Children's Literature

Integrated Literature Project:

Ten Little Fish

By: Audrey Wood

Title: Ten Little Fish

Author: Audrey Wood

Publisher: The Blue Sky Press, New York

Copyright Date: 2004

ISBN: 0-439-63569-1

Summary of the Story:

· Ten Little Fish is a simple book about counting. The ten little fish explore the ocean and come upon a few surprises along the way. They go from ten fish to one fish and back again. This book makes counting fun and exciting.

Activity 1: Fishy Math

What the child will learn (objectives/standards):

· Children will discover an interesting and new way to add.

· Children will make a graph.

Materials you will need:

· Fish (of various colors) with magnetic tape on the back

· Chalk Board/Dry Erase Board

· Paper

· Markers

· Pencil

What to do (procedures-opening, teaching sequence, closure):

· Children will have previous knowledge of adding and graphing.

· Opening: Students will review what they have previously learned about addition and graphing. Students will then reflect alternative ways to explore addition and graphing.

· Teaching Sequence: Teacher will arrange various numbers of fish on the board.

_____red fish + _____blue fish= ____ fish in all

Students can count, record, and calculate their answers in groups or individually. Students may use small chalk boards or white boards to work their problems.

· Students can also group the fish by color and make various graphs of the fish. Students can place the fish groups (on the board) in horizontal or vertical lines. Students will then record the amount of fish in each line. Students can also make pie/line graphs on paper and color the parts in coordination with the color of the fish.

Something to think about (follow-up):

· Students can expand upon this lesson in many ways. Students can use this lesson to do the next lesson present in this unit and write stories about what happened in their story problems.

Activity 2: Story Telling

What the child will learn (objectives/standards):

· Children will learn story writing skills.

· Children will learn to apply their grammatical skills.

· Children will learn to connect what they have learned in math to other curriculum areas.

Materials you will need:

· Paper

· Pens/Pencils

· Math problems from the previous lesson Fishy Math

What to do (procedures-opening, teaching sequence, closure):

· Students will take previous math problems from the lesson Fishy Math and create their own story problems. The stories the students create will tell the story, make the problem, and conclude their story.

· An example is: One day 2 blue fish went swimming, 3 red fish decided to join them. Now there are 5 fish swimming to sea.

· Students can expand upon the story and include why the 2 blue fish went swimming and why the 3 red fish decided to join them. Students can present their stories to the class.

Something to think about (follow-up):

· Students can do story telling with any kind of math problems. It could be fun to make the math problems about many different types of animals, transportation, or people and let the students tell a story about that. Their vocabulary will be broadened and their interest will be kept.

Activity 3: Waves

What the children will learn (objectives/standards):

· Children will learn about the habitats of fish.

· Children will learn about waves.

· Children will make a model of waves.

Materials you will need:

· Plastic Soda Bottles

· Water

· Blue Dye

· Oil

· Glitter/Sequence (optional)

What to do (procedures-opening, teaching sequence, closure):

· Teacher will discuss habitats of fish. Teacher will discuss that some fish live in the ocean while others do not. Children will be asked what they know about waves. Teacher will introduce waves to the students and the class will make wave bottles to model their knowledge. The class will fill a plastic soda bottle half way with blue dyed water. Next, the class will fill the remainder of the bottle with oil and, if desired, add glitter/sequence. The students can now make waves by tilting the bottle. The class will discuss why what is happening in the bottle looks like waves in the ocean.

Something to think about (follow-up):

· This could be used for more than just motion. This could also simply used as a fun arts and craft activity. This could be used to simulate a tornado or to give children an idea of how sound waves move.

Activity 4: Rainbow Fish

What the children will learn (objectives/standards):

· Students will explore a few of the different ways fish look.

· Students will learn why some fish are colored the way they are.

· Students will make their own fish and color it the way they wish.

Materials you will need:

· Coffee Filters (brown or white will work)

· Children’s Markers

· Water

· Wiggley or Paper eye

· Handheld Blow Dryer

· Squirt Bottle (optional)

What to do (procedures-opening, teaching sequence, closure):

· The teacher will have pictures of several fish hanging in the classroom. Students will observe what the fish look like and brainstorm why they think they are all different colors. The class will discuss why they think some fish are darker on top and lighter on the bottom. The teacher will then tell them fish are colored that way as a defense mechanism and it makes it more difficult for people or other fish to find or hurt the fish.

· Students will then receive coffee filters and flatten them out on a plate/piece of paper. The will color the coffee filters roughly with various colors of markers. The students will then wet their coffee filter using either a spray bottle or by flicking drops of water with their hands. Students will blow dry their coffee filter for about 5 minutes on low heat or set their coffee filters outside for a few hours. Once dry, cut out a fish shape from the coffee filter and glue on some small strips and an eye. Students can present their fish.

Something to think about (follow-up):

· This is a fun activity that can be used to talk about diversity and show students that fish (and people) come in all different shapes and colors and each one is special.

Activity 5: Listening to the Ocean

What the children will learn (objectives/standards):

· Students will explain the feelings portrayed by a piece of music.

· Students will learn about different instruments and listen for them in a piece of music.

Materials you will need:

· Song “Under the Sea”

· Something to play the song on

· Pictures of Different Instruments

What to do (procedures-opening, teaching sequence, closure):

· Teacher will explain that hearing a song can sometimes help a person to portray what they are feeling. The teacher will also show the students a few instruments that portray a certain feeling and ask why they think it makes them feel a certain way. Teacher will also explain how a change in musical dynamics can also help convey feelings.

· The class will listen to the song “Under the Sea”. The class will decide what feelings this song conveys. The children will explain what instruments they think help create this feeling and why.

· Finally, the class will be put in groups and get the opportunity to create their own song. They will change the “feeling” of their song by changing the tones of their voices.

Something to think about:

· This lesson could also be used to compare the moods of two songs. You could do this lesson plan and then have the students answer questions to a song that is completely different. It would help children to understand the concept.

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Last Updated: 12.09.06