The Big Blue Ocean
Books to Share
- If a Dolphin Were a Fish by Loran Wlodarski.
- The Ocean Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta.
- Octavia Octopus and Her Purple Ink Cloud by Donna and Doreen Rathmell.
- I Swim an Ocean in My Sleep by Norma Farber.
- Water Beds: Sleeping in the Ocean. By Gail Langer Karwoski.
Books to Show or Booktalk
- Animals of the Oceans by Stephen Savage.
- Bill Nye the Science Guy’s Big Blue Ocean by Bill Nye.
- Draw 50 Sharks, Whales, and Other Sea Creatures: The Step-by-Step Way to Draw Great White Sharks, Killer Whales, Barracudas, Seahorses, Seals, and More by Lee J. Ames.
- I Wonder Why the Sea Is Salty and Other Questions about the Ocean by Anita Ganeri.
- Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell.
- The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole.
- Ocean Explorer by Sue Nicholson.
- Out of the Deep by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson.
- The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera.
Display
Display non-fiction books about sea animals such as sharks, whales, dolphins, whales, and giant sea turtles. Display folklore about mythological sea creatures such as mermaids and selkies.
Bulletin Board
Upstart, www.highsmith.com, sells bulletin board decorations with the theme, “Explore New Worlds.”
“Sea” What We’ve Read
Design a bulletin board on blue paper using the slogan, “’Sea’ What We’ve Read.” Add cut outs of rock shapes and sea plants on the bottom of the bulletin board. Prepare fish shapes in advance. Let the children write the titles of books they have enjoyed reading on a fish to add to the “school.” Fish patterns are available in the 2004 Texas Reading Club Manual, Color Your World…Read, at www.tsl.texas.gov/ld/projects/trc/2004/manual/internal chapters/images/patterns/T_Pattern_SeaLife.jpg.
Decorations
Cut out various fish and other sea creatures and place them throughout the library. Depending on your library, hang some from the ceiling, tape them to book shelves, or attach them to the walls and windows. Patterns are available in the 2006 Texas Reading Club Manual Preschool Chapter at www.tsl.texas.gov/ld/projects/trc/ 2006/manual/preillos.html.
Refreshments
Provide goldfish crackers or Sponge Bob™ snack crackers.
Incentives
Upstart, www.highsmith.com, sells a variety of inexpensive bookmarks and stickers that could be used as prizes and incentives. Examples of items available include “One Fish, Two Fish” bookmarks, pencil top stamps, ocean life sticker set, and “Explore New Worlds” themed bookmarks, stickers, etc.
Demco, www.demco.com, sells a variety of inexpensive bookmarks, such as a sea life clip-on bookmark, that could be used as prizes and incentives.
Smilemakers, www.smilemakers.com, sells Undersea Fish Balls, rubber balls with small plastic fish embedded in them, Fish Kaleidoscopes, and other fishy items.
Dance and Movement Songs
The Fishy Pokey
Do the "Fishy Pokey." Tell the kids to put their “fins” and “flippers” and “tails” in and have them “swim all about.”
Move Like a Sea Creature
Play any of the musical recordings listed below and let the children move about like sea creatures.
Example:
Octopus: arms out moving slowly up and down as you walk
Sea turtle: walking about moving arms in and out from your side
Jellyfish: bobbing up and down
Boogaloo
(Adapted by Shelly Lane. Two or three people line up with the leader for this song, side by side with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Children form a line facing the leader, side by side with their arms around each other’s shoulders. When the leader yells the first line, everybody drops their arms to their side. Create additional verses, substituting other sea creatures and actions, if desired. End by repeating the first verse, “Boogaloo.”)
LEADER: Drop the beat!
ALL: Chh chh chh… (Stomp feet to beat)
LEADER: Let me see you boogaloo!
ALL: What’s that you say?
LEADER: I said let me see you boogaloo!
ALL: What’s that you say?
LEADER: I said let me see you boogaloo!!!
ALL: What’s that you say?
ALL: Ooh, ahh ahh, ahh, ooh, ahh, ahh ahh, ooh. (While dancing around)
LEADER: BOOGALOO! (Everyone back in line stomping and chanting chh chh…)
LEADER: Let me see your jumping fishie.
ALL: What’s that you say?
LEADER: I said let me see your jumping fishie!
ALL: What’s that you say?
LEADER: I said let me see your jumping fishie!
ALL: What’s that you say?
ALL: Ooh, ahh ahh, ahh, ooh, ahh, ahh ahh, ooh. (While mimicking a fish jumping)
LEADER: FISH! (Everyone back in line stomping and chanting chh chh…)
LEADER: Let me see your pinching crab.
ALL: What’s that you say?
LEADER: I said let me see your pinching crab!
ALL: What’s that you say?
LEADER: I said let me see your pinching crab!
ALL: What’s that you say?
ALL: Ooh, ahh ahh, ahh, ooh, ahh, ahh ahh, ooh. (While mimicking a pinching crab with their fingers)
LEADER: CRAB! (Everyone back in line stomping and chanting chh chh…)
LEADER: Let me see your jellyfish.
ALL: What’s that you say?
LEADER: I said let me see your jellyfish!
ALL: What’s that you say?
LEADER: I said let me see your jellyfish!
ALL: What’s that you say?
Ooh, ahh ahh, ahh, ooh, ahh, ahh ahh, ooh. (While mimicking a jellyfish floating around)
LEADER: JELLYFISH! (Everyone back in line stomping and chanting chh chh…)
Rhymes and Poetry
If You Ever Meet a Whale
(Traditional.)
If you ever, ever, ever,
If you ever, ever, ever,
If you ever, ever, ever, meet a whale,
You must never, never, never,
You must never, never, never,
You must never, never, never touch its tail.
For if you ever, ever, ever,
If you ever, ever, ever
If you ever, ever, ever touch its tail,
For if you ever, ever, ever,
If you ever, ever, ever
If you ever, ever, ever touch its tail,
You will never, never, never,
You will never, never, never,
You will never, never
Meet another whale.
The Sea Shell
(Traditional.)
I found a great big shell one day,
It came from the ocean floor.
I held it close up to my ear
And heard the ocean roar.
Stories to Tell
Use the script for “The Sea King’s Daughter, A Russian Legend” from Aaron Shepard’s Storytelling Page, at www.aaronshep.com/storytelling/GOS12.html.
Tell “1- 2-3 GOLDFISH…An Interactive Story” by Linda Befeld in the stories section of this manual.
Audio Recordings
“At the Bottom of the Sea” on At The Bottom of the Sea by Ralph’s World.
“Come Dance by the Ocean” on Come Dance by the Ocean by Ella Jenkins.
Crafts
CD Fish Craft
Materials
- Old CDs
- Construction paper
- Fishing line
- Wiggly eyes
- Bottled glue
- Scissors
Directions
Give each child two CDs, two wiggly eyes, construction paper, glue, fishing line, and scissors. Cut two top fins, one bottom fin, a tail, and lips from construction paper using the patterns provided. Glue one top fin, the bottom fin, and the lips to one of the CDs on the side that has the label. Cut a piece of fishing line 3-feet long, running the line through the hole in the CD. Match up both ends of the fishing line and tie a knot. Draw a line of glue from the hole in the CD to the tip of the top fin and lay the fishing line in the glue. Glue the other top fin in place to cover the fishing line. Glue the second CD with the label side down, matching up all of the edges to the first CD. Glue a wiggly eye to each side of the CD “sandwich.” Accordion-fold a 5 x 6-inch piece of construction paper, hold the folds together, and slip it in through the hole in the center of the CD. Align the paper in the hole and unfold the ends a bit to fluff them out. Add a little glue to hold the folded paper in place.
Agile Octopus
Using directions on The Best Kids Book Site at www.thebestkidsbooksite.com, let the children make the “Sand Art Bottles,” the “Agile Octopus,” or “An Ocean All Your Own” craft.
Otter Puppet
Use the directions at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, www.mbayaq.org/lc/activities/otter_puppet.asp to allow the children to make an otter paper bag puppet.
Web-Based Games and Activities
Monterey Bay Aquarium
www.mbayaq.org/efc/cam_menu.asp
Children can view live web cams for various sea creatures, view pictures, and learn about underwater life. Some games and activities are also available in Spanish.
Shark Activities
www.kidzone.ws/sharks/activities/index.html
This site offers word scrambles, mazes, word searches, and more.
Shark Surfari!
www.nationalgeographic.com/sharks
National Geographic for Kids presents online fun facts and a quiz about sharks.
Texas State Aquarium
www.texasstateaquarium.org
Click on “Do You Know” to take a quiz about oceans and check out the quizzes, puzzles, coloring pages, and more on the “Kid Ventures” pages.
Videos/DVDs/Films
If you have public performance rights, show these videos and DVDs, or segments of them, to the children. Otherwise, display them for home use. Times are indicated for the entire film.
- Gift of the Whales. (30 minutes)
- National Geographic Really Wild Animals: Deep Sea Dive. (45 minutes)
Web Sites
Ocean Planet
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ocean_planet.html
This electronic online exhibition recreates the Smithsonian's traveling exhibition of the same name and includes lesson plans, fact sheets, and other resources.
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute
http://octopus.gma.org
Learn about the natural history, communication, behavior, unique adaptations, social structure and human interactions of various marine animals, including dolphins, whales, and other marine mammals.
Professional Resources
Aaron Shepard’s Storytelling Resources
www.aaronshep.com/storytelling/GOS12.html
Aaron Shepard provides storytelling scripts and other resources based on children’s literature.
The Best Kids Book Site
www.thebestkidsbooksite.com
Hundreds of ideas for simple kids’ crafts are provided on this site.
Color Your World…Read
www.tsl.texas.gov/ld/projects/trc/2004/manual/internal_chapters/images/
patterns/T_Pattern_SeaLife.jpg
The 2004 Texas Reading Club Manual includes patterns for several types of fish.
Demco
www.demco.com
This library supplier sells a variety of inexpensive bookmarks with sea life themes.
Smilemakers
www.smilemakers.com
This online source for inexpensive incentives sells a variety of stickers and toys that fit the theme.
Upstart
www.highsmith.com
This library promotions company sells a variety of inexpensive bookmarks and stickers.
