As we dive into the ocean at the Kinderpond! watch us learn! We learn so
many things.We meet a lot of different animals. I have a resouce book that
has a letter written by several sea creatures. Besides the letter, they also
leave us a small finger puppet. This is always a highlight of the day.

Centers

Stencils from Big Lots!	Stamps		Mini puzzles
Flannel Board	Pocket Charts Using simple flash cards, my kids use them in a pocket chart. They come up with ways to sort them out and give them headings.	At the Science center: shells and sand dollars	Floor puzzle
Art Center: We made sea creatures from stencils and wallpaper books.	Games: the Rainbow Fish game	Here are the ocean word cards. The kids can use them to write, for the older ones, they can put them in abc order.	I got this coloring poster from the Dollar Tree.

Art Projects
Most of the art projects that we did came from TLC Art
We did many wonderful art projects. Our class was turned into an aquarium!

fish	jelly fish	squid	octopus
starfish	hermit crab	seahorse	sea shell

Here is a picture of our aquarium and fish bowls.

To make the aquariums:
Take 2 paper plates (small work fine)
Take a sheet of blue plastic wrap. Enough to cover one plate.
Teacher prep: cut out the middle of one paper plate.
Have the kids stamp some pictures on the plate. Also what we did was to give the aquarium
a 3-D effect, have the kids stamp on a seperate scrap of paper and then place a roll of tape
under that small cut out stamp. Add a little Easter grass to the plate. (This is seaweed.)
Tape the plastic wrap to the inside of one paper plate that is cut. Place the plates
together, same sides together, and staple around the outside of the aquarium.
*We marble painted different sea creatures.
*We used wall paper books and stencils and made wall paper sea life.
Fishing for Fun(for a bulletin board display)

Bulletin Boards

To display the fish that the kids made during art, I made this bulletin board.

Check out my Ocean Discovery Pack
Dr. Jean's ocean song/book idea

I made this guessing game for my kids. I used clip art and wrote clues for the kids to guess.
Then I would read them, they would guess and I would flip the cards over, so they could
see the pictures.

These are some ocean tapes that I used

Rock and Learn Oceans. I have a tape and the CD

Splash Zone

Down by the Sea (This from a Learning Shop workshop)

Splash in the Ocean (Reading Seires)

Somewhere in the Ocean

A House for Hermit Crab

Six Foolish Fishermen

Underwater Playground(Not Pictured) Plays real ocean sounds

We read many, many books!

Books we read:

Under the Sea by Jolen Griffith

A House For Hermit Crab by Eric Carle

In the Ocean by Maurice Pledger

By the Sea Shore by Maurice Pledger

Journey Through the Ocean Illustrated by Steve Cox

Swimmy by Leo Linoni

Songs we sang:

Under the Sea

Down by the Bay

Writing Activities

I have the kids write on a preprogrammed sheet. On the sheet at the top, it says: Submarine Journal by ___________. Then there is a porthole. This is where the kids can draw what they saw. Under that there are the words: This is what I saw during my day underwater: (and several lines under that so that they can describe what they saw. I then bind them and put them in our class library.
Another collaborative class book that we do is called: In the Water
I have preprogrammed sheet for the kids to write or dictate their stories. This is what the sheet says: There’s a little ________ _______ ________ in the water. A little _____________ _____________ Doing what she oughter;
She __________________________
and she ________________________
And she said,”I’m glad!”
I’m a little ____________ ______________ _______________ in the water.
______________ _______________ ______________
Here is a story that a student wrote: There’s a little blue whale jumping in the water. A little blue whale Doing what she oughter;
She flapped her tail
and she blew her spout
And she said,”I’m glad!”
I’m a little blue whale jumping in the water.
Splash Splash Splash
I had a programmed sheet for both boys and girls. They also were given a separate sheet of paper to draw their animal.

Poems

Fish

There are so many fish in the deep blue sea
What color fish does (insert name) see?
Put a different colored fish on each finger one at a time.

Five Little Seashells

(hold up 5 fingers, and swish each one down with other hand.)
Five little seashells lying on the shore-
Swish went the waves, and then there were four,
Four little seashells, pretty as could be-
Swish went the waves, and then there were three
Three little seashells all pearly new-
Swish went the waves, and then there were two
Two little seashells shinning in the sun-
Swish went the waves, and then there was one.
One little seashell left all alone-
I picked it up, and I took it home.

Decorations

I found some stuffed sea creatures at the Dollar Tree. I found a walrus, crab, Orca whale, shark, seal, dolphin, and a hammerhead shark. Also there, I found some swim inflatables. A 36 inch shark, and a whale. These I hang from the celling

I also found those inflatable pool toys at the Dollar Tree.
One year as I was packing up my ocean things at recess time, one of students saw me taking
down the shark hanging from the ceiling and he asked if I could give him the shark. I said
what would I do next year when I did this unit. Without missing a step, Jay said that he
would bring it back! You gotta love kids!!

Teacher Resources

Sea Life Language Pack from Lakeshore- these are sentence strips
Ocean Life-Primary- The Mailbox
Outstanding Oceans! grades 1-3: Monday Morning
Oceans by Teacher Created Materials
Ocean Paper Chains- A complete kit including 13 pre-cut stencils by Stewart& Sally Walton
Check out some of these lessons that I have found:
Sea Life
Sea Activities

Not that I would be able to make this for my unit, but a great parent helper, or just
at home, but I got this from the Disney Insider.
Prep Time: 1 Hour
(Ready in 3 hours)
Makes 12 Servings
Ingredients
CAKE:
1 (18.25-oz.) pkg. Pillsbury® Moist Supreme® Funfetti® Cake Mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
FROSTING:
2 (16-oz.) can Pillsbury® Creamy Supreme® Vanilla Frosting
Blue gel or paste icing color (not liquid food color)
EQUIPMENT AND DECORATIONS:
Toothpicks
4 (6-inch) wooden skewers
Blue decorator sugar
64 assorted colored round candies
1 small white gumdrop
2 brown miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits
2 candied orange slices
Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans. In large bowl,
combine all cake ingredients; beat at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at medium
speed. Pour batter into greased and floured pans. Bake at 350°F for 35 to 45 minutes or
until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 15 minutes.
Remove cakes from pans; place on wire racks. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled.
In small bowl, tint 1 1/2 cups of the frosting with blue icing color until of desired light
blue color. Cut crescent moon shape off each cake layer. (See diagram at right.) Set aside
crescent shapes for fins and tail. For body of fish, spread flat side of 1 remaining large
cake piece with 2 tablespoons frosting. Attach remaining large cake piece, flat side against
frosting; secure with toothpicks. Carefully spread frosting on cut edges of cake layers.
Place frosted side down on platter or foil-covered cardboard. Frost body of fish. Sprinkle
scale portion of fish with blue decorator sugar. Tint remaining frosting with blue icing
color to make a darker blue color. Frost outer edge of crescent moon-shaped cake piece. Place
on end of body portion for tail; secure with 2 wooden skewers. Frost tail fin completely;
sprinkle with blue decorator sugar. Cut remaining cake piece into 3 equal pieces.
Set aside middle piece. Frost cut sides of 1 piece. Place on top of fish for top fin,
secure with 2 wooden skewers. Frost top fin completely; sprinkle with decorator sugar. Cut
remaining piece crosswise in half to use for fins on sides of fish. Attach
fins to body with frosting. Frost side fins completely; sprinkle with decorator sugar.
Decorate sides of fish with colored round candies for scales. Cut white gumdrop in half and
flatten; place on cake for eyes. With small amount of frosting, attach baking bit on each eye
for pupil. Roll out and cut orange slices to form lips; place on fish and secure with
toothpicks. Remove toothpicks and skewers from cake before serving.
HIGH ALTITUDE (ABOVE 3500 FEET): See package for directions