Sesame Subjects: My First Book About Fish Hardcover | Random House Books for Young Readers | Juvenile Nonfiction - Animals - Fishes; Juvenile Nonfiction - Nature; Juvenile Nonfiction - House & Home | 978-0-375-83513-1 (0-375-83513-X) | July 2006 | $7.99

About the Book:
Grover and his friends, Elmo and Dorothy, who is Elmo’s pet fish, introduce kids to fascinating facts about fish: where and how they live, how their bodies work, what they eat, and how their babies are born.

Language/Rhyme (and counting, too!)
Recite this one with the children, displaying the appropriate number of fingers at each prompt-and kissing the "nibbled" finger at the end!

1,2,3,4,5
I caught a fish alive
6,7,8,9,10
I let it go again
Why did you let it go?
Because it bit my finger so!
Which finger did it nibble?
The little finger in the middle.

Songs/Movement
Pantomime as you sing this fun classic song with the kids, and feel free to change the words to suit your program or lesson plan. For instance, how about "Down by the coral reef, down in the sea, swam a mommy angel fish and her little fishies, three?"

Down in the meadow in a little bitty pool
Swam three little fishies and a mama fishie too
"Swim" said the mama fishie, "Swim if you can"
And they swam and they swam all over the dam
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem chu!
And they swam and they swam all over the dam

Or how about this one?

Here Is the Sea
Sung to the tune of "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush"

Here is the sea, the wavy sea
(wave hands from side to side)
Here is my boat
(cup hands like a boat)
And here is me
(point to yourself)
And all the fishes down below
(wiggle hands and move downwards)
Wiggle their tails and away they go!
(flutter fingers while moving your hands behind your back)

Math/Sorting
Find a half-dozen egg carton or cut a standard carton in half. Write numbers in each cell. Have children place the appropriate number of Goldfish crackers into each "fish bowl."

Math/Reasoning/Game
Refresh yourself on Go Fish! rules and supplies at the House of Cards web site. Purchase or create a deck of cards that features different species of fish (or use Random House's One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish card game set). Play a classic game of Go Fish with the cards, collecting pairs of like sea creatures.

Art/Activity
Paper plate fish
Draw a triangle mouth shape on a paper plate. Have children use safety scissors to cut out the triangle and glue or staple it on the fish as a tail. Add pieces of ruffled muffin tin liners for scales and fins. Then color, glue, and glitter to your heart's content.

Aquarium
Glue fish, shells, sand, seaweed (and even glitter and a pearl or two) to a clean Styrofoam tray. Allow to dry, then cover with blue or clear plastic wrap/cellophane and tape closed on the back. You now have an instant aquarium!

Edible aquarium
1. Prepare blue Jell-O according to the directions on the box
2. Pour into clear plastic cups
3. Let cool until partially set
4. Place a few gummy fish in each cup
5. Allow to set completely
6. Enjoy!

Related Titles
The Fish Book by Christopher Angelfish, illustrated by Joe Veno
Fish Is Fish by Leo Lionni

Related Web Sites
National Aquarium in Baltimore
Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration

Activities prepared by Kathy Krasniewicz, Youth Services Librarian, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT.