Fishy, Fishy
At Words in the Wild, we make reading a FULL-BODY experience. But… HOW?
Today we’re sharing one of our all-time favorite movement-meets-literacy games, which can be easily adapted to reinforce any word-related skill you’ve introduced to your students. “Fishy, Fishy,” also known as “Fishy, Fishy Cross My Ocean,” is similar to another game students might be familiar with: “Sharks and Minnows.” In this game, you can choose whichever word-related skill you and your students are working on (vowel sounds, segmenting phonemes, etc.) as a central focus to build mastery through repeated practice.
This game requires a large space where students can run such as a basketball court, field or other outside space. All students, or “fishies,” stand on a line on one side of the space. The teacher, or the “shark,” hands out word cards to the fishies, then stands in the middle of the space. There is a boundary on the other side, which students must reach in order to “cross the ocean.”
The teacher, or the “shark,” begins the game.
“Fishy, Fishy, cross my ocean if your word has the vowel phoneme /æ/.” (short a)
“Fishy, Fishy, cross my ocean if your word is /c/ /a/ /t/.” (segment the word)
“Fishy, Fishy, cross my ocean if your word has the suffix <ing>.”
Students that have the target element in their word must try to “cross the ocean.” If the shark tags them (two finger tag), they become “seaweed.” Seaweed must stay in the same place where they were tagged and help the shark catch other fishies by waving their arms like seaweed.
Once the fishies have crossed the ocean, ask them to read out their card to the others and say the phoneme (or practice the skill) they found in their word. The teacher can replace the card or have the student keep the same card to attend to a new feature.
After the teacher has been the shark for a few rounds, students might feel ready to be the shark themselves! The shark can pass out the cards to ensure they know the words the other fishies have. Students love getting a chance for the teacher to be a fishy, so they can chase them and turn them into seaweed!
You can use pre-made word cards (download our cards here) or students can create the resources for this game. We recommend a mixture of these approaches:
First, introduce the game using pre-made cards.
Once students are familiar with the game, invite students to create their own version!
Students will get to apply their knowledge of word patterns to select words for their game.
When making their cards, students will practice careful letter formation so that others can read their words.
This activity lets students’ creativity shine while providing essential practice in the literacy skills you choose to target. Most importantly, this game is a way for students to interact with words through large-body movement in a way that is engaging, lively, and absolutely joyful!