Plankton and Jellyfish...

On Thursday we learned about plankton and jellyfish!

 During circle time we reviewed our friendship word for the month, "Respectful."  I asked the kids to wiggle their arms and legs in silly ways like a jellyfish.  I reminded them to practice being respectful of each others space.

 We sang:

"The Plankton drifting by, 

the plankton drifting by.

Reach out and eat it up!

The plankton drifting by."

(Sung to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell.")

The kids reached their arms out and pretended to grab and eat plankton as we sang.

 Before beginning our jellyfish lesson, I had the kids watch a YouTube video online of different jellyfish moving in the ocean.  You can find the video we watched here.

 I made a pretty awesome jellyfish in a bottle with a clear bottle, a clear plastic produce bag, some thread, and blue food coloring.  You can get good directions on how to do this here.

 We played a game of "What Goes Together?" with the following cards that Mother Goose Time provided...

 The kids flipped over the sea animal photos, and kept the letter cards face up.  They flipped over one animal card at a time and chose the letter card that matched its beginning sound.

Before completing our fun jellyfish craft, we discussed how dangerous jellyfish can be.  I explained that jellyfish use their tentacles to sting their prey.  The poison paralyzes the victims.  Mother Goose provided each child with a clear shower cap, and gave us a number of spools of curling ribbon.  We LOVED this project!  It was easy for the kids to do independently, and so much fun for them to wear!

 These cuties felt the need to make funny faces with their jellyfish hat!  I loved it!  After completing our project, one person at a time took off their hat and pretended to be a diver.  He/she pretended to swim around the "ocean" without getting stung by the other jellyfish! 

For our next activity, the kids worked on the number 8 page in their journal.  They practiced writing the number 8, and then drew a jellyfish head.  They cut and pasted 8 pieces of curling ribbon onto the head for tentacles.  They completed the sentence, "My jellyfish can..." or "The jellyfish is..."

For our next activity, I explained that plankton are tiny floating creatures that are a food source for many fish and mammals in the ocean.  The kids tore up pieces of paper into small pieces we pretended were plankton.  This kept them busy for quite some time...

 I was amazed at how small they could get their pieces...

 Tearing paper is GREAT for fine motor skills!  I worked with a few of the kids to help them use their fingers and not their whole hands.

 Feeling proud...

 Every time the kids tore a piece of paper, they shared with their friends what shape they thought it reminded them of.

 Check out their piles!

 When everyone was done ripping their paper, I had them grab as big of a handful as they could and get ready to throw it up!  We counted backwards from 10...

 Then the kids threw up their paper scraps and watched it float down to the floor like plankton!

 I called out a color and counted to 10.  The kids had to gather as many pieces of "plankton" in that color as they could before I counted to 10.

 Then they counted how many pieces they gathered...

 They had to tell me if their amount was more or less than 8 (our number we are learning about).  Some of the kids used the number line on our circle time wall to help them figure this out...

 Lastly, we worked as a team to pick up all the scraps of paper.  It really didn't take us too long at all!  I was so proud of everyone for helping!  I am thinking we might use our paper scraps sometime to make an ocean scene on paper with our plankton pieces!

After this activity we went outside.  The kids were out back, but it started sprinkling.  We were not sure if the rain would end or get worse, so we went into the garage to watch.  The kids wanted so badly to go out and feel the sprinkles.  I couldn't deny them of that so I said they could go on the driveway.  They made my heart melt when they proved to me that they don't need toys to be content.  They played "Duck, Duck, Goose," "London Bridges," and "Ring Around the Rosie."  They played ALL ON THEIR OWN!  I couldn't help but stop and stare with happiness!  This is what preschool is all about in my eyes!  The kids are SAFE, they are HAPPY, and they are LEARNING from one another!  You can't replicate this type of environment at home!  I am so thankful we have each other to spend our days together!!!!

 Thankfully the rain let up, and the kids were able to go out back again and get more time outside!

 After lunch we worked in our workbooks.  The kids worked on patterns in their math workbooks...

 They made up a story in their literacy workbook.  I chose to write their story for them.  It was hard to narrow their thoughts down to one simple sentence that would be easy enough for them to write on their own.

 These were our books for the day.  The Ocean Sunlight book was an excellent read that talked about the difference between phytoplankton and zoo-plankton.  It also reviewed the layers of the ocean (sunlit, twilight, and midnight).