Storytime Plan Theme 8
Exploring and enjoying nature
Launch the Theme Introduce the Poster If possible, share some smooth stones from a natural body of water. Ask children to use describing words for the stones and explain how water wore away the rough edges. Then display and talk about the poster “Splish! Splash!”
This theme features simple stories about animals that live in or near water in the natural world. The books focus on meeting animals that share a river, counting a fish family, and celebrating the amazing variety of life found in the sea. As children notice the world around them in books and in real life, they become more aware of how they affect others and things in nature. Skills Focus • Vocabulary: Naming & Describing Words • Comprehension: Relate to Own Experience • Print Awareness: Distinguish Words & Numbers • Social & Emotional: Sharing
TM & © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. Illustrated by Hector Borlasca.
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This picture shows a pond, which is like a small lake. What is happening at the pond? What natural bodies of water do we have in our community (e.g., pond, river, stream, lake, spring, ocean, etc.)?
Talk About Water Animals Talk with children about animals that live in or near water.
What animals live in or near water? What do you know about them? What types of water animals have you seen before?
Resources
Play Fish School Help children understand specific features of the natural world by inviting them to pretend they are a school of fish. Explain that a group of fish that swims together is called a “school.” Create fish-shaped name tags from three colors of construction paper— red, yellow, and green. Once children have their tags, challenge them to “swim” around to find other fish with the same color and gather with them in a group. Play the CD Play the song “O Rio Tem Cachoeira” from the Brazilian Playground CD. Invite children to sing and dance along, or to pretend they’re “swimming” to the music! First Language Support • When possible, translate key words that will help children better enjoy and understand the stories. For example, for Spanish speakers: fish = el pez ; pond = la laguna ; river = el río • Invite parents and families to share how to say the word water in their first language. Post these words on a nature word chart.
• Big Book: My River by Shari Halpern • Read-Aloud: Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood • Read-Aloud: One Nighttime Sea by Deborah Lee Rose • Music: Brazilian Playground • Character Cards: Ten Little Fish • Poster: Splish! Splash! Refer to the Program Guide for Family Time and additional activities.
STORYTIME 1
After Reading Aloud Talk About It! The simple language in this story includes important possessive words— my , our , and mine . Talk with children about why each animal and plant might believe the river belongs to it. Help children make connections to how they feel about where they live.
The big book, My River , introduces plants and animals that all share a river. We see that these living things make up a community and that the river belongs to all of them.
Why do you think the animals say, “It’s my river”? How is the river everyone’s river? How many people share your home?
Invite children to act like water animals as they sing a song to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus.” Feel free to add your own verses to continue the song!
Sharing Nature Take a nature walk and help children notice animals and/or plants that share the same environment (e.g., bugs under a rock, plants in a garden, creatures in a tree, etc.) Invite children to draw a picture of the shared natural environment. Reread The simple and largely patterned text and rich concepts make this an excellent book to use for echo-reading. Read the line on each page and then have children repeat. Have the whole class join in on the last two sentences (“Whose river is it?” “It’s everyone’s river!”). English Language Development Use the glossary at the end of the book to review new vocabulary words with English learners. Invite children to share the words in their home language, too. Tapping into children’s knowledge in their home language enhances their understanding of the story and helps broaden the experience of their classmates. Research Connection Young children are developing social and emotional skills that enable them to strengthen their own identity as well as build positive relationships with others. This book’s central ideas of home and sharing can support children’s social and emotional learning as well as their earth science knowledge.
The Fish in the Pond The fish in the pond goes,
Splish, splash, splish (make splashing motion) Splish, splash, splish (make splashing motion) Splish, splash, splish (make splashing motion) The fish in the pond goes, Splish, splash, splish (make splashing motion) All morning long! The frog in the pond goes, Hop, hop, hop (make hopping motion) Share the Big Book Introduce My River Show children the book cover and read aloud the title and author’s name as you track the print with your finger. What living things do you see in and around this river? Yes, there’s a fish, a plant, and a dragonfly. Let’s read to learn who else shares this river. Read Interactively As you read, help children pause and think about each living thing that needs the river. What is this animal doing? Why do you think it needs the river? Why do you think these plants need the river?
STORYTIME 2
After Reading Aloud Talk About It! Help children recall what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. How many fish are there in the beginning? How many fish leave the group each time we turn the page? What happens when one fish is left all alone? How is the end of the story like the beginning? Act It Out Use the character cards to retell the story. Invite children to take turns holding the cards and acting out the story as you say the rhyme. You can also help children tell new number stories using the fish character cards. Reread Focus on rhyme as you reread the book. Invite children to call out the new number word as you turn each page. Make a connection between the number word and the word it rhymes with by saying both words together: line , nine . English Language Development Use hands-on materials to support children’s comprehension as you read the story. Make fish- shaped cutouts from construction paper, ten per child. Have children place their fish in a line. Tell children to take away or add fish to match the story action as you read aloud. Research Connection Just as children learn letters, letter names, and that letters can represent sounds and spoken words, they learn the same about numbers. First, children learn that there is a set of fixed number names and that the numbers are ordered. Then they learn that each number name matches a quantity of things. As with alphabet knowledge, number knowledge grows with exposure and practice over time.
Ten Little Fish is a fun counting rhyme that tells the story of little fish swimming through the sea and what happens to them one by one.
Invite children to be fish. Model acting out the sequence of jumping in and out of the water, swimming forward and backward. Fish Fun Let’s pretend we’re all swimming in water. Let’s jump in. Splash! Now, let’s swim forward. Splish! Splash! Now, let’s swim backward. Splish! Splash! Finally, let’s swim back to our places. Swimming is so much fun! Share the Read-Aloud Introduce Ten Little Fish Read aloud the title and the author’s and illustrator’s names on the front cover. Then turn to the back cover and read aloud the rhyme. Do you see ten little fish swimming in the sea? Help me count them. Let’s read to find out what sorts of fun these ten little fish have! Read Interactively As you read this counting story, use an expressive voice to build suspense for what happens next. Let’s count these little fish. Say the numbers with me as I point to each fish. This little fish is leaving the line. What is it doing? Where is it going? Now how many fish will be left? Let’s count to see.
STORYTIME 3
After Reading Aloud Talk About It! This book offers, in poetic language, real information about sea animal life. Invite children to talk about the pages in the book they like most or have questions about and refer to the notes at the back of the book for more information about the animals.
One Nighttime Sea is a counting rhyme about creatures that move through the sea during the night while we sleep. The book counts up to ten and back down again, showing number words and numerals to match the beautiful illustrations.
Which sea animal did you find most interesting? Why?
Engage children with this action rhyme, making snapping and catching movements. There Was a Little Turtle There was a little turtle. He lived in a box. He swam in a puddle.
Which animal did you already know about? Which animal would you like to learn more about? Label What You See Take a quick walk outside. Point out natural objects and help children make illustrated labels for these items. Have children dictate the labels using one-word descriptions (plant, fish, flower, etc.). Reread This book features interesting and challenging vocabulary. Guide children to understand the words as you reread each page. Help children use the illustrations to better understand new or unfamiliar words. The picture shows turtles jumping into the water. The text says they plunge into the surf. What do you think plunge means? English Language Development Reinforce the number words for one through ten by having children count on their fingers first in their home language and then in English. Encourage children to use their fingers and join in saying the English number words as you read. Research Connection Cardinality is the idea that the last number counted represents the total quantity, regardless of the type of item being counted. Help children develop cardinality by exploring pages that show the same number but with different animals.
He climbed on the rocks. He snapped at a mosquito. He snapped at a flea. He snapped at a minnow. He snapped at me. He caught the mosquito. He caught the flea. He caught the minnow. But he didn’t catch me!
Share the Read-Aloud Introduce One Nighttime Sea Show the cover and read the title and author’s/illustrator’s names.
This otter is floating in the nighttime sea. Let’s read the story to find out who else is awake in the sea at night.
Read Interactively As you read, help children notice the number words and numerals.
I see the number word in capital letters and the numeral in the corner of the page. Let’s count the animals that show that number.
Connect the Stories Display the books and talk about how all three connect to the natural theme of animals and water.
What water animals are in all three books? What did you learn about the water animals from each book?
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