Lillian Cruz

Effective Literacy Website #3

ED638

            Storyline Online is an award winning children’s literacy program.  It has won multiple awards such as, the 2016 Parent’s Choice Award Winner, the 2017 Telly Award Winner, and the 2017 Communicator Award Winner. It is viewed by over 100 million children from all over the world, and available 24 hours a day.

            SAG-AFTRA Foundation founded the Storyline Online program.  This is a nonprofit organization, which relies on the generous donations, gifts and grants to fund and produce the videos for this children’s literacy program.

Storyline Online is a free literacy program in which there are videos of celebrated actors reading children’s books featuring creative, animated illustrations.  The books read are available for purchase.  Each video is also provided with a supplemental curriculum which are developed by educators.  Some of the readers include Kevin Costner, Betty White, Viola Davis, James Earl Jones, and many more.  It is available for streaming in your homes, classrooms, hospital and dental waiting rooms, etc. This program is ideal for children who are not able to read. 

            I would definitely use this website to teach my students.  It is an engaging way to ignite my students’ active imagination and to develop their love of reading.  It is a fun and exciting way to teach students how to read, write, and improve their communication skills. 

            A book that I will be reading in one of my upcoming units is, “The Rainbow Fish.”  It is one of the Storyline books that I have selected.  The actor Ernes Borgnine reads an animated story version of “The Rainbow Fish.”

Here’s the supplemental curriculum for this video on, “The Rainbow Fish.”

STORYLINE ONLINE PRESENTS:
”The Rainbow Fish”
“The Rainbow Fish”
By Marcus Pfister
Watch online video of actor
Ernest Borgnine
reading this story
at http://www.storylineonline.net
Related Activities
Related Activities
• Retell this story in your own words.

·       Discuss and then tell or write about what you enjoyed most about this book.

·       Read “The Rainbow Fish” aloud to someone.

·       What was so special about the Rainbow Fish?

·       What did Rainbow Fish do to upset the little blue fish?

·       Why wouldn’t the other fish have anything to do with the Rainbow Fish?

·       Why was the Rainbow Fish the loneliest fish in the entire ocean?

·       The Rainbow Fish went to see the octopus to get help. What advice did the octopus give the Rainbow Fish?

·       Why didn’t the Rainbow Fish want to give away his beautiful shining scales?

·       Discuss and then tell or write about the problem the Rainbow Fish had in this story.

·       Discuss and then tell or write about how the Rainbow Fish solved his problem.

·       Why did a ‘peculiar feeling’ come over the Rainbow Fish?

·       What happened to the relationship between the Rainbow Fish and the other fish after they all had a glittering scale?

·       If you have ever had a similar situation, tell about it and draw a picture to show what happened.

·       Share you favorite picture in the book ‘The Rainbow Fish.’

storyline online • “The Rainbow Fish” • page 1
More Activities
More Activities

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Tell or write about who you ask for help when you need to solve a problem.

Research the topic of “fish”.

Write a report about “fish”. Include illustrations or drawings with your report.

Make a list of questions to ask someone who has or has had an aquarium.

Interview someone who has had an aquarium. Find out as much as you can about caring for it. Tell or write about what you learned about “aquariums” from your interview.

Make a list of questions to ask someone who has been snorkeling Interview someone who has gone snorkeling to see fish in the ocean.

Write a report about snorkeling.

Discuss and then tell or write about any friends that you’ve had that are different from you in some way. Tell ways these differences have caused problems? How did you solve these

problems?

Read at least 3 more books about fish and discuss them with someone.

Make a word web about fish. If you have never done this it’s easy to do. Take a sheet of paper and draw a circle about 2 inches in diameter in the center of the paper. Write the word “fish” in the circle. Now, draw 6 or 7 lines out from the edge of the circle so that they coming out all around the circle. On each line write something you know or have learned about fish. If you need more lines, draw more. Discuss this with someone.

Describe the Rainbow Fish in a cinquain or Haiku.

A Cinquain is a form of poetry with five lines, written using a recipe. The words you choose and the form they take on paper are an important part of the writing.

Here’s the recipe:
Line 1: one word to name the subject
Line 2: two words to describe the subject
Line 3: three action words about the subject
Line 4: a four or five word phrase describing the subject (a thought, not a complete sentence) Line 5: one word that means the same thing as the first word, or a word that sums it all up

Here’s an example:

Dog
Fluffy, playful Running, rolling, licking A bundle of energy Canine

storyline online • “The Rainbow Fish” • page 2
A Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry which looks simple, but is really very structured with rules for the way you write it. In English, Haiku consists of 17 syllables, which are arranged in three lines.
Here’s the recipe:
Line 1: 5 syllables Line 2: 7 syllables Line 3: 5 syllables
Here’s an example:
Spring goes, summer comes With the warm heat from the sun Swimming, picnics fun!
Helpful resource books for your writing: “Hailstones and Halibut Bones” by Mary O’Neill “My Many Color Days” by Dr. Seuss
“Picasso the Green Tree Frog” by Amanda Graham
“Big Al” by Andrew Clements and Yoshi
“A Fish Out of Water” by Helen Palmer and P. D. Eastman
“Sea Creatures Pop-up: Squirmy, Scary Fish Face- to-Face” by Sally Hewitt and Chris Gilvan-Cartwright “Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea” by Steve Jenkins
Theme/concepts addressed in this book for discussion and additional books on these:
Kindness
“Pink and Say” by Patricia Polacco
“Chester’s Way” by Kevin Henkes
“Horton Hatches the Egg” by Dr. Seuss
“Miss Spider’s Tea Party” by David Kirk “Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch” by Eileen Spinelli “Tomas and the Library Lady” by Pat Mora
Sharing
“A Chair for My Mother” by Vera Williams
“The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister
“Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters” by John Steptoe “Sophie’s Masterpiece” by Eileen Spinelli
Giving/Helping Others
“The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein
“Miss Rumphius” by Barbara Cooney
“The Quiltmaker’s Gift” by Jeff Brumbeau
“Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen” by DyAnne DiSal- vo-Ryan
“Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge” by Mem Fox
Feelings
“The Feelings Book” by Todd Parr
“My Many Colored Day’s by Dr. Seuss
“Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” by Judith Viorst
Internet Activities
Internet Activities
There are many interesting sites about “fish” on the internet. Visit the sites listed below to learn more about “fish.”

·       Go to: http://divegallery.com
Click on the different picture to see some gorgeous creatures of the sea. Study and learn important facts to share about these dwellers in the sea.

·       Go to:http://australianmuseum. net.au/fishes Study the interesting looking fish in the Cool fish images! Image Gallery. Choose an interesting fish and write about it. Draw a picture to go with your report.

• Go to: www.littleclickers.com/fish. html Read: “Set Up Your Own Fish Tank’. Explain to someone or write why the section on “Maintenance Tips” is so important.
Some Books About Fish:
“One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” by Dr. Seuss
“Curious George at the Aquarium”
by H. A. Rey, Margaret Rey, and R. P. Anderson
“The Pout-Pout Fish” by Deborah Diesen and Dan Hanna
“Swimmy” by Leo Lionni
“Splish, Splash!” by Sarah Weeks and Ashley Wolff
“McElligot’s Pool” by Dr. Seuss “Fish Is Fish” by Leo Lionni “Mister Seahorse” by Eric Carle
storyline online • “The Rainbow Fish” • page 3
About the Author
About the Author
Marcus Pfister was born in Berne, Switzerland, and began his career as a graphic artist in
an advertising agency. In 1983, he decided to dedicate more time to artistic pursuits, and began to write and illustrate his first book, The Sleepy Owl, which was published in 1986. His best-known work to date is The Rainbow Fish, which has remained on bestseller lists across the United States since 1992.
Marcus does most of his illustrations for children’s books in watercolors. He begins each book by stretching watercolor paper over a wooden board so that it won’t warp when wet. He then copies his rough sketches onto the paper in pencil. At this point, he is ready to begin painting. For backgrounds and blended contours, he uses wet paint on wet paper to get a softer effect. For sharper details, he first lets the paper dry, and then paints the final picture layer by layer. When the illustration is complete he cuts the paper from the wooden board.
For books that feature holographic foil stamping, he then tapes a piece of transparent film over the art and indicates with a black marker where the foil stamping should be. The foil stamping
is then applied during the production process after the pages are printed and before the final binding.
Marcus and his wife, Kathryn, work together in Berne, where they live with their three children.
Some Other Books BY Marcus Pfister:
“Camomile Heads for Home”
“Dazzle the Dinosaur”
“El Pinguino Pedro Y El Pequeno Timoteo” “Finders Keepers”
“Fishy Story”
“Four Candles for Simon: A Christmas Story” “Hang On, Hopper!”
“The Happy Hedgehog”
“Hidden Treasures”
“Hopper Hunts for Spring”
About the Reader
“Penguin Pete”
“Penguin Pete and Little Tim” “Rainbow Fish and Big Blue Whale” “Rainbow Fish: Finders Keepers” “Rainbow Fish Tattle Tale”
“Rainbow Fish: The Dangerous Deep” “Ready, Set, Swim!”
“Seaweed Soup”
“The Sleepy Owl”
“Star of the Sea”
“Sun and Moon”
“Tattle Tale”
One of film and television’s most respected and enduring actors, Ernest Borgnine has enjoyed a critically and commercially successful career lasting more than six decades. An Oscar winner for 1955’s Marty as well as the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award recipient in 2010, Ernest Borgnine has impressed and entertained audiences since his 1949 Broadway debut as a male nurse in Harvey. Historic film work in such distinguished productions as From Here to Eternity, Marty and The Catered Affair, television popularity in series including McHale’s Navy, Airwolf and ER, and voiceover work for animated hits including All Dogs Go to Heaven
2, Small Soldiers, and SpongeBob SquarePants continue to seal Mr. Borgnine’s reputation as an actor of depth, warmth and quality for audiences of all ages.
The Rainbow Fish© 1992 by Marcus Pfister. Published by North-South Books, Inc., New York. All rights reserved.
Content developed by JAN POWELL, SAG Foundation BookPALS National Program Director. Storyline Online is brought to you by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation.
Learn more about the Storyline Online program at http://www.storylineonline.net storyline online • “The Rainbow Fish” • page 4