Kristin Archer
OWP # 3
Diary of a Salmon
October 11, 2006
The stream water was dirty today. I found myself staring out at my pink-orange brothers and sisters, the small pebbles that surround them and the cloudy water. There are hundreds of us eggs. Five of my brothers wiggled out of their eggs by using their tail. I can’t wait to get out. It is so stuffy in here.
October 15, 2006
Today is the day. I got out of my egg! You should have seen me wiggling around with all my might. There was a bunch of us hatching. The water was foamy. It was so cool! It felt weird to be out at first. I stayed still in one spot, because I didn’t want the current to move me away from my family. Now, if I could just get rid of this huge yolk sac that is hanging down from my belly. One of my sisters told me that the yolk sac is nutrient-rich and has all my food in it. I guess this yolk sac is important until I get older and I can eat microscopic organisms in the water, like small insects.
November 20, 2006
As my yolk sac gets smaller and smaller, I am able to swim in short leaps. Who knew that swimming could be so fun? As I was trying to swim further and further, I heard my brothers and sisters talking about a migration to this place called the ocean. They told me that a migration is when you move from one place to another. This is the first time I heard about this! What is the ocean anyway?
December 12, 2006
Watch out for predators!!! This old, ragged animal with a beak came swooping down and grabbed another alevin right in front of me. A large toad saw this all happen from this brown, mushy stuff above the water. I think it’s called land. I swam over to him and asked him what had happened. He told me that the animal was a bird and that the bird had taken the alevin to eat! Yikes! I learned from the toad that lots of animals like to eat salmon. That’s what I am called! I am a salmon! Yeah!!! When I turned to leave, the toad warned me to watch out for all predators, like bears (brown or black hairy animals that live above water), larger fish, snakes, and humans (tall, colorful animals with hair on top, sometimes with long sticks that have a hook and worm on the end of it). I need to be very careful. I want to see this ocean place that I going to soon.
January 2, 2007
Today is the day I “buttoned up”! My yolk sac is completely gone!!! Now I have to search for my food in the water. Another fry suggested that I eat water organisms. It is much easier to swim without the yolk sac weighing me down. Lots of us are being attacked and eaten by birds and huge fish. I have to be observant and aware of what is going on around me. I want to survive.
February 15, 2007
Being a salmon is great! Here are three reasons: 1. You can use your fins to help swim and guide you in the water. 2. You have beautiful, colorful scales to protect you. 3. You automatically know to go to the ocean. I can sense that time is now. Here I go!!!!
March 1, 2007
Swimming to the ocean is really hard work and dangerous. I did not realize that we had to swim for hundreds of miles. Yesterday when I was swimming close to land, a brown, furry paw came swiftly down beside my gill on one side. It scared me so much! I swam quickly ahead. When I was at a safe distance, I turned around to see what it was. It was brown and furry! Bear!!!!! That was a close one!
May 3, 2007
Today I arrived at the ocean. It took months, but now I am here! At first, I was hesitant. The water tasted and felt different. I asked the other salmon why there was a change in our habitat. They told me it was because we used to live in freshwater and the ocean is saltwater. I know I will get used to it. There is too much to see anyway!
May 31, 2007
The ocean is great! There are long, green stalks that flow with the current. There are different types of fish. We all swim together, going with the ocean’s current. We find food, and look at the unique surroundings. I love it here! Good thing I am going to be here for a couple of years! Then I will have a chance to see many different things before I migrate back to where I was born. Hopefully, I will not come across any predators!
August 10, 2007
Ok, I have changed my mind about the ocean. Ocean life can be difficult. Right now it is really rough. Food is scarce. We are weak from searching for food. I am starving.
August 17, 2007
Today I came across some shrimp. I am so glad that I did. I am going to take the scarcity of food as a sign for me to think about starting my migration back to my birthplace. I will start the journey soon.
September 20, 2008
It is sad to leave the ocean, but I sense that it is now time for me to return to where I was born. There are so many of my friends and family that will not be returning with me. I am one of a few that survived the rough life in the ocean. Everyone talks about how challenging it will be to return to where I was born. I will have to go against the current of the water, and up waterfalls. There will be many predators to watch out for. If I do make it back, I will celebrate the fact that I will spawn and continue the salmon lifecycle.
September 28, 2008
Today I went up a waterfall! It was so difficult!!!! I had to try eleven times. The water kept forcing me back down to the river, but I would not give up. When I finally made it to the top, I looked back. I was one of five salmon who made it up the waterfall. I will miss the others.
October 1, 2008
I came across a rough, brown thing that would not get out my way! I told it to move, but it would not budge. I tried to go around it, but it was connected to the land. Someone told me that it was a tree that had fallen across the river. Well, it was blocking me and I needed to get through! So I jumped over it. I sort of landed on a branch which threw me off a little, but, I soon wiggled my way back into the water and swam away.
October 5, 2008
While I was struggling up the river, I saw a silver gleam of light by the shore of the river. I went over to this gleam of light. I swam back and forth admiring the piece of silver with a delicious worm attached. I wanted to eat the worm so bad, but I remembered that I was warned to avoid all worms attached to silver hooks. As I swam around the hook, another salmon came up to the hook. I yelled at him to not eat the worm. He did not listen. When he bit the worm, he was yanked up out of the water. I knew that he was gone.
November 2, 2008
The place where I was born is near, I can smell it. The smell is so familiar. When I arrived at an entry to a small stream, I knew this was the way to my home, by smelling it. I am growing very tired with fighting all the obstacles, such as ladders. I have noticed that I am turning a stunning shade of scarlet.
November 5, 2008
Today I arrived to my home. When I arrived I noticed that a lot of salmon had laid eggs and then died. I know that this is a part of the salmon lifecycle. My fate awaits me. I must find a mate, make a nest, also known as a redd, and then lay my eggs. I will make the nest by clearing small rocks and mud away with my tail.
November 18, 2008
As I prepare for my final job as a salmon, I reflect on the challenges I have faced and how I keep trying to beat the odds. When I was a young salmon, I set off to the ocean with thousands around me, but I returned with just a few. Many salmon could not survive the many predators and obstacles out there. I am lucky. As I lay my eggs, I understand the challenges my eggs will face during their fight for survival. I wish them good luck.
What a good way to incorporate writing into the science area. I can see how I can use diary writing for students to share what they have learned about plants and animals and their life cycles. Sometimes personification is difficult but diary enteries would make that easier for young writers. Additional information students might include in their diary is a description of their surroundings, water temperature, differences between fast water and slow water, etc. I am excited to try this with my classes this fall.
Posted by: anita nott | July 17, 2006 at 12:40 PM
Excellent effort to extend the events and descriptions at length. It would be an effective model to show your students how to take this 1st person point of view for all kinds of subjects. Cheers --nt
Posted by: Nat Teich | July 17, 2006 at 10:57 PM
Kristin,
This was really creative and I think students would really enjoy doing this activity as well.
Posted by: Deborah Handman | July 19, 2006 at 08:30 PM