Positive Friendship Fish

Overview

Students respond to Memoirs of a Goldfish through drawing, oral sharing, and personal reflection. They explore how positive thinking, kind choices, and friendship can help someone feel included, while practising respectful listening and communication.

Learning intentions

• I can identify positive thoughts and friendship actions in a story.
• I can show an idea through drawing and a short written explanation.
• I can listen carefully and respond respectfully to a classmate.
• I can connect a character’s experience to my own choices.

Success criteria

• I can describe how the goldfish may be feeling and explain why.
• I can draw a scene or symbol that shows positive thinking or friendship.
• I can use a kind sentence starter when sharing or responding.
• I can name one action I can take to help someone feel welcome.

Curriculum links

• Atlantic Canada English Language Arts: speaking and listening, responding to literature, making personal connections, and representing ideas through drawing and writing.
• Personal Wellness: communication, positive relationships, responsible behaviour, and social problem solving.
• Personal Development and Career Planning: effective communication and conflict resolution, responsible behaviour, and appreciation of individual uniqueness.
• Social Studies: citizenship, responsible participation, and consideration of multiple perspectives.

Lesson structure (40 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome and hook. Teacher displays the opening prompt in the opening question slide: “How can one small kind action change someone’s day?” Students silently think, then share one possible answer with a partner.

2. 5–13 min · Read and notice. Teacher reads selected pages or revisits key illustrations from Memoirs of a Goldfish, pausing to ask, “What is the goldfish feeling?”, “What might the character be thinking?”, and “What changes when others enter the tank?” Students show a quiet thumb signal for a feeling and support their ideas with details from the words or pictures. Use the story discussion slides to display the feeling and thinking prompts.

3. 13–18 min · Teach positive thinking and friendship. Teacher explains that positive thinking does not mean pretending everything is perfect; it means noticing a helpful thought or possible next step. Model changing “Nobody will want to be my friend” to “I can try saying hello or inviting someone to join.” Review the friendship actions on the positive choices slide: include others, listen, encourage, take turns, apologize, and ask for help. Students suggest one kind action the goldfish or another character could try.

4. 18–29 min · Draw and explain. Teacher distributes the positive friendship fish drawing sheet and models choosing one moment, symbol, or imagined scene to draw. Students create a drawing showing either a positive thought, a friendship action, or a change from feeling alone to feeling included. They complete the sentence frame: “This shows positive thinking/friendship because ______.” Students who prefer not to draw may create a labelled comic sequence or dictate their explanation to an adult or speech-to-text tool. Play or revisit the drawing instructions slide as needed.

5. 29–36 min · Partner share. Teacher pairs students and displays the partner-sharing slides. Partner A shares for one minute while Partner B listens without interrupting, then responds using “I notice…,” “I like how…,” or “This reminds me of….” Partners switch roles. Each student asks one respectful question or adds one connection. Invite two or three volunteers to share with the class.

6. 36–40 min · Reflect and exit. Teacher asks students to complete the final box on the reflection and action section: “One way I can help someone feel welcome is ______.” Students place their sheets in an assessment tray or share their action with a partner. Close by reinforcing that thoughts, words, and actions can help build safe and caring friendships.

Resources

• Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian, or selected pages and illustrations
• the positive thinking and friendship slide deck
• the positive friendship fish drawing sheet
• Pencils, erasers, crayons, coloured pencils, or markers
• Document camera or interactive display
• Optional headphones and speech-to-text access
• Chart paper or board for recording student ideas
• Timer

Assessment

• During discussion, listen for students identifying a character’s feeling and supporting it with a story or visual detail.
• During drawing and partner sharing, use a quick checklist: communicates a clear idea, identifies a positive thought or friendship action, listens, and responds respectfully.
• Collect the worksheet as an exit assessment. Look for a meaningful connection and a realistic action for helping someone feel welcome.

Differentiation

• Provide the sentence starters “I think the goldfish feels…,” “A helpful thought could be…,” and “A friend could….” Accept oral responses, labelled drawings, comic panels, or dictated writing.
• Pre-teach feeling words with simple facial or visual cues. Read selected text aloud, allow students to revisit illustrations, and offer dyslexia-friendly options such as enlarged print, a clear sans-serif font, increased spacing, reduced copying, and adult or text-to-speech support.
• Pair students thoughtfully and allow rehearsal with a trusted partner before whole-class sharing. Students may share their artwork privately with the teacher instead of presenting publicly.
• For advanced learners, invite students to create a second drawing showing an unhelpful thought being changed into a helpful one, then explain how the change could affect the character’s actions and friendship.

Extension

• Display student drawings as a “Friendship Tank” gallery. Students leave one encouraging comment beside a peer’s work using “I noticed…” or “Your idea could help because….”
• Revisit the class’s suggested friendship actions during the week and invite students to record when they notice one being used.