Hello, friends! Today, we have a fun story to share with you. It’s called Clark the Shark. Are you ready to dive into the ocean and meet Clark? Let’s go!
In the big, blue ocean, there was a school for fish called Theodore Roosterfish Elementary. The biggest and strongest fish there was Clark the Shark. Clark loved school, his teacher Mrs. Inkydink, and playing with his friends. He thought everything was awesome!
Clark was so excited about everything! He shouted, “School is awesome!” But Mrs. Inkydink reminded him, “Less shouting, more reading.” At lunchtime, he yelled, “Lunchtime is great!” But his friend Joey Mackerel said, “Munch your own lunch.” During recess, Clark played too rough, and his friends said, “You’re playing too rough, Clark!”
Clark loved everything a little too much. He was too loud and too wild, and soon his friends didn’t want to play with him. Even Joey said, “Cool your jets, Clark!” Clark was confused and asked Mrs. Inkydink what was wrong. She told him, “There’s a time and a place for everything, and sometimes the rule is to stay cool.”
Clark wanted to remember to stay cool, so he made up rhymes to help him. In class, he said, “When teacher’s talking, don’t go walking.” At lunch, he reminded himself, “Only munch your own lunch.” During playtime, he thought, “Easy does it, that’s the way. Then my friends will let me play.” And guess what? It worked!
One day, a new kid came to the playground. It was a big squid named Sid. At first, everyone was scared, but Clark said, “He just wants to play. Let’s find a way!” Clark played with Sid and showed him how to stay cool. Everyone cheered for Clark the Shark!
That night, Clark’s mom asked what he learned at school. Clark said, “There’s a time and a place for everything. Sometimes you stay cool.” But he also knew, “Sometimes a shark’s gotta do what a shark’s gotta do.”
Wasn’t that a fun story? Clark the Shark taught us that it’s important to be excited and have fun, but also to be kind and think about others. Thank you for joining us for story time. Keep reading and having fun!
Role-Playing with Clark: Let’s pretend to be Clark the Shark and his friends! Gather in a circle and take turns acting out different parts of the story. One child can be Clark, and others can be his friends or Mrs. Inkydink. Practice using Clark’s rhymes to remind each other when to stay cool. How does it feel to be Clark? How does it feel to be his friends?
Create Your Own Rhymes: Just like Clark made up rhymes to help him remember how to stay cool, let’s create our own rhymes! Think of a time when you need to remember to be calm or kind. Can you make a rhyme about it? For example, “When it’s time to share, show you care.” Share your rhyme with the class and see if others can use it too!
Observation Walk: Take a walk around the classroom or playground and observe how everyone is playing and learning. Can you spot someone being like Clark the Shark? Are they being too loud or too rough, or are they staying cool? Talk about what you see and how you can help each other remember to be kind and thoughtful, just like Clark learned to be.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hey everybody!
Welcome to Storyline Online, brought to you by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. My name is Chris Pine, and today we are reading the wonderful book *Clark the Shark*, written by Bruce Hale and illustrated by Guy Francis.
Let us begin. In all the wide blue seas, in all the wide blue world, the top school for fish was the Theodore Roosterfish Elementary. And of all the fish at Theodore Roosterfish, the biggest and the strongest was Clark the Shark. Clark loved school, and he loved his teacher, Mrs. Inkydink. He loved to play games with his friends. Clark loved his life.
“School is awesome!” shouted Clark the Shark.
“Less shouting, more reading,” said Mrs. Inkydink.
“Lunchtime is great!” yelled Clark the Shark.
“Munch your own lunch,” said his best friend, Joey Mackerel.
“Recess is fun!” bellowed Clark the Shark.
“You are playing too rough, Clark!” cried the other kids.
Yes, Clark loved his life with all of his sharky heart. But he loved everything a little too much. He was too loud. He was too wild. He was just too much shark for the other fish to handle. After a while, no one would play with Clark. No one ate lunch with Clark. No one sat with him at circle time. Even his best friend, Joey Mackerel, said, “Cool your jets, Clark! You’re making me crazy!”
One day, Clark asked Mrs. Inkydink, “What’s wrong with everyone?” Mrs. Inkydink patted his fin. “Clark, sometimes you play too hard, you munch too hard, and — gosh — you even help too hard.”
“But life is so exciting!” said Clark.
“There’s a time and a place for everything,” said Mrs. Inkydink. “And sometimes the rule is to stay cool.”
At recess, Clark tried to stay cool, but he pushed the swing with too much energy!
“Sorry,” said Clark. “I forgot.”
“Yikes!” cried Joey Mackerel.
At lunch, Clark tried to stay cool, but everything smelled so good that he munched a bunch of lunches.
“Sorry,” said Clark. “I forgot.”
“We’re starving!” said his friends.
In class, Clark tried to stay cool, but a good book got him all excited.
“Now, Clark!” said Mrs. Inkydink. “This isn’t the time or the place. Tell me, what’s the rule?”
“Stay cool,” said Clark.
“Hey, that rhymes!” he cried.
Then Clark got a big idea in his sharky head. Maybe if I make a rhyme, I’ll remember every time! he thought. The next day, he put his plan to work. In class, when lessons got exciting, Clark wanted to bounce up out of his seat. Instead, he told himself: “When teacher’s talking, don’t go walking.” And what do you know? It worked!
“Attaboy, Clark!” said Mrs. Inkydink. Clark smiled. “Lessons are fun!”
At lunch, everything smelled so yummy. When Clark wanted to eat and eat and never stop, he told himself: “Only munch your own lunch.” And it worked again!
“Way to go, Clark!” said his friends. Clark grinned. “Lunch is fun.”
At playtime, Clark told himself: “Easy does it, that’s the way. Then my friends will let me play.” And playtime was fun. Once more, Clark loved his life.
But then a shadow fell across the playground—a huge shadow with tentacles galore.
“It’s a new kid, and he looks scary!” cried Joey Mackerel. “Swim for your lives!”
The squid squashed the slide, and it snapped off the swings.
“Oops. My bad,” said the new kid.
“Wait,” said Clark. “He just wants to play. Let’s find a way!”
And he swam at the new kid with all his might. Clark played harder than he ever had before—upsy-downsy and spinna-ma-jig. Why, he even made up a new game: tail-whump-a-lumpus!
“Wow, that was fun,” said the new kid breathlessly, and he settled down.
“If you want to come to school, you’ve got to stay cool,” said Clark.
“That’s right, Clark,” said Mrs. Inkydink. “And thanks for taking care of our new classmate, Sid the Squid.”
“Hooray for Clark the Shark!” everyone cheered.
That night, Clark’s mother asked, “What did you learn at school, dear?”
“There’s a time and a place for everything,” Clark said. “Sometimes you stay cool.”
“But sometimes a shark’s gotta do what a shark’s gotta do.”
The end.
That was *Clark the Shark*, everybody. I think it speaks to all of us. It talks about how we all want to do what we want to do, right? We want to be ourselves, and we want to express ourselves and have a good time. But as Mrs. Inkydink said, there’s a time and a place for everything. And there is a time and a place to be considerate of other people’s feelings. I think the lesson is: Be considerate.
Thank you so much for watching Storyline Online. Make sure to check out all of the other stories. Keep watching and keep reading!
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