Swimmy, by Leo Lionni

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.

Fish for Math & Manipulative pattern making. I like to add colored feather to make the tail fin.

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes

Lilly loves school but when her teacher asks her to wait before sharing her new purse, Lilly gets upset and behaves in a way that she later regrets. This story touches upon consequences and forgiveness.

Materials

A pillowcase with some items from the story (quarter, sunglasses, crown, pencil, and familiar items from around your classroom)
2 Copies of plastic purse per child
Two clean egg cartons
10 pennies, 10 nickels, 10 dimes, 10 quarters

Vocabulary

Diva (a famous female singer of pop music)
Jaunty (someone who is cheerful and sure of themself)
Considerate (someone who thinks about how others might feel)
Glittery (covered with sequence so it makes it shiny and sparkly)
Not amused (Thinking that something is not funny)
Lurched (to jerk forward)
Furious (to be very, very angry)
Unique (one of a kind)
Encyclopedias (books that tell about the world)

Before Reading the Story

Begin a discussion about classroom rules. What are some of your hometime rules? What are some of our rules? What would happen if we did not have rules? Note to the children your rule about rug time. Why do you think we have to take turns talking? What would happen if we all talked at once? Explain that you have rules to help keep everyone safe and to make it fair for all children. Ask the children if the think it’s fair if one child gets to do all the talking? If one child gets to always do everything first or do what they want when other children can not? Explain that our story today is about a mouse named Lilly who did not want to follow the rules. What do you think will happen? Let’s read and find out.

Language Development/Speaking & Understanding; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions; and for other varied purposes. AND Literacy/Book Knowledge Appreciation; demonstrates ability to retell and dictate stories from book and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

Reading the Story

Where Mr. Slinger provides a snack that is curly, cheesy, and crunchy. Ask the children to name some foods that are curly, cheesy, and/or crunchy?

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

On the page where Mr. Slinger takes the purse away from Lilly, stop and the children what they think Lilly will do?

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

After Reading the Story

Go back to the page where Lilly draws a picture of Mr. Slinger, how do you think he felt when he found it in his bag? (hurt, sad, feelings). What could you do to make him feel better?

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; progresses in responding sympathetically to peers who are in need, upset, hurt, or angry; and in expressing empathy and caring for others.

Explain that Mr. Slinger forgave Lilly for drawing the not nice picture. Forgiving people is part of being a friend. Not everyone is always going to do exactly what you want when you want to do it. So being able to take turns and share are important things to learn about. Ask the children to share any examples they have of forgiving someone of sharing and taking turns with another. Praise all kind acts by telling the child, that was kind of you, that was being a good friend.

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; shows progress in developing friendships with peers. Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas, and tasks.

Discovery

Hide the items from the story and classroom somewhere where the children can not see them. Place one article in the pillowcase and ask a child to use their hands to feel the object. They may smell and shake the item but they may not look in the pillowcase. Can they name the item? Can they tell you what material it is made from? (plastic, wood, paper, glass stone, etc.) Pull it out and try another.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.

Music and Movement

Say the following poem to the children. After you have said what you are going to buy, invite the children to share their ideas by repeating the poem and adding their name to it.

I found a quarter, I found a quarter

I found a quarter shiny and new.

I’m gonna buy all kinds of ________

That’s what I’m gonna do.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more that one solution to a question, task, or problem. AND Social & Emotional Development; Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Put on some jaunty music and dance!

Creative Arts/Movement; shows growth in moving to different patterns of beat and rhythm in music.

Blocks

While the children are in blocks today, ask them if they can tell you what material the block is made from? Look around for other items in the center, can the children name what they are made from? (wood, plastic, cardboard, rubber, fabric, etc.).

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Art

Lilly’s purse was purple. Put red, blue, and white paint at the easel today for the children to experiment making purple.

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

Give the children a copy of the purse along with old toy catalogs. Encourage them to cut out things they would like and glue them to their purse.

Library and Writing

Add non-fiction books on a variety of subjects. Explain that encyclopedias are books that tell us facts about the world, just like these books. Books that tell real information and not pretend is called non-fiction. Can the children show you examples of fiction and non-fiction?

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows increasing abilities to sort, put in a series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size. AND Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation;progresses in learning how to handle and care for books; knowing to view them one page at a time in sequence from front to back; and understanding that a book has a title, author, and illustrator.

Give the children a copy of the purse along with markers. Ask them to draw what they would put in their purse and dictate their response onto a index card and attach.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; progress in abilities to use writing, drawing, and art tools, including pencils, markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various types of technology. AND Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

Sand and Water

Ask the children if they can remember what color lilly’s purse was (purple)? Ask them what material the purse was made from (plastic)? Add water to the table today and ask the children to help you find either purple or plastic items to add for the play. When they have gathered different purple or plastic items, ask them if they can predict if an item will float or sink in the water. As they discover what items float/sink have them sort into cubbies.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops growing abilities to collect, describe, adn record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

Dramatic Pay

Add any purses that you can find along with toy money, pencils, paper, play glasses, old phone /no battery, play jewelry, small boxes such as altoids, etc. I have found that the children in my class like to squirrel items away inside purses. ( I have found puzzle pieces and playing cards). So provide lots of interesting smaller items that will fit.

Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

Math and Manipulatives

Give a child an egg carton and the coins in a small bowl. Ask them if they can tell you what they are? Can they name the coins? Encourage them to look at the coins and tell you what they see. Ask them to sort the coins by like kinds into the cleaned egg carton.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in a series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size.

Outdoor PLay

Have the children line-up along a fence or wall. Tell them that Lilly used her purse to hold her special things. What can we use outside to hold something with (bucket!)? Have the children divide into teams and have bucket relay races. The children must run, hop, jump to and around a bucket and then come back. A child must run to the sandbox and fill the bucket with sand and bring it back, the next person runs and dumps it. The child must run to the bucket and jump over and them come back, the child must run to the bucket and them drop a rock into it from their waist height or higher, etc..

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills;shows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, and galloping. AND Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation;develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games and using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Transitions

In the story, Lilly said she loved when Mr. Slinger provided “tasty” snacks. Ask the children what they think are tasty school snacks? If you have a cook who prepares the snacks for you, have the children help write her/him a thank you note from the class.

Literacy/Early Writing; develops understanding that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes. AND Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Resources

It’s Mine! by Leo Lionni

Fighting frogs quarrel and quibble all day long. When a heavy rain storm forces them to work together as a team. This book is a good lesson on friendship and cooperation.

Materials

Circles cut in 3-5 sizes

Vocabulary

Quarrel and quibble ( to fight and argue)
Bickering (another word for fighting and arguing)
Definitely (to show that I don’t have to do what you say with your voice)
Subsided (backed off and went down)

Before Reading the Story

Begin a discussion about friendship. That having friends is a nice thing. There are many things that you can do better with a friend than all by yourself. Ask the children if they can think of anything that they enjoy doing with their friends? (I like when my friend pushes me on the swing. I like when Jamie helps me put on the dressups and zippers me. I like Frank cause he helps me draw my name).

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; shows progress in developing friendships with peers.

Explain to the children that friends cooperate with each other. Ask them to help define what cooperation means. (When me and Jose play together in blocks. When I asked Raya for the red crayon and she gave it to me).

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; shows increasing abilities to use compromise and discussion in working, playing, and resolving conflicts with peers.

Introduce the book and explain that this is a story about some frogs who did not want to cooperate.

Reading the Story

On the page where there is only one rock left and there the frogs huddled together, ask the children what they think will happen next?

After Reading the Story

Play Thumbs up-thumbs down with the children. Make up scenarios or things that you have seen the children in your class do. If it is a positive cooperative act, the children give a thumbs up. If it is a negative act, the children give a thumbs down. (Barney asked Alfred for a car and Alfred gave him one. Kerry grabbed the crayon from Lee and said “I want this now” Kim asked if she could paint at the easel and Ann said she could be next.

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; increases in sustained interactions with peers by helping, sharing, and discussion.

Discovery

Show the children the page in the story where the toad appears before them. Explain to the children that frogs and toads are similar but different. https://kidzone.ws/lw/frogs/facts8.htm. Show the children pictures of frogs and toads to look at and compare. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area where a frog or toad can be caught, bring one in for the day for the children to examine.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops increased ability to observe and discuss common properties, differences, and comparisons among objects and materials.

Music and Movement

Sing 5 Little Speckled Frogs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziGG_L9C12o Let the children take turns acting out the frogs.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Sing Mmm ah Went the Little Green Frog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwU3beZ9kcw.

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; progresses in clarity of pronunciation and towards speaking in sentences of increasing length and grammatical complexity.

Sing You Sing a Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTmoAobX5mY. Children can help make up actions to do with the song.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Blocks

Have the children build a pond using the blocks. Can they make the pond in a pattern? Encourage them to add blocks to be a speckled frog and they can pretend to be frogs jumping.

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games or using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Art

Put paper on the easel and tell the children that they are to do cooperative paintings where they work with a friend to make something beautiful.

Creative Art/Art; begins to understand and share opinions about artistic products and experiences. AND Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; increases abilities to sustain interactions with peers by helping, sharing, and discussing.

Library and Writing

Write each child’s name on an index card. Put the cards on the table along with markers. Encourage the children to find their name and to practice writing the names of their friends onto a piece of paper.

Literacy/Early Writing; progresses from using scribbles, shapes, or pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying or writing familiar words such as their own name. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; progresses in abilities to use writing, drawing, and art tools, including pencils, markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various types of technology.

Sand and Water

Water in the table and rubber frogs. Add a stick that floats or a plastic lid that floats along with a rock for the frogs to sit upon. How many frogs can float on the log or sit on the rock? If you do not have frogs, use green one-inch cubes as frogs.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates 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. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increased abilities to combine, separate, and name “how many” concrete objects.

Dramatic Play

Math & Manipulatives

Cut out circles in 3-5 sizes. Remind the children that in the story the pond got bigger and fuller of water when the thunderstorm began. Put one of the largest circles on the table and ask the child if he/she can put the next smaller circle on top and then the next smaller and then the next smaller and then the smallest. Do with squares and triangles also.

Mathematics/ Geometry & Spatial Sense; shows progress in matching, sorting, putting in series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size.

Outdoor Play

Play Leap Frog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj0JBiknaPg Have 2 or 3 children spread out and hunch down very low. The other children then jump over them using their back as support. Take turns being the frogs and the rocks.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Transitions

Ask the children of things they enjoy doing with a friend. Write their responses and hang it on the wall.

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; shows progress in developing friendships with peers.