My wonderful brother, John, made hundreds of these cardboard cut outs for my students. My four classes made a twenty-foot mural, and we did a unit, Down by the Sea. What fun the pre-K kids had selecting the creatures they wanted, then sounding out phonetically and using inventive spelling. Check out their printed words above the mural: star fish, octopus, turtle, sea horse, dolphin, seal. Each student painted or colored the sea animals and proudly displayed them. We sorted and classified real seashells, read many related books, and then the three year old students told a creative story about one of the creatures.
We played an active game: the kids went "swimming" under the sea, and when the music stopped they had to stand by one of the creatures. When I held up the animal they were standing by, they were out and had to go to the huge, plastic, Fisher-Price boat. Oh, you should have heard the laughter as that boat filled up.
A big heartfelt thank you to my brother for making this a fun project for the kids and for giving me a brief reprieve from my grieving over the real sea creatures suffering from the horrendous oil spill in the Gulf. My friend Mary said, "You know, God is crying right along with all of us." Pray for a swift solution.
11 comments:
Linda - This is a terrific project, and your brother is indeed wonderful for doing the cutouts. How fun for the children, and for you, too! I'd love to be able to read each of their stories.
The situation in the Gulf is beyond horrifying and the ramifications of this man made disaster will be felt for decades. At this point, I think our prayers may be the best thing we have to offer.
Thanks for giving us all a great reprieve.
Linda, the Under the Sea unit was always one of my faves when I was teaching preschool-and you (and your brother!) are an impressive team!
My heart is breaking, thinking of all the lives (in and out of the sea) impacted by this oil mess. So, yes, my prayers are joining yours.
(P.S. Had a minute to catch up on a few back posts and read your shoe essay in Sasee-wonderfully written piece of memory!)
It certainly touches all of our heart strings to see this beautiful mural, made by such young, tender hands. I love the colors and everything about it!
I loved this post and pictures, Linda! It brought back wonderful memories of teaching and my third-grade oceans unit. Thank you so much for making me smile on this sunny Saturday.
Linda, I'm blog-hopping and so happy to have discovered yours.
Mary,
Thanks. The children just couldn't get enough of them. It was fun.
Hi Dianna,
I'm glad you enjoyed it. You know how enthusiastic kids can be. I have to tell you, I enjoyed this unit too.
Hi Katie,
Welcome! Thanks for stopping by. Please sign on as a follower. I am heading over to check out your site.
What a fun time those kids must have had!
What a neat and talented brother you have, too, Linda! And, hey, I think Katie may have hopped from my blog to yours! I'm loving this blogging more every day...meeting such fabulous women!! :)
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