Wish for a Fish

Objective
Read -ish words and blend beginning consonants with the -ish ending to make the words wish, fish, swish, and dish.
Lesson Plan
Target Words:
- fish
- wish
- dish
- swish
Materials:
- Paper or plastic fish
- Magic wand
- Dishes or cupped palms to serve as dishes
- I Wish I Had a Fish song or chant*
*Item included below.
State and Model the Objective
Tell the children that they will wish for a dish and wish for a fish and will read and make words such as wish, fish, dish, and swish.
Literacy Activities
Wish for a fish
- Have the children take turns waving the magic wand over a hat or bag while saying, “Swish! Swish! I wish for a fish!”
- Pull the fish or some fish from the container
- Teach the children to sing or chant the text I Wish I Had a Fish to the rhythm from “London Bridge is Falling Down.”
- Hand out a fish and a dish and allow the children to swish the fish in the dish as they sing or chant.
Read target words in a text
- Read the text I Wish I Had a Fish together as a class.
- Read the text again, fading support.
- Have the children find the words that end in –ish.
Write target words
- Have the children write words from dictation: fish, wish, dish, swish
- Ask the children to write the following:
- I wish I had a fish in my dish.
- I wish to swish the fish in a dish.
SEEL Target Texts
I Wish I Had a Fish
little fish,
little fish,
I wish I had a little fish,
A little fish, I wish.
I wish I had a little dish,
little dish,
little dish,
I wish I had a little dish,
A dish for a fish, I wish.
I wish I had a fish in a dish,
fish in a dish,
fish in a dish,
I wish I had a fish in a dish,
A fish in a dish, I wish.
SEEL At Home
Objective
Blend a beginning consonant or consonant blend with –ish to make words such as wish, fish, and dish.
Materials
- Fish picture
- Small dish
- I Wish I Had a Fish song
Activity: Wish for a Fish
- Teach your child how to swish water in their mouth (like using mouthwash).
- Have your child swish loudly.
- Have your child swish softly.
- Take a dish and show your child how to swish water in a dish (move water side to side).
- Have your child swish the water in the dish fast.
- Have your child swish the water in the dish slowly.
- This time swish the fish picture card in the dish and sing the I Wish I Had a Fish song.
- Read the I Wish I Had a Fish song with your child, encouraging him or her to identify the -ish words.
- The activity can be repeated several times.
Standards
SEEL lessons align with Common Core Standards. Please see the standards page for the code(s) associated with this lesson.

http://education.byu.edu/seel/library/
49684
Wish for a Fish