Yes to Not Norman!

 

I saw a post on Instagram about this book and just had to try it. I loved the book and the activity and so did the kids! I decided to read it to TK, and that decision worked so well. The story is about a little boy who wants a pet and is given a goldfish. That is not quite the pet he had in mind. He names it Norman and decides to keep it until he can give it away or take it back to the pet store. He begins to see Norman's good points and eventually is more than satisfied with his pet.

First we talked about who had a pet at home (almost everyone). Then I read the book. The illustrations are so engaging, and the story keeps their attention. I even discovered a sequel which I am definitely going to use next year!

After the story, I told the kids I had a surprise for them. I gave each of them a FAKE goldfish. The actual fish looks so real and even moves in the water. A pet store gave me some plastic bags which they use when selling fish. This year I placed each fish in a bag of water, intending to give each child a bag. Some of the bags sprung leaks. What I ended up doing was getting a picture of each child holding a bag with a fish in it. I then put all the fish in a bucket of water and gave each child a plastic cup with a fish and no water to take home. The TK teachers sent the pictures home to show each parent what was coming. (I'm not sure what explanation they gave. 😉 The kids had so much fun naming their fish.

Next year I'm going to have one bag with a fish in water just for pictures. The rest of the fish will be in a bucket of water. I'm also going to purchase a small fish net (like people with aquariums use) to get each fish to go in the plastic cup. I can't wait for this activity to roll around again; it was SO MUCH FUN!

Fish I used (Amazon)

This one has become our library pet. I'm thinking of replacing him with a real one next year!