Project Overview

“Fish Tales” was part of a yearlong integrated learning expedition in a first and second-grade classroom which focused on investigating their 150-gallon fish tank. The tank has a school of African Cichlids and a large Amazon Plecostomus living in it. The year’s curriculum was organized around this investigation. 

All of the science learning revolved around the tank: students learned about fish anatomy, form and function, life cycles, adaptations, water chemistry, and animal behavior. They also learned how to collect, organize and interpret data based on work with the fish and the tank. They learned how to write letters thanking experts who visited the classroom, and they learned how to diagram and document their learning in science journals. In understanding how the fish interact with one another important social and emotional themes were brought into focus as well. The students could easily take the perspective of the fish in their stories because they had both a cognitive and emotional investment in the fish and their life in the tank.

This instruction helped student writers organize their writing chronologically with a definite beginning, middle, and end. They learned that temporal words help cue the reader to the order of events as they unfold. It also helped them learn to choose their words carefully and use detail to describe the events and characters’ experiences more succinctly. Sharing their stories with teachers and peers gave them the experience of writing for an audience. Students also received important feedback about their writing from the audience which helped them answer questions such as:

• Does my story make sense?
• Did I paint a clear picture of the characters, setting and plot? 
• Is my problem interesting? 
• Is my ending satisfying? 

The students learned that understanding how their writing is received can give them ideas on to how to revise their work.