What can you see at the beach?
Learning outcomes
- Students use number words.
- Students use rhyme to help them predict words.
- Students create rhyming texts.
Purpose of learning experience
Using rhyme and playful interactions with number words can support students, as the language used in numeracy for Standard Australian English may differ from their home language/s. Images are a common way to convey numeracy information. The illustrations on the wall frieze provide a resource for students to ask and respond to numeracy questions, demonstrating their numeracy understanding.
What can you see at the beach? story
Making connections
Listening to and responding to stories, rhymes and poems helps students to develop rich vocabulary. Counting poems help students to count verbally and also to understand cardinality and the purpose of counting. Sharing poems and ideas about poems verbally helps to develop storytelling skills in students. The use of adjectives and a focus on action help create momentum and interest in the poem.
These lesson ideas contain some numeracy general capabilities in the area of number sense and algebra, as the poem and activities use counting and number words.
Early Years Learning Framework
Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world.
Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators.
Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts
Lesson activity
‘What can you see at the beach?’
Plan/implement
Hold up each poster, or place it on the floor, as you read the poem to the children.
Read the poem a second time, this time counting each animal/item together.
Ask children to sort the poster pages into the correct order on the floor.
Ask questions about the illustrations, e.g. ‘Where are the seals? What are the seals doing?’
Ask open questions, e.g. ‘What can you see at the beach?’
Observations / assessment opportunities
Can the child name at least two animals or items from the poem?
Does the child use number words to describe the illustrations?
Can the child describe what the animals are doing in an illustration?
Resources needed
Printable What can you see at the beach? wall frieze (print A4)
Language focus
Cardinal number words: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
whale, turtles, sea stars, seals, shells, dolphins, seagulls, crabs, fish, toes
Where are the <animals or items>?
The <animals or items> are ….
I found the …
I can see …
Community languages
Invite children to name the animals or items in their home language/s.
If the children use number words in their home language/s, use these words to describe the animals in the poem.
Foundation Australian Curriculum alignment
General capabilities: Numeracy: Number sense and algebra: Counting processes
English: AC9EFLE01
share ideas about stories, poems and images in literature, reflecting on experiences that are similar or different to their own by engaging with texts by First Nations Australian, and wide-ranging Australian and world authors and illustrators
English: AC9EFLE04
explore and replicate the rhythms and sound patterns of literary texts such as poems, rhymes and songs
Lesson activity
‘What animal do you like?’
Plan/implement
Read the poem aloud with expression, holding up each picture for students to see. For each picture, count the animals or items together before moving on.
Next, lay the pictures out on the floor.
Encourage students to share ideas about the poem and pictures. Ask, ‘What animal do you like?’
Students may respond with, e.g. ‘Whale. I like the whale.’
Ask students to tell you about the animal they chose, e.g. ’Tell me about the whale.’ or ‘What do you like about the whale?’
Observations / assessment opportunities
Can the student name at least two things from the poem?
Can the student say a word to describe an animal?
Resources needed
Printable What can you see at the beach? wall frieze (print A4)
Language focus
Cardinal number words: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
whale, turtles, sea stars, seals, shells, dolphins, seagulls, crabs, fish, toes
What animal do you like?
I like the <animal>.
Tell me about the <animal>.
Community languages
Encourage students to share local knowledge of the sea, rivers or waterways from their community, and discuss caring for Country.
Year 1 Australian Curriculum alignment
General capabilities: Numeracy: Number sense and algebra: Counting processes
English: AC9E1LA04
explore how repetition, rhyme and rhythm create cohesion in simple poems, chants and songs
English: AC9E1LA09
recognise the vocabulary of learning area topics
Lesson activity
‘Describing animals’
Plan/implement
Read the poem together.
Students join in by using their understanding of rhyme to predict the final word on each page.
Point out the alliteration (when the adjective starts with the same letter as the noun): ‘wonderful whale’, ‘terrific turtles’, ‘skinny sea stars’, ‘speedy seals’, ‘shiny shells’, ‘dancing dolphins’, ‘squawking seagulls’, ‘crawly crabs’, ‘flashy fish’, ‘tiny toes’.
Discuss what each adjective means, using the illustration and actions to help. Discuss why the author chose these words.
Model a sentence with an alliteration about a different animal, e.g. ‘I can see a dozy dog.’, ‘I can see three lovely lyrebirds.’
Each student chooses an animal to write their own sentence with an alliteration. It might be an animal from your local area.
Students write their sentence (or dictate it for the educator to help them write if needed). Then they illustrate their sentence and share it with a partner.
Observations / assessment opportunities
Can the student use adjectives to describe animals?
Does the student use the same starting letter to match an adjective to an animal name?
Can the student use an adjective in a simple sentence?
Can the student write a simple sentence using unjoined lower-case letters?
Resources needed
Printable What can you see at the beach? wall frieze (print A4)
Paper and pencils
Coloured pencils
Language focus
whale, turtles, sea stars, seals, shells, dolphins, seagulls, crabs, fish, toes
Alliterative adjectives to describe animals, e.g. dozy dog, lovely lyrebirds, green grasshoppers
Local animal names
I can see …
Community languages
Discuss local animals students may know from their community, and compare them with the animals in the poem.
Learn the words for each animal in the students’ home language/s.
Year 2 Australian Curriculum alignment
General capabilities: Numeracy: Number sense and algebra: Counting processes
English: AC9E2LA09
Experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit the topic
English: AC9E2LE04
identify, reproduce and experiment with rhythmic sound and word patterns in poems, chants, rhymes or songs
Lesson activity
‘What are they doing at the beach?’
Plan/implement
Read What can you see at the beach? as a class.
Ask, ‘What do you notice?’ Guide students to notice the counting pattern (numbers increasing from one to ten).
Examine one verse:
Six dancing dolphins,
I heard them splash and play.
Six dancing dolphins,
They leapt and spun all day.
Discuss:
- number words (‘six’)
- adjectives (‘dancing’)
- nouns (‘dolphins’)
- actions (‘splash and play’, ‘leapt and spun all day’).
Highlight the repeated structure throughout the whole poem.
As a class, create a new verse about a different animal you could find at the beach. Encourage students to help choose the animal (e.g. penguins, jellyfish, clams, rays, lobsters) and the best adjective to describe it, and to suggest rhyming words.
Ask students to copy the completed poem but change the number of animals in it. Students illustrate their poem, making sure to draw the correct number of animals. Students share their illustrated poems with the class.
Below is a model example of a new verse.
Two playful fish
jumped out of the sea.
Two playful fish
waved their fins at me.
Observations / assessment opportunities
Can the student identify repeated patterns?
Can the student identify describing words (adjectives)?
Can the student contribute to the creation of a new counting verse following the pattern in What can you see at the beach?
Resources needed
Printable What can you see at the beach? wall frieze (print A4)
Paper and pencils
Coloured pencils
Language focus
Cardinal number words: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
Adjectives to describe animals
Past-tense action verbs
Rhyming words
Community languages
Invite students to connect the poem with their own experiences of sea Country, river Country or local waterways, and discuss respectful relationships with the environment.
Year 3 Australian Curriculum alignment
General capabilities: Numeracy: Number sense and algebra: Counting processes
English: AC9E3LA07
understand how verbs represent different processes for doing, feeling, thinking, saying and relating
English: AC9E3LE02
discuss connections between personal experiences and character experiences in literary texts and share personal preferences
Lesson activity
‘Write a “What can you see?” poem’
Plan/implement
Read What can you see at the beach? as a class.
Ask students what they notice about the poem.
Discuss the structure of adjective and noun followed by an action.
Notice that the second and fourth lines end in rhyming words.
Brainstorm adjectives for other animals that students might see, e.g. ‘slinky snake’, ‘slithery snake’, ‘sneaky snake’.
Notice that sometimes poems use the same starting letter for words, and explain that this is called alliteration.
Ask students to choose an animal and think about what the animal will be doing in their poem. Below is a model example.
Five sneaky snakes
slithered on the floor.
Five sneaky snakes
are going out the door.
Students create and illustrate their own counting poem about an animal.
Remind students to title their poem ‘What can you see at …’, with the location of their poem.
Students share their poem with the class.
Observations / assessment opportunities
Can the student choose an animal, a number and an adjective to describe the animal?
Can the student write a short counting poem about an animal that rhymes?
Can the student present their poem to others?
Resources needed
Printable What can you see at the beach? wall frieze (print A4)
Paper and pencils
Coloured pencils
Language focus
Cardinal number words: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
Adjectives to describe animals
Rhyming words
Community languages
Invite students to connect the poem with their own experiences of animals in their local environment. Encourage students to use descriptive words from their home language/s to describe local animals.