At the Seashore Caroline Malaktaris

Literature Focus Unit EDU 315

Literature Selection   The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow   The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister   Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood   Pup’s Supper/La cena de cachero by Victoria Miles   Swimmy by Leo Lionni   On The Seashore by Anna Milbourne   Sally Goes to the Beach by Stephen Huneck   Clifford The Big Red Dog: The Missing Beach Ball by Sonali Fry   Comet’s Nine Lives by Jan Brett   How Will We Get to the Beach by Brigitte Luciani   A House for a Hermit Crab by Eric Carle   Seashells by Josie Iselin and Sandy Carlson   About Crustaceans: A Guide for Children by Cathryn Sill   Seashells, Crabs, and Sea Stars by Christiane Kump Tibbits   By the Sea: Flip-Flap Facts by Sally Hobson

Theme Study   Students will take part in a thematic unit on the

characteristics of the seashore. This unit will integrate reading and writing with social studies, science, mathematics, art, music, and physical education.

  Students will develop an understanding of plants and animals at the seashore and will learn seashore vocabulary.

  Students will learn about the effects of pollution to sea life (plants and animals) and what can be done to change it.

Language Arts: Reading Activities

  Students will read along using individual copies as the teacher shares big books.

  Students will read other books at their own levels chosen by the teacher during guided reading.

  Students will reread familiar books with their 4th grade buddies and will also read independently.

  Students will read their seashore stories and poems to the class.

  The teacher will read aloud to students to model fluent reading.

Language Arts: Writing Activities

  Students will draw pictures in reading logs and add words and sentences (using invented spelling) to record their reactions to books.

  Students will write interesting and important words on the word wall.

  Students will write their own seashore stories after they hear Sally Goes to the Beach from a dog’s perspective.

  Students will write their own five-senses poems and “If I were…” poems with seashore subjects.

  Students will write in their seashore counting books.

Language Arts: Speaking Activities

  The students will take part in grand conversations about all books read throughout the unit.

  Students will learn and say together a “Five Little Crabs” finger play.

  The students will use the Author’s Chair to read their stories and poems aloud.

  Students will speak during peer conferencing as they work to help one another revise their seashore stories.

  Students will present their seashore dioramas to the class and explain each part.

Language Arts: Listening Activities

  Students will listen to audio versions of seashore literature (La cena de cachero in Spanish).

  Students will listen as the teacher reads aloud books and discusses information about the seashore.

  Students will listen to their peers as they share stories and poems about the seashore.

  Students will listen to songs about the seashore and sounds of the sea.

  Students will listen during grand conversations about the books they read.

Language Arts: Viewing Activities

  Students will view online activities to go with Comet’s Nine Lives.

  Students will view a seashore video (see Technology).

  Students will view artwork of the seashore.

  Students will view seashore decorations and crafts.

  Students will view their seashore word wall.

  Students will view examples of shells and other seashore critters in their exploration station including pet hermit crabs.

Language Arts: Visually Representing Activities

  Students will create a seashore word wall.

  Students will learn about synonyms and antonyms by placing them in separate fish bowls.

  Students will keep reading logs to respond to stories read in class and to organize new and important information they learn about the seashore.

  Students will organize sea critters in a seashore counting book by the number of body parts they have.

  Students will create aquarium paper plate dioramas as well as an “at the seashore” bulletin board.

  Students will write poems and create artistic backgrounds for them.

Science Activities   Students will discover which household items will sink and

which will float and will make boats to race out of packing peanuts.

  Students will learn the basics of how the water cycle and evaporation work through experimentation and painting with water.

  Students will learn about shells as animal homes (exoskeletons) and will make hermit crab puppets after viewing their pet hermit crabs.

  Students will learn about objects that are magnetic by playing a fishing game with magnets at the end of their poles and paperclip fish.

  Students will make aquascopes to explore in their exploration station and will learn about the importance of not harming or disturbing seashore critters.

Mathematics Activities   Students will work on sequencing with beach scene

pictures.

  Students will work on counting and adding by playing a counting coconuts game.

  Students will work on quantifying with shells and number cards.

  Students will practice measuring with palm fronds.

  Students will find seashore critters with body parts for each number from one to ten and make a seashore counting book.

Social Studies Activities   Students will identify oceans on a map and areas where

seashores can be found.

  Students will view a video about the seashores around the world.

  Students will practice the importance of being safe on the beach and always sticking with a buddy.

  Students will use the library and internet to research water and sand pollution and what the effects are on plant and animal life.

  Students will propose a plan to “Save the Shore” and what they can do, personally.

Music and Art Activities   Students will learn and perform many seashore related songs.

(ex. I’m A Sea Star)

  Students will make Ollie Otter lunch bag puppets to go along with Pup’s Supper.

  Students will make an aquarium paper plate diorama.

  Students will decorate an “At the Seashore” bulletin board.

  Students will create an artistic background for their poems.

  Students will paint their own Rainbow Fish with watercolor.

  Students will create lobsters with their hand and foot prints.

Physical Education Activities

  Students will play “Crab, Crab, Lobster,” a variation of “Duck, Duck, Goose.” (Crab walk around the circle instead of run)

  Students will play “Sharks and Lifeguards” with a parachute. (Two students are chosen as lifeguards and two are sharks. The rest sit with their legs under the parachute. The sharks try to pull the students under, and the lifeguards try to save them.)

  Students will display surfing skills during a variation on “Red Light, Green Light.” (When the teacher says “surf’s up,” the students paddle on their pretend surfboard. When the teacher yells “shark,” the students stand up and ride the wave back into shore.)

  Students will demonstrate the crab walk and different swimming strokes during a relay game.

  Students will play a game of “sand” volleyball with a beach ball.

  Students will play an octopus tag game.

Technology   Eyewitness “Seashore” video

  www.montereybayaquarium.org (La cena de cachero and “I’m a Sea Star”)

  www.janbrett.com/piggybacks/comet.htm (Activities for Comet’s Nine Lives)

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JjjzlrdtgA (Sounds of the sea)

  “Sounds of the Earth: Ocean Waves” audio CD

  “The Magic School Bus: Catches a Wave” DVD

Language Arts Strategies   Activating background knowledge: Students will think

about what they already know about the seashore.

  Brainstorming: Students will think of many ideas related to the seashore through writing activities.

  Identifying big ideas: Students will determine the most important ideas in the literature that is read to put in their reading logs.

  Playing with language: Students will use language creatively through stories, poems, and journals.

  Visualizing: Students will draw pictures in their minds.

Language Arts Skills   Print: Students will sound out words using phonics.

Students will recognize high-frequency words on the seashore word wall.

  Comprehension: Students will sequence events in a story. Students will notice organizational patterns of poetry.

  Language: Students will recognize and choose synonyms and antonyms.

  Reference: Students will read diagrams and magazines.

Grouping Patterns   Large group: grand conversations, read aloud, word

wall, finger play, viewing video, singing and performing songs, bulletin board, viewing artwork, physical education games, sink or float, boat race, sea safety

  Small group: guided reading, buddy reading, peer conferences, evaporation experiment, sequencing beach scenes, measuring with palms, counting coconuts game, fishing game, identifying oceans

  Individual: reading log, stories, poems, website activities, paint with water, art projects, counting book, quantifying with shells, making aquascopes, research pollution, proposals

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Morning Language Arts

*Grand conversation *Read aloud: The Seashore Book *Start word wall and reading log

*Guided reading: Sally Goes to the Beach *Writer’s workshop: seashore stories

*”Five Little Crabs” *Writer’s workshop: seashore poetry *Fishbowl game

*Seashore story peer conferences *Read aloud: Comet’s Nine Lives and view website

*Author’s Chair: stories and poems *Buddy reading of seashore lit *Vocab test

Art/Music

*Make seashore bulletin board *Learn “I’m a Sea Star”

*Read The Rainbow Fish *Paint with watercolor *Lobster paintings

*Read Pup’s Supper and listen in Spanish *Make otter puppets

*View seashore art *Create poem back- grounds

*Paper plate diorama *Perform “I’m a Sea Star”

P.E. *Sharks and Lifeguards

*Octopus tag *”Crab, Crab, Lobster”

*Relay *Surfing

*Sand volleyball

Afternoon Math *Create seashore counting book

*Sequencing beach scene pictures

*Read Ten Little Fish *Quantifying shells

*Measuring with palms

*Counting coconuts game

Science *Make aqua- scopes for exploration station

*Water cycle *Evaporation experiments

*Sink or float *Boat race

*Discuss exoskeletons *Hermit crab puppets

*Magnetic fishing game

Social Studies

*Identify oceans on a map

*View Seashore video

*Research the effect of pollution

*”Save the Shore” proposals

*Read Swimmy *Sea safety *Quiz

Assessments   Participation in grand conversations

  Informal observation of author’s chair and small group experiments

  Vocabulary test from word wall

  Physical education skills (see Checklist)

  D.A.I.J Art Critique (describe, analyze, interpret, judge)

  6 + 1 Writing Traits rubrics for stories and poems

  Logical proposals for “Save the Shore”

  Quiz over identifying oceans, water cycle, and sea safety

Checklist  Student actively participated in activities

 Student showed a positive attitude

 Student followed rules during games

 Student received moderate physical exercise

 Student demonstrated the crab walk

 Student could keep a beach ball in the air

 Student practiced fleeing during tag