• 1.

  Give each student a piece of poster board, a pencil, and a pair of Crayola® Pointed Tip Scissors.

• 2.

  Instruct the students to create a stencil of a fish on their poster board. Ask students to cut their stencils out.

• 3.

  Invite students to trace their stencils one time on the poster board and three times on white paper. Ask the students to cut out all the fish they have created, a total of five fish.

• 4.

  Give each student a ruler. Ask the students to draw lines on four of the paper fish cut outs to write a story. To save time on this step, another option would be to have pre-cut notebook paper available to glue on the fish.

• 5.

  Provide students with Crayola® Classic Colored Pencils and Crayola® Glitter Glue. Ask the students to create an original species of fish with vibrant colors on the remaining blank fish.

• 6.

  Students will use their fish forms to write imaginative and descriptive short stories about the original species of fish they have created. Instruct them to write their stories on the four fish, using the writing lines. Additional pages can be added if needed.

• 7.

  Staple the fish together with the poster board piece on top.

• 8.

  Use Crayola® No-Run School Glue to glue a piece of ribbon over the staples.

• 9.

  Ask students to read their stories to the class and their families! Request feedback from audiences.

Standards

• LA: With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.
• LA: Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.
• LA: Produce clear, coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose and audience.
• LA: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
• SCI: Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive.
• VA: Elaborate on an imaginative work.
• VA: Demonstrate an understanding of the proper use of materials for a variety of purposes.

Adaptations

• Use this project as a follow up to reading Marcus Pfister’s acclaimed book “Rainbow Fish.”
• Allow students time in the school day to collaborate in developing a group of aquatic characters. Each student would select a character to write about. The group could present their stories together.
• Use Crayola® Classic Crayons or Markers instead of colored pencils.
• Focus on an animal, perhaps one that you are studying in science, to make a cross-curricular connection.