X-Ray Fish...

On Thursday we learned about x-ray fish!

 During circle time I introduced the kids to our new letter X friend...

 We reviewed the letter X by passing around our hands-on letter X (upper and lowercase).  The kids traced the letter with their finger and practiced saying the /x/ sound.

 After passing the letter to their friend, the kids made the letter X somewhere on their body (ex: crossing fingers, arms, legs, etc.)

 Next, I passed around an old peanut butter container that is transparent.  The kids looked through it as we sang:

"You can see right through me,

right through me,

right through me.

You can see right through me.

I'm an x-ray fish!"

(Sung to the tune of "Do You Know the Muffin Man?")

I asked the kids why they think it would be helpful for an x-ray fish to have transparent skin.  I explained that x-ray fish's transparent skin helps it to blend into its surroundings and hide from predators.  I took out all three of our hands-on letters that we are learning this month, a transparent Ziploc bag, and a non-transparent paper lunch bag...

 We placed all the letters in the paper bag.  A few of the kids took turns reaching into the bag and pulling out a letter.  If they got the letter X they placed it in the transparent Ziploc bag and pretended they caught x-ray fish bones.  If they did not get the letter X, they put the letter back in the paper bag and tried again. (A couple of the kids demonstrated this, and then it was left out as a learning station.)

 We learned that x-ray fish like to eat worms, insects and small crustaceans (shrimp, barnacles, and crayfish).  I invited the kids to explore digging with their hands (or a few given utensils) in a pan of sand.  I cut yarn into many pieces and hid them in the sand.  The kids dug for worms (yarn pieces), and then used them to make the letter X.  I challenged them to count how many letter X's they could make, and to use all the worms to make one big letter X!

 I asked the kids what is inside of an x-ray fish.  They replied with, "X-rays!"  After I gave them a few moments to think about their response, a few of the kids corrected themselves and replied with, "Bones!"  I took out new animal x-rays at our light table!  The kids had fun matching the photos of the animals to their x-ray photo. 

 These fish photos were not of x-ray fish exactly, but it was still fun to explore with all the x-ray images!  Looking at these prompted a lot of questions about our bodies and our bones.

 Mother Goose provided us with these craft supplies to make a handprint x-ray fish...

 I painted the kids hands with black paint...

 They cut apart white straws for the x-ray fish's bones.  They added a triangle shape (for the head), and a googly eye.  The kids had fun with this one!

 For our next activity, I asked the kids to look at our daily topic poster and compare and contrast their body to the x-ray fish's body.  I explained that x-ray fish get along with many different types of sea creatures.  I set out small colored cube blocks (provided previously from Mother Goose Time), and invited the kids to use the blocks to make schools of fish in groups of 8 or 18.  I encouraged them to play side-by-side with their school of fish and practice respectful behaviors (share blocks, share space, use kind words, etc.)

 A few of the kids started playing right away.  Immediately the kids started pointing out when someone was being respectful.  They praised their friends with high-fives, thumbs-ups, or encouraging words.  These pictures don't show much, but the kids started feeding off of each other.  After a while they lost interest with the blocks, but their discussions continued throughout the rest of their play-time.  I praised them for being so kind and respectful to each other, no matter what activity they are involved in.  I am so thankful for Mother Goose Time's lessons on character development.  Being a kind and compassionate person is by far and wide the most important thing we can learn from one another!

 The kids worked on the letter X in their literacy workbooks...

 They also worked on the number 18 in their math workbooks...

 These were our books for today...

For snack time, I provided the kids with a graph of color words, and colored Goldfish crackers.  They had fun graphing their crackers...

Later in the afternoon, I worked one-on-one with each child in their literacy workbooks.  They completed a story about a fish...