Under the Sea

Last week we studied the ocean! There are SO many ocean and beach activities, it was difficult to choose what to do. But we found a few things we loved and got started.

Ms. Amy had this fun game that you could shake and search for items. When you found them, you matched them to a list of words. So this was great for beginning sounds, and sounding out words.

We also studied seashells and characteristics of different ocean creatures in science.

Pre-K 1 studied seahorses inspired by some amazing pinterest ideas.

We made some seahorses of our own. And not to get as geeky as all get out, but see those dishes with glue? Ms. Priscillia let us use them. Annnnnd, they are in the shape of fish. Themed glue containers? OhyesIdid.

Pre-K 2 studied sharks and read a few cool shark books.

I keep hearing the Jaws theme song every time I peeked over there.
Da na, da na, da na na na na na.

 They also experimented with sand.

Both classes did a color by number ocean sheet, and I was SUPER impressed by how well they did. Below is a picture of one of my sweet peas explaining the directions to her friend. So precious.  I love it when they ask a friend for help. It reinforces their knowledge as they share it verbally.

Pre-K 1 also read A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle.

Then we got busy making our own hermit crabs. This was a full on project that took all week. Inspired by pinterest, we wanted to each make our own hermit crabs similar to the one in the story. However, we took our time discussing and brainstorming how to make each piece of the project, so it took awhile to put together.

Here's part of the thinking and and working at the messy table.

And here's one of the finished products!

 

I know it's like this post will never end, but I can't help it that we are so busy in Pre-K.

Here are some fish Pre-K 2 made. The object? Tearing paper for the water, strengthening fine motor through bilateral coordination.

 A super duper cute morning message with a dose of literacy and parts of speech. I can't get enough of that emerging handwriting. I LOVE it.

Okay, lastly, we read this book, which is one of my absolute favorites for this unit. If you are a book collector, it is worth having. Beautiful illustrations mixed with gorgeous photos and a lovely story.

To wrap up the week, Pre-K 2 made a mural. This is one of my favorite things these incredible teachers do, and I would love to do more of them in my room. They do collaborative artwork. Each table works on a different part of the mural and then they piece it together and the kids write labels for it. It is such a versatile activity since it includes teamwork, artistic creativity, fine motor, learning about proportions, so many things. 

 

Here's the end result. I love it.

Finally, the end. Next week we are talking about cooking, but we are also slowing down to catch up on some projects, do some assessments, and prepare for graduation.
Happy Wednesday!