Smiley Shark

🎓 Audience

Education: Grade(s) PK, K, 1, 2, Homeschool/Family, Learning Pod, Library Patrons

 🐾 Topics

Language Arts/English, Literacy, Reading, Science, STEM, Social and Emotional Learning( SEL)

🗂️ Format

• Introduction and Prior Knowledge: Learners are invited to share what they know, what they’ve observed in nature, and what they’re curious to learn about sharks and other marine life. 😁 We also practice smiling!

• Segment 1 - Story Time: We read Smiley Shark together. As the story unfolds, learners meet a lonely shark with a big heart and an even bigger grin. Through guided discussion, we explore character actions, problem-solving, and the importance of helping others. Along the way, we compare traits of different sea animals featured in the book.

• Segment 2 – Fishy Thoughts and Photo Album: We play a fun reading comprehension quiz to revisit key moments in the story and encourage recall and reasoning. Then we take a quick dive into shark diversity using photos to show real shark species.

• Segment 3 - Q&A Session: We wrap up with a live, educator-led Q&A. Learners are encouraged to ask questions about sharks, and how we study and care for marine animals at Mote.

🎯 Objectives

1. Explore how sharks and other sea creatures are adapted to survive in ocean habitats.

2. Engage in a discussion about friendship, teamwork, and the diversity of marine animals.

3. Compare different types of sharks and how they differ from other ocean animals.

4. Develop curiosity and confidence in asking questions about sharks and other marine life.

✏️ Standards this program supports

Common Core

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.K.RL.1 – With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. Application: Learners recall events from Smiley Shark and discuss how the characters react and change during the story.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.3.RL.3 - Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events. Application: Learners describe Smiley Shark and his ocean friends, exploring how their actions help move the story forward.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.1.RL.5 - Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types. Application: Learners compare the fictional elements of Smiley Shark to nonfiction facts shared in the follow-up discussion about real sharks and their behavior.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.3.RL.1 – Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. Application: Learners cite evidence from the story to explain how Smiley Shark’s feelings change and how he finds a way to help his friends.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• • 14 - Life Below Water

Lexile Framework

• AD540L

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS)

• SC.K.L.14.2 – Recognize that some books and other media portray animals and plants with characteristics and behaviors they do not have in real life. Application: Learners identify which parts of Smiley Shark are pretend, then compare those fictional traits to real facts about sharks shared in the learning segment.

• SC.1.N.1.1 – Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them individually and in teams. Application: Learners ask and answer questions about shark behavior, body parts, and life in the ocean.

• SC.2.L.17.2 – Recognize and explain that living things are found all over Earth, but each is only able to live in habitats that meet its basic needs. Application: Learners discuss how different ocean animals live in different habitats and how each has body parts and behaviors that help them meet their needs.

• SC.3.L.15.1 – Classify animals into major groups according to their physical characteristics and behaviors. Application: Learners classify sharks as fish and compare them with mammals and invertebrates, based on skeleton type, reproduction, and other traits.

• SC.4.L.17.4 – Recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment. Application: Learners discuss how pollution, overfishing, and habitat loss affect sharks and what people can do to help protect ocean life.

☑️ Evaluation Link

When answering these questions, please focus on the quality of the content and not the technology. You can answer anonymously. After clicking Did the program take place?, choose if you are you an Educator or Parent.

• cilc.org/ContentProvider/Evaluation

Nouns

Words that name animals, body parts, places, or things.

• adaptation: A body part or behavior that helps an animal live in its environment.

• angelfish: A colorful tropical fish with long fins.

• animal: A living creature that moves, breathes, and eats.

• aquarium: A place where an aquatic animal is cared for and where people can learn about it.

• bubble: A round shape made of air in water.

• cartilage: A bendy material that gives shape and support. Sharks have skeletons made of cartilage.

• catfish: A type of fish with whisker-like parts near its mouth.

• fisherman: A person who catches fish.

• fish: An animal that lives in water, has gills, and usually has scales.

• friend: Someone you like and enjoy spending time with.

• gill: A body part that helps a fish breathe underwater.

• habitat: The place where an animal lives and finds everything it needs to survive.

• invertebrate: An animal without a backbone.

• jellyfish: A soft, see-through sea animal with long stinging parts.

• net: A mesh tool used to catch fish or other animals.

• ocean: The large, salty body of water that covers most of Earth.

• octopus: A soft-bodied sea animal with eight arms.

• plant: A living thing that grows in soil or water and makes its own food.

• pufferfish: A fish that can puff up its body to scare predators.

• question: Something you ask when you want to learn more.

• rescue: The act of saving someone or something from danger.

• shark: A large fish with sharp teeth that lives in the ocean.

• starfish: A sea creature shaped like a star.

• teeth: Hard parts in the mouth used for biting or chewing.

• vertebrate: An animal with a backbone.

• water: The liquid all living things need to survive.

Verbs

Words that describe actions.

• darted: Moved quickly in a straight line.

• churning: Moving with strong, swirling motion (like stormy water).

• rescue: To save someone or something from danger.

• shivered: Shook or trembled, often from fear or cold.

• swim: To move through water using fins or arms.

• trapped: Caught in a place or by something, unable to get out.

• twirling: Spinning or turning around quickly.

Adjectives

Words that describe or give more information about a noun.

• lonely: Feeling alone or without friends.

• nocturnal: Active at night.

• scared: Feeling afraid.

• sharp: Having a point or edge that can cut.

• spikey: Covered in sharp points or spikes.

• underwater: Happening below the surface of water.

Play Smiley Bingo

Play virtual bingo using a computer, smartphone or tablet during your program to focus on key concepts and vocabulary.

• Online

• On paper/PDF

🌐 Websites

• Swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum)

Books & Publications

• Smiley Shark by Ruth Galloway

  • Internet Archive

🖥️ Videos

• Shark Emoji Guessing Game