Ocean Bottle Word Cards

Lately the children have really been enjoying making word cards (index cards with a vocab word on one side and a drawing to represent the word on the other). 

During our Under the Sea unit, we worked together one morning to create "ocean bottles." We filled empty plastic bottles with water, then added a few drops of blue food coloring, glycerin, and glitter. The glycerin helps to suspend and slow the glitter as it travels through the water. Then we added various ocean-related objects, like seashells and plastic fish.

The cool thing about these bottles is they're easily cross-curricular. We put them together as part of a science activity, and we incorporated math by measuring, tracking, and counting what we added (i.e., "We need 2 drops of blue food coloring. Maitha, will you add 2 drops?" and "Let's put in ten fish! Can you count out ten for me?" or "How many red fish can you find swimming in this bottle?").

On this particular day, I put our bottles in the writing center to use for word cards.

The children tipped the bottles around and observed for a bit. They then selected an item from the bottle to use for their card. I'd placed several completed example cards in the center: ocean, fish, frog, and seashell. As I said, each card had the written word on one side and a drawing on the other.

Here, a little boy has selected the seashell card to work on:

Not every student is 100% comfortable writing letters/words just yet, so one way I adapt our word cards is with alphabet stamps. I'll write out a card with the word "fish," for example, with a blank line underneath each letter. The children then match the correct stamper to each letter, filling in the blanks until they've finished the word. Sometimes I set out the full set of stamps; other times I limit the stamps available based on what's needed to complete the word card. It really depends on the student (and the day and the time and . . . so on :) ). Many students enjoy working on both types of cards (written and stamped).

One nice thing about our stampers is that they are pretty small - meaning the children have to pinch them and place them carefully, building up fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Finally, I'd like to point out that I never force a child to do anything s/he is adamantly opposed to or disinterested in, especially at this age. I certainly do my best to engage all of my students, and if something isn't working, I change my approach. That said, the majority of the children LOVE making word cards and approach the task enthusiastically.

Mural Close-Ups

. . . are finally here!

"R" is for "reef" -- on the sandy, sponge-painted ocean floor.

The children cut  and placed the seaweed themselves, too.

Colorful jellyfish floating by.

Our abstract cardboard fish incorporate scraps from a marble painting project earlier in the year, as well as weaving. (They were inspired by these.)

Cute cardboard squid, as seen previously in-process.

Is that a handprint I spy? :)

Ordering Fish Integrated Activity

In addition to our large-scale bubble backdrop, we also made personal bubble paintings using the same method. The children dipped cardboard tubes in white paint, then stamped them on blue construction paper to make an "ocean":

They then ordered different colored fish by length (they glued them on their backgrounds and even drew eyes and mouths in many instances. But as usual, I have more photos of the process as opposed to the product!)

We did this as a Numeracy-meets-Art activity, in conjunction with Literacy, as it was inspired by our study of the book Blue Sea.

Blue Sea is yet another book the children want to read on repeat! They understand all the vocab and just love to participate in telling the story. It's a lot of fun to watch their facial expressions change these days as they become more and more wrapped up in read alouds :)

I also set aside an extra set of fish + background (made by a student helper) to use for retellings. I used the set first during whole group story time, and the children loved interacting with it on their own during centers.

Goldfish Cracker Numeracy

During our Sea Creatures focus, we did some counting using Goldfish Crackers, which I was surprised and fortunate to find in stock at Lulu's!

I laminated several counting mats for the children to use during small group time. (They were numbered one through six, though this could easily be extended. Not pictured are the mats I adapted by drawing on "counting dots" to assist the children that still have trouble recognizing all of the numerals.) The children simply counted out the proper quantity of goldfish to match the amount shown on each bowl. 

Another simple way to adapt this activity is to introduce a "control" (Montessori-style). Instead of simply setting out a whole bunch of crackers, you'd pre-count the exact number necessary to complete the task (in this case, 21 crackers). The children then have a way to self-check their results. 

We extended the activity by using some crackers for addition, too:

Using small-scale manipulatives in this way mirrored the activity we'd been doing in whole group. While most of our class is still building up the fine motor skills necessary to draw/write out an activity like this, quite a few are ready for the mental task itself. It could easily be completed using stickers and pre-made numerals for students to glue on in place of writing.

Here's what the process looked like during whole group (once again, similar to what we did here with eggs):

Writing out our carpet during whole group . . .

. . . and showing our work with pictures the next day (some of the children completed did this independently during small group as an extension).

Making a Mural

We worked together to create a beautiful display for our Under the Sea theme last week.

Using recyclables (cardboard tubes and egg boxes), we painted a bubble-filled background on blue butcher paper . . . 

. . . while others worked to make cardboard squid:

Some of us sponge painted "R" shapes to look like reef. Did you know sponges actually come from the ocean? ;)

Eventually we added some other fun items, including the cool cardboard fish we'd been working on the week before - but not until we'd used them for a little addition practice!

We fished in two separate "ponds," gathering the fish in a basket, then counted our total catch. (The process was similar to what we did here with eggs. This time, however, some children drew out their own addition problems as a way of leaning into that next developmental step.)

Our mural is now hanging in the corridor, and we've been getting lots of compliments on our hard work! As always, pictures of the finished product to come . . . stay tuned :)