Fish in the Sea Weeks
began with our Field Trip to the East Greenbush Library as the children sang
fun songs and heard captivating "Fish Stories"!
Additionally, Miss Molly, led the children on a private tour of the Library.
The children met "behind the scenes" library
workers, and had an opportunity to observe firsthand the workings of the
"book drop-off".
They were also shown the location of all the books, music
and movies that are available to them once they have a library card!
Young children have a natural desire and a burning
curiosity to learn about their world! Community Helpers are an important part
of that world, and children learn best about Community Helpers by going out
into the community, meeting these helpers, and seeing firsthand what it is that
they do for us. We are so fortunate to have had a whole team of
helpers who worked with the children this year. Our thanks to Miss Molly
for sharing her time and expertise with us this week. Our thanks
again to Hillary Fink for leading us on a tour of Price Chopper, that
enabled the children to experience the Grocery Store in a new and most thorough
way, and to Diane Westfall who did the same for the children last November at
the Defreestville Fire Station. Additionally,
our sincerest thanks to Karzi's mom, Grace, for coming into our classroom
during Doctor Week and giving the children a firsthand demonstration of her
work as a Nurse. We
will engage with one more community helper during Post Office Week, when we meet
and chat with Parker's own U.S. Mail Carrier!
Within the classroom, Fish in the Sea Weeks were filled with rich literature, fun songs, lots of fish
art, and a variety of fine motor activities. Additionally, Fish in the
Sea was the final theme within our overarching unit "All Living Things
Grow."
Sea Life was represented on our Felt Board and in our Water
Table!
Sea Shells and Fish were viewed under magnifying glasses.
Fish were assembled, sorted and
stitched.
At the Art Table, fish were
glued, painted, and colored.
Sea Shells were glued as well!
Our Field
Trip to Five Rivers allowed the children to observe and engage in the beauty of
nature first hand! We saw wild life in
many forms; wonderful flowers and foliage, birds, squirrels, chipmunks, turtles, fish, a beaver and a Robin's egg! Many thanks to all of our drivers!
Divertido con Espanol / Fun with Spanish
Rosalba assisted the children in making a "Pecera"!
Vocabalo de Semana
en Espanol /
Words of the Week in Spanish
Oceano / Ocean
Pez / Fish
Tiburon / Shark
Tortuga / Turtle
Looking Deeper:
Exploration and Learning through Play
Let's take a closer look at our concluding unit of study:
All Living Things Grow
Fish in
the Sea Weeks were the concluding focus of our over-arching unit entitled:
"All Living Things Grow." The concept of "All Living Things Grow" was rooted in Doctor Weeks as we explored and discussed the three
components necessary to insure healthy bodies.
It was formally introduced in late March during Baby Weeks as we
explored our own personal growth, and discovered that our growth was dependent
upon those same three components, namely: eating healthy food, getting plenty
of sleep and lots of exercise.
Our
focus shifted from the growth of people to the exploration of plants and their
growth from seeds during Growing Weeks.
We discovered that plant life also depends on three component to
facilitate growth and sustain life, these being; soil, sun and water. Additionally the children participated in a
myriad of activities that concretely demonstrated to them the sequence of plant
growth, which they will tell you is root, stem, leaf and flower. Farm and animal life was also explored and
discussed during this time.
In early
May we began our focus on bug life. We
learned that while we consider insects to be bugs, not all bugs are insects,
just the ones with six legs! We read a
variety of non-fiction books which illustrated and described the broad variety
of species that comprise Bug Life.
Additionally the children searched for and observed bugs during our
outdoor play time!
Fish in
the Sea Weeks focused on one final life form, the mysterious creatures that
inhabit our seas and oceans. While our
study was very basic, it served to broaden the children's concepts of sea life
creatures and their habitats.
Throughout
this unit the children have gained and broadened their basic conceptual
understanding of a variety of life forms, the components that facilitate
growth, and how these life forms are alike and/or different from one
another. This learning has been
facilitated through literature and hands-on experiential activities, or as I
like to call it Play!
Our classroom and the experiences we have within it are
exciting, enriching, and educating.
Extending our classroom beyond its four walls to include field trips is
crucial for providing the children with the most comprehensive experiences for
learning. Our wonderful Field Trip to Five Rivers Environmental
Preserve was a fitting culmination for our unit as the Beaver Trail was
bursting with abundant plant and animal life for the children to observe and
enjoy first hand!
Many thanks to all of you who have driven for our field
trips and made
our excellent adventures possible!
Have a fun and restful weekend!
