Dory Story: Ocean Food Chain

We spent two weeks on our ocean theme. To start our theme, we read Dory Story by Jerry Pallotta. As we read, we talked about food chains and animals interdependence on one another. After reading, the students wrote the order of the food chain on a Flow Map. They then illustrated their favorite part of the story.

Dory Story

During our ocean unit, we read Dory Story by Jerry Pallota. Before reading, we took a "picture walk" to ask questions about what we saw and to make predictions. As the students asked questions, I charted them on the board. Then, as we read, we charted the answers to those questions. If we did not find an answer in the text, we left it blank to reinterate using text evidence to support answers.

 

The next day we read the story again but this time the focus was on sequencing the ocean food chain from the book. As I read the students verbally retold the order of the food chain. They then wrote the food chain on a Flow Map and illustrated their favorite scene from the book.

 

 

Dory Story: An Ocean Food Chain

To teach the students the concept of a food chain, we read Dory Story by Jerry Pallotta. In this book, we follow the adventures of a little boy who is "lost" in the ocean in his little red boat. Only to find out that there is a surprise in the end...I wish you could have seen the kids' faces when they got to the end of the story! As we follow the little boy on his ocean adventure, we learn about the different ocean animals and what they eat. As we read, we charted what each animal ate on a Flow Map. We then discussed what would happen if a piece of that food chain wa missing. The students were able to discuss on the animals are dependent upon one another for survival. The students then wrote their own Flow Map based on the class Flow Map and illustrated their favorite part of the story.