Making A Fishy Story!

Goal:
The goal of this lesson is to give the students the opportunity to write a book as a class.  The book will be a story created by the students based on their new experiences with fish, but does not necessarily have to stick to facts.  The story can be either goofy or serious.

Objectives:
The student will be able to-
-draw a picture of his or her own fish given a large fish cut out of construction paper
-write a story about their fish that they drew given paper, pencil, and specific instructions
-share their page with the class given the opportunity to sit in the reader?s chair

Materials:
-large fish shaped pieces of light colored construction paper
-markers, crayons, or colored pencils
-reading easel
-large fish cut out for the cover of the book
-other craft items for the children to use to decorate their page

Procedure:
A. Introduce the lesson by having the students reflect on prior experiences.  Ask them if they have picked a favorite fish.  Then question them about the characteristics of that fish.  Finally tell them that they are that fish for an hour and now they must write a story about that fish.
B. Have the students go to various tables where the materials are located by what colors they are wearing(i.e. all who have some blue on can now choose a table to work at).
C. Allow the students a majority of the time to work and color their fish and write their story.  Answer any questions that may arise, and help the children spell words that are difficult.  When all the children have completed their fish have them bring their fish to you one by one and then have them take a seat in the circle area.  Once all the pages are together, begin reading the story.  Have each child come to the front to tell the story that they have written.
D. When all have finished telling their story have the children line up at the door by birthday month to go to the bathroom and get a drink of water.

Assessment:
-Assessment will be based on the effort that was put into making the fish and also whether or not they completed the objectives.
-A checklist will be made in order to mark off each objective that the student completes. Each objective will be marked with a check, plus, or minus in accordance with the effort the child shows while completing the objective.

Assignment:
The students are expected to complete this story in class and share it with the class.

Evaluation of lesson by teacher:
-To be done after the lesson is taught

Extra activities for the gifted student:
-This would be a good opportunity for the gifted students to help others write their stories if they get done before others.
-They could also read some books about fish if they were done early.

Extra activities for the learning different:
-These students could just draw their picture and when it was their turn to tell their story they could tell about their drawing.
-If writing was difficult for them they could tell the story and not have to write it.