the children paint the fish with tempera paint and then put a piece of light construction paper on top.  The child presses down on the paper and gently rubs it.   Peel the paper off of the fish and you will have a fish print.  Although this is messy, children seem to really enjoy this project.  Ask a local fish market for a donation or find a fisherman who will share his catch with you.  With the children you can name the parts of the fish from their print.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes. AND Creative Arts/Art; begins to understand and share opinions about artistic products and experiences.

Music and Movement

Ask the children to stand up because you are going to pretend to be a school of fish.  First everyone needs to put their wrists on their hips and move them back and forth.  These are your fish gills.  Now everyone needs to sway to and fro because fish kind of wiggle through the water.  And don’t forget to make your fish lips by sucking your cheeks in.  Now you are fish but does anyone know what a school of fish is?  Explain that a school of fish swims through the water together.  Put on some instrumental music (classical) and have the children follow you about the room swimming close together.  Can they stay in a group without falling behind or banging into one another? 

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Teach your children a fish song like All the Fish are Swimming in the Water   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60RRRq4dJ58       

All the fish are Swimming in the Water

All the fish are swimming in the water, swimming in the water, swimming in the water

All the fish are swimming in the water, bubble, bubble, bubble, pop!

The big old fish are swimming in the water, swimming in the water, swimming in the water.

The big old fish are swimming in the water, bubble, bubble, bubble, pop!

Tiny fish are swimming in the water, swimming in the water, swimming in the water.

Tiny fish are swimming in the water, bubble, bubble, bubble, pop!

Put palms together and move back and forth.  This is the sign language word for fish.  When you say pop!  Have the children clap their hands.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity.

Play the song Cooperation and let the children dance to the beat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94klgOOoX5c.

Creative Arts/Movement; expresses through movement and dancing what is felt and heard in various musical tempos and styles.

Blocks

            In the story the seaweed grew tall.  Can you stand your blocks up tall and make a seaweed forest? Can the child stack blocks 10 plus high?

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

Art

            Put large fish shapes at the easel.  Only put out primary colors (red, yellow, blue, and white).  Encourage the children to mix the colors together to make new colors.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Sand and Water

            Any fish toys that you have to put in the water.  Small fish nets to scoop.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

Library and Writing

            Use the colored fish that you made for rug time.  Have the children help attach paperclips to each one.  Lay on the floor alphabet side up.  Attach a magnet to a string at one end and a small stick at the other.  Children can then fish for letters or colors.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity , and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer. AND Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name.

Dramatic Play

Math and Manipulatives

            Use the checkerboard fish pattern to color the fish.  Help the children start their patterns and see if they can follow through on it.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; enhances abilities to recognize, duplicate, and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials.

Outdoor Play

            Use the movement activity of swimming as a school to get to and from the playground.  See if the children can move once around the playground before they leave off to play.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary. AND Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; shows increasing abilities to use compromise and discussion in working, playing, and resolving conflicts with peers.

Transitions

Put the alphabet fish on the wall with tape where the children can easily see them. Ask a child to find the fish that starts with the letter of their name. The fish that has two of the same letter in your name (Sally), etc.

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; increases in ability to notice the beginning letters in familiar words.