Objectives:
Children will know: Children will learn about the salmon lifecycle and how to keep a proper camp.
Children will do: Children will listen to a reading and draw themselves and salmon.
Essential Questions:
Alaska Values:
Show Respect to Others, Live Carefully, See Connections
Standards — CHILD Partnership
L3. Listen to, enjoys, and actively participates in stories.
L4. Remembers details in stories and can tell the story again to someone else.
L14. Recalls people, places, objects, and experiences and makes connections.
SSC1. Draws and constructs.
Promoting Culture Self Assessment
1. I display pictures, posters, and other materials that reflect the cultures and ethnic background of children and families served in my early childhood program or setting.
3. I ensure that the book/literacy area has pictures and storybooks that reflect the different cultures of children and families served in my early childhood program or setting.
5. I read a variety of books exposing children in my early childhood program or setting to various life experiences of cultures and ethnic groups including their own.
6. I encourage and provide opportunities and experiences for children that support Alaska Native culture.
Tawara D. Goode – National Center for Cultural Competence Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research & Service June 1989 – Revised 2002, 2004, 2005, & 2009.
Center Set Up
Whole Group:
Display essential questions. Display “The Girl Who Swam with the Fish” and hang pictures of salmon. Encourage students to look through the book and read the questions out loud to them.
Materials:
Engage
“Raise your hand if you know what a salmon is.” Show picture of salmon. “Salmon are a very important part of how we live. Every year we wait for salmon to come back so we can catch them. Salmon are born in nests in streams and rivers. As they grow, they travel into the sea. When they are all grown up, they come back to lay more eggs. This is when we fish for them. Have you ever wondered what it is like being a salmon on this big journey? Let’s read an Athabascan story called “The Girl who Swam with the Fish” to find out”
Explore
Activity: 15 – 20 minutes
Have students sit while you read them “The Girl that Swam with the Fish.” Feel free to read the book in more than one sitting. When you are finished, hand out paper and art supplies. Have students draw themselves swimming with the salmon just like the girl in the story. When finished, have each student explain their drawing to the class.
Explain
“In this story, the girl wanted to know what it was like to be a salmon. What was your favorite part of the story? Why did that stand out to you? Did you learn anything about salmon? To really find out what it’s like to be a salmon, we have to learn about the life of a salmon. They start out as small eggs.” Show picture of eggs. “When they hatch, they are called alevins.” Show picture of alevins. “Alevins turn into fry. Have any of you seen fry before?” Show a picture of fry. “These fry then turn into smolt. Smolt look silvery, and are starting to look like a salmon. “Smolt head out to the ocean to grow into adult salmon.“ Show picture of adult salmon. “Here is an adult salmon. Who has seen these before? Have you fished for salmon with your family?” “When salmon come back to their nesting ground, they change a bright red. They do this right before they lay eggs and die. Have any of you harvested red fish before?” “Salmon are such a big part of our lives. In this story, the salmon teach the girl how to treat them when fishing for them. Always respect salmon when you are fishing for them. What were some things in the story the salmon asked the girl to do?” “It is important that we take care of our salmon and respect the ones we catch since they are so important to our lives. Do any of you have any salmon stories you would like to share?”
Extension: The salmon lifecycle cutouts can be used as a fun sequencing activity. Give each student a partner and have them work together to put them in order in a line.
Set out kinetic sand and have students use their hands to dig in it like a salmon would when laying a nest. This can also be done with water, pebbles (or marbles for eggs) and toy fish.
Have a community member donate a whole fish to the class if possible. Lay out paper. Have students brush paint onto one side of the fish and then flip the fish over to make a print on the paper. Hang fish prints in the classroom. You can also use the rubber fish print included in the kit.