Swimming Towards the End of Summer: Oceans and Whales

The Sea Fairy
by Warwick Goble

Are you looking for some fun additions to finish off your summer programs with the little ones? Here are some songs, fingerplays and story stretches about whales and the ocean to help cool them off during the last hot days of summer!

There are also additional links for two separate blog posts with more fun and some lesson plans, games and activities for the older children.

SONG

A Sea Song (Sung to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus)

The waves at the beach go up and down, up and down, up and down.
The waves at the beach go up and down all day long.

The lobsters on the beach go snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap.
The lobsters on the beach go snap, snap,snap all day long.

The crabs on the beach go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
The crabs on the beach go back and forth all day long.

The clams on the beach will open and shut, open and shut, open and shut.
The clams on the beach will open and shut all day long.

The jellyfish they go wibble, wobble, wibble,wibble, wobble, wibble, wibble, wobble, wibble.
The jellyfish they go wibble, wobble, wibble all day long.

FINGERPLAYS

A Whale Is Not as Small as Us

A whale is not as small as us (shake head and finger)
Most whales are bigger than a bus! (stretch arms out wide)
A whale is not like a fish in the sea (shake head and finger)
A whale breathes air like you and me.(take deep breath)
A whale can't walk upon the ground (shake head and finger)
A whale must swim to get around (make swimming motions)
A whale is a mammal just like you and me, (nod head and point to self and children)
But his home is in the deep blue sea! (make wave motions with hand)

I Walked to the Beach

I walked to the beach, (Swing arms and walk in place)
And what did I see? (Put hands over eyes, looking)
A lot of little fish, (Place hands together, wiggle)
Looking at me! (Point to self)
I jumped into the water, (Jump)
And splashed all around. (Put palms down; make splashing motions.)
The fish swam away, (Place hands together; wiggle)
And didn't make a sound! (Put fingers to lips)  

STORY STRETCH

Ocean Motion  (To the tune of Hokey Pokey)

You put your crab claws in,
You take your crab claws out,
You put your crab claws in,
And you snap them all about....
You do the ocean motion and you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about! (Make wave motions with the hands as you turn around)

Swish your eel's tail in..out....sting it all about
Show your shark's teeth...bite them all about
Put your star fish up......down......flop it all around (spread hand wide to be the star fish)
Reach your octopus arms out..in....hug them all around (hug self)
Put your clown fish stripes on...off...swim all around.

The Whales (To the tune of I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a humpback whale,
I'm very strong.
I leap about
and sing a song.
I like to eat my fill
In the Northern Sea.
But in the winter,
South I flee.

I am a beluga,
I'm all white.
From head to tail
I'm quite a sight.
You can hear me singing
Way up north,
Playing and swimming
Back and forth.

I'm a mighty orca
Black and white.
In the sea I'm a beautiful sight.
I'm not very big, but I am sleek.
I hunt for my food
Cause I have teeth.

Another blog post connected to my lapsit program with songs and fingerplays.

Let’s Swim with the Fishes!

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2012/05/lets-swim-with-fishes.html

And another to celebrate World Water Day.

Water, Water Everywhere

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2012/03/water-water-everywhere.html

 

GAMES, ACTIVITIES AND LESSON PLANS

Mr. Donn.org – Ocean information and lots of links here to keep you and your students swimming along for the year.

http://geography.mrdonn.org/oceans.html

Karen Chace 2012 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Trolling for Tales - Fish Stories from Around the World



Fishing in Spring, the Pot de Clichy by
Vincent Van Gogh, 1887

"Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime."
                        ~ Chinese Proverb

Although the May weather in Massachusetts has been fickle, with the sun playing hide and seek on most days, I have faith that warmer weather is headed our way.

Soon it will be time to pack a picnic lunch, smooth on the sunscreen and break out the fishing poles. With that in mind, here are some fish tales to ensure your storytelling and classroom programs go swimmingly!


FISHING SUPERSTITIONS


From the island of Fiji

o If a man is hand cutting bait no other man may step over it the owner will be angry because the lure's (bait) are considered then to be infected.
o If a man steps over another's fishing line a poor catch will follow.

From the coastal village of Golspie in Scotland
 
o If a fisherman, when going to sea, seas a hare cross his path, he takes that as a sigo of misfortune.
o If you count boats when you are going out to fish, one of the is sure to be lost.
o It was lucky to set sail on a voyage on Sunday but also to sail the way of the sun.

From Kentucky, USA
o Fish bite best when dogwood is in bloom.
o When it thunders the time is favorable to fish for catfish.


FISH STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
A Fish Story - Australia
http://mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/171.htm
A Small Fish Story – Ireland
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=587
The Fish and the Ring – Germany
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/eft/eft36.htm
The Girl-Fish – Spain
http://www.classicreader.com/book/1044/22/
How People Learned to Fish – Native American
http://tinyurl.com/62swhvz

The Fish God of Hawaii – United States
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/hft/hft24.htm
The Golden Fish - India
http://www.pitara.com/talespin/folktales/online.asp?story=20
The Heron, the Fish and the Crayfish –Ukraine
http://tinyurl.com/6js3u88
The Old Man and the Fish – China
http://tinyurl.com/62buyb9

The Talking Fish – Armenia
http://tinyurl.com/6dxtmo8
That Pesky Fellow – Newfoundland
http://tinyurl.com/6gsw4jt
Why the Fish Has Scales – Philippines
http://folktales.webmanila.com/folktales/water/?fish-scales
Why the Fish Laughed – India
http://worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Indian_folktale_24.html

CRAFTS

Bathtub Fish - Recycle that empty milk jug!
http://tinyurl.com/6ys5fql
Enchanted Learning – Fish Crafts
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/fish/
DLTK – Additional crafts, coloring pages, matching games and more.
http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/fish.html
Toy Fish Tank - http://tinyurl.com/5wdn8ot

CURRICULUM

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources – This curriculum was designed to complement a 2011 art contest. Although the contest has now passed, the curriculum information is still very useful.http://tinyurl.com/6dueswb

The Pacific Salmon and Steelhead Coloring Book – Children will have fun coloring while learning all about lives of these fish.
http://www.fws.gov/pacific/publications/salmnbk.pdf

What’s the Catch? Fish Contamination Educator Curriculum Guide – This is a pdf file "aligned with the CA Science and Social Science standards, National Science Standards, Ocean Literacy Principles and Education in the Environment Initiative Concepts for 4th-8th grades.”
http://tinyurl.com/633mgxk


SONGS

Little Fish
http://tinyurl.com/6hqedqw
I’m A Little Fish
http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/songs/fish.htm
Ocean Songs
http://tinyurl.com/62cnxtu
Slippery Fish http://bussongs.com/songs/slippery_fish.php

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Storybug.net – The two links will lead you to previous blog posts with additional resources.Hot Fun in the City - http://tinyurl.com/6aq7apz
Mermaids – Sirens of the Sea – I know, mermaids are technically not fish but they do live in the sea! http://tinyurl.com/69gzfrb  





Karen Chace  2011 ©
This blog post was painstakingly researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my newsletter via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Hot Fun in the City...

Today was another fun, if HOT storytelling day! The temperature was over 90 degrees, that steamy kind of day when the heat hangs heavy in the air. My venue was outside at the beautiful New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park Visitor Center. The city has lovingly restored an old bank, circa 1853, pictured here, connecting it with another building, while maintaining the architectural integrity of both.

There is a delightful garden in between the two buildings, which is where I told today. They love to offer programming in the garden during the summer so locals and tourists who are passing by will be intrigued and stop to stay for a bit. The director was kind enough to have a small pop up tent, the kind used at art fairs, to offer me a bit of shade for the two shows. Yet, even the ocean breeze that wound its way up the main street from time to time offered no respite. Due to the oppressive heat we didn't expect a huge turnout and indeed the audiences were small, but very appreciative.

I told stories of mermaids, whales, and a magic fish to name a few, and we even did a boogie woogie fish dance!

HAVE YOU EVER GONE A FISHING

Have you ever been a fishing
Have you ever been a-fishing on a hot summer day,
And seen all the little fishies swimming up and down the bay,
With their hands in their pockets and their pockets in their pants
And all the little fishies doin’ the hootchie kootchie dance.

Chorus:
With their hands in their pockets and their pockets in their pants.
All the little fishies doin’ the hootchie kootchie dance. (I changed this to boogie woogie dance)

For the complete song go to: http://www.ultimatecampresource.com/site/camp-activity/have-you-ever-been-a-fishing.html

Here is a lovely version of the Magic Fish from Old Peter's Russian Tales...

THE GOLDEN FISH

"Long ago, near the shore of the blue sea, an old man lived with his old woman in a little old hut made of earth and moss and logs. They never had a rouble to spend. A rouble! they never had a kopeck. They just lived there in the little hut, and the old man caught fish out of the sea in his old net, and the old woman cooked the fish; and so they lived, poorly enough in summer and worse in winter. Sometimes they had a few fish to sell, but not often.

In the summer evenings they sat outside their hut on a broken old bench, and the old man mended the holes in his ragged old net. There were holes in it a hare could jump through with his ears standing, let alone one of those little fishes that live in the sea. The old woman sat on the bench beside him, and patched his trousers and complained.

Well, one day the old man went fishing, as he always did. All day long he fished, and caught nothing. And then in the evening, when he was thinking he might as well give up and go home, he threw his net for the last time, and when he came to pull it in he began to think he had caught an island instead of a haul of fish, and a strong and lively island at that—the net was so heavy and pulled so hard against his feeble old arms.

"This time," says he, "I have caught a hundred fish at least."
Not a bit of it. The net came in as heavy as if it were full of fighting fish, but empty ——.

"Empty?" said Maroosia.

"Well, not quite empty," said old Peter, and went on with his tale...."

For the rest of the story go to http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=ransome&book=russian&story=fish


Afterwards, a light lunch in one of my favorite downtown restaurants was in order, with a tall glass of ice water and lemon on one side, and a cool gin and tonic on the other. The evening found me at a friend's birthday party. The night air rearranged the heat of the day and kept everyone comfortably warm as we played lawn games, ate delicious food, laughed and talked around the chimenea until the full moon turned red in the sky. Good friends, good food and eager ears to listen to a few good stories; a day well-spent indeed.

An Ocean of Fun!

I had the most delightful and insightful storytelling day yesterday. I drove to beautiful, scenic, Rockport, MA to take part in the annual Story Train, sponsored by the wonderful libraries and librarians around the Cape Ann area.

About six hundred family members board a train that brings them to a lovely spot by the ocean, Millbrook Meadow, to picnic and listen to stories. Three storytellers, Tony Toledo, Nora Dooley and myself shared tales for 45 minutes. At the end, Tony decided we would all do a quick story improv, a real surprise to us! Tony started the tale about a tree and, a tree that could walk no less! As we each too turns it grew and grew (no pun intended). At one point I said "And the willow made it's way to the city where a great folk festival was taking place. He took out his harmonica and began a wild riff." Now it was Nora's turn. I hadn't noticed she was wearing tiny harmonica earrings and quick as a wink she took one off and began to play. The audience erupted in laughter. One of those "we couldn't have planned it any better moments." Great fun!

Afterwards, Tony and I spent the day roaming the quaint and eclectic seaside
shops of Rockport, finding fun at every turn and he made sure he took me to see the most painted spot there. The red fisherman's shack has been the subject of so many paintings it is now called Motif I.

One store was like stepping back in time into one of those all purpose General Stores, filled with penny candy, popcorn, postcards, games,and of course books. There I found a slim volume, New England's Mad and Mysterious Men, which looks like it will be an interesting read.

Later, we went for a tour of Manchester by the Sea, another gorgeous, New England seaside town. We stopped at a used bookstore, Manchester by the Book, which is chockfull of nooks and crannies to ramble through. Mark, the owner, guided me to a small back room where I found two folktale books, one with stories from Vietnam and another from Central America.


Later, we went to a new open mic venue Tony hosts at an eclectic restaurant, the Gulu Gulu Cafe and he is the consommute MC, making each performer feel valued and appreciated. My plan was to go, listen and support him but he secretly signed me up to tell in the second slot and before I knew it I was being introduced. Since we'd spent the day together by the sea I decided to tell my adaptation of a Massachusetts folktale, Long John and the Mermaid. I am so accustomed to telling for children it is a rare treat when I get to share a story with an adult audience. It was grand to see that they were just as attentive and appreciative and were delighted with the story.

The other folks who took the stage offered a wide-range of pieces from
poetry, to excerpts from plays, to creative writing, to political essays. Some of
their work gave me chills. One multi-talent artist (poet, photographer and
musician) shared a poem he wrote that needs to be read by all of the politicians in America!

There was even a sixteen year old young man who shared something he had just written that day; he displayed such talent and poise, amazing! The headliner was comedian George Seibel who was not only funny but politically charged, a la the late great George Carlin. There were many powerful, thought-provoking pieces and I began to think that the offering I'd brought to the table was a bit trite but I was assured by many that they loved the storytelling and asked me to come back and tell again. I guess in this upside world we especially need fantasy in our lives all the more!

Bravo to Tony and the Gulu Gulu Cafe for giving us all the chance to gather, play, laugh and think!