This Week!: Fish in the Sea Weeks

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!