“Under the Sea”
An integrated learning project unit
Karen Brooks Kellett
Becky Beam Childers
G.E. Massey Primary
Overview of Unit
To begin the school year in my kindergarten
classroom, we utilize the theme of the ocean. Students
are provided with developmentally appropriate
activities and projects that integrate all subjects
areas. Students are provided learning centers that are
replete with items that reflect our beach theme and
kindergarten objectives so that learning can be
extended and enriched.
For kindergarten, projects are short in design.
Students are assisted throughout by a teacher or
assistant. Throughout these projects students are
learning how to utilize technology as a resource to
obtain information on a given subject. Students at
this level are also learning to create a product in
specific content areas that demonstrates their
learning.
The following two pages consist of the front and
back of a brochure that we distribute to parents at the
beginning of the school year to assist them in
understanding integrated project learning.
Curriculum Framing Questions…
Our essential question…
Under the Sea
Unit Questions…
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How do animals survive under water?
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How could humans live under the sea?
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Is a food chain evident in the sea?
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What forms of life live under the sea?
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What can people and animals do in the sea?
Content Questions…
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How do animals move under the water?
What are some common characteristics of animals in the
sea?
What helps sea creatures move in the water?
What type of food do sea creatures eat?
What size are sea creatures?
Where do sea creatures get their food?
Where do sea animals sleep?
What are the differences between sea animals and
people?
What are the similarities or differences with water animals
(ocean) and land (beach) animals?
NCSCOS Objectives
Science
The learner will make observations and build an understanding
of similarities and differences in animals.
Social Studies
The learner will identify and exhibit qualities of responsible
citizenship in the classroom, school and other social
environments.
Math
The learner will recognize, model, and write whole numbers
through 30.
The learner will model simple patterns and sort objects.
Language Arts
The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to
comprehend text that is read, heard
and viewed.
The learner will develop and apply enabling strategic and skills
to read and write.
Our K-W-L on the Ocean
What We
Know…
What We
What we
Wonder …
Learned…
Final Assessment – Blue Tooth Tablets with Smart Board
We will place the images of the following sea
creature on the Smart Board. Students will have
interactive Blue Tooth Tablets.
Ocean Animal Point Slide Checklist
NAME
I picked one type of
animal that lives in the
ocean and placed an
image of it on my
slide.
I labeled the ocean
animal with it’s name.
I wrote one fact about
my ocean animal on
my slide.
I watched a video on
my ocean animal on
United Streaming.
I wrote a sentence
about the habitat of
my animal.
Outstanding Ocean
Facts
Give one fact about the
ocean or insert a picture.
Why do we
need oceans?
Add a
picture here
Give a reason why the
ocean is important to us.
Created by
Type your
name here
____________
Ocean
Animals
Add a
picture here
Label the picture with a name
My Favorite
Ocean Animal
Add a
picture here
Label the picture with a name.
Farm
Animals
Add a
picture here
Label the picture with a name.
This is my favorite
ocean animal because…
Add a
picture here
Label the picture with a name.
Add a
picture here
Label the picture with a
name.
Wikis
You may access our wiki at…
Ms. Kellett’s Wiki – kkellett.wikispaces.com
Mrs. Childers’ Wiki– bchilders.wikispaces.com
You will be able to access our blog through our
wiki site.
Teaching Strategies
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Individual and group projects
Cooperative groups
Small and large group instruction
Small and large group discussion
Learning centers
Inquiry
Ongoing assessments to drive instruction
Blogs/Wikis
United Streaming Video
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Resources and Materials
Variety of books
Variety of music
Websites for student use
Graphic Organizers
Salt water/ Fresh water
Model Magic
Assortment of teeth
Shark (to be dissected)
Tools for dissection
Rainbow fish scales
Craft supplies
Large cut outs of ocean animals
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree
Catch some kindness game
Sink/float items
Pictures of animals and their homes
Goldfish crackers
Leveled Readers
Circle Map
Small Alphabet Letters
Large foam alphabet letters
Fish
Letter, writing, math assessments
Earthworms, sand dollars, crabs
Seahorse, shells
Home cut outs
This is not meant to be an all inclusive list. We purchase and order many
materials so that students can have concrete experiences. Collecting need
supplies a week in advance and then setting up needed supplies on a day to
day basis works best for us. I
Day One – Fish, Rainbow Fish, Sharing
1. Read Rainbow Fish Discuss what happened in the book (Rainbow Fish shared his scales and
made friends). Brainstorm and list what we can share. As a class, retell the story from beginning
to end. Give each child a rainbow fish scale and identify them as my new friend.
2. Students watercolor a Rainbow fish and place a pre-cut piece of aluminum for a shiny scale.
3. Students mold a Rainbow fish necklace out of Model Magic. After drying, students color the fish
and make a necklace.
4. Complete K,W,L to assess prior knowledge, current interest, and finally what students have
learned on fish. Read fish facts. Show real fish Discuss/Show characteristics on fish. List
characteristics of fish on large fish cut out.
5. Teach “Fishy, fishy in a brook.”
6. Read Big Al and Shrimpy Each child completes the sentence: “A
friend…” Play “Catch some kindness.” Each child “catches” a fish. The
teacher reads the fish and students determine if it is a “good” fish or
bad fish by what is written on the fish. Informally assess what students think is
good or bad behavior. Students place the fish that they have caught in the “Plus” or “Delta” side of
the plus/delta chart
I make anecdotal notes during center time about social
interaction and level of play (independent, side-by-side, interactive) that
each child is presently exhibiting.
7. Go to www.ocean.com and click on “watch” and go to “The Rainbow
Colored Fish” video.
Project for the Day
Your assignment for the day is
to go to beacon.slc.k12.ut.us.
Go to “Ocean Adventures”
click on treasures @sea go to
interactive activities and go to
fish builder and build your own
fish!
Day Two – Swimmy, Cooperation, Class motto
1.
Read Swimmy. Develop circle map with
“good students” in the center. Introduce
motto “We look our best, we act our
best, we do our best, we are the best!!”
Cooperative
group
activity
to
demonstrate benefits of team work.
2. Math activity. Students have ocean
cut-outs. Students place the correct #
of goldfish crackers in the ocean.
Teach “1,2,3,4,5 I caught a fish alive…”
3. Read A Fish Out of Water.
Discuss responsibility and helpers.
Introduce our class fish. Determine what the
responsibility of the helper will be.
Project for the Day
Divide students into three cooperative groups.
Assign each group one part of the story to retell
and illustrate. As a group, students use
KIDSPIRATION to illustrate the beginning,
middle, or end of Swimmy. After illustrating the
section of the story, write a sentence that retells
that section of the story. Use the template on the
following page. As a class, use the templates
to create a flow chart. The following three slides
will assess the ability of students to retell the
beginning, middle, and end of a
story.
Beginning of Swimmy
Write a sentence about the beginning of the story.
Illustrate the beginning of the story.
Middle of Swimmy
Write a sentence about the middle of the story.
Illustrate the middle of the story.
End of Swimmy
Write a sentence about the end of the story.
Illustrate the end of the story.
Day Three – Octopus, Propulsion, Ink
1.Read Herman the Helper Brainstorm and list ways that
Herman helped. Create an affinity with ways to help (at
home, at school, etc.) Identify Herman as an octopus.
2.Read facts about octopus. Show live octopus on the
computer so that children can see how they move. Discuss
ink sacs. Experiment with balloon to demonstrate jet
propulsion. Let each student attempt.
3.List characteristics of octopus on large cut out octopus to display
4.Paint octopus with handprint plus three fingers.
5.Focus on number 8 and counting to eight.
6.Complete math assessment
on each child during center time.
7. Students create ink blot pictures.
Write about what their picture looks
like.
8. United Streaming video octopus
Day Four – Sharks, Teeth, Sink, Float
1.Read The Case of the missing teeth Provide variety
of teeth. Have students guess to what/who teeth belong.
2.Observe/List similarities and differences in teeth.
Introduce herbivore, carnivore, and omnivore. Predict what
animals would be in each category.
3.Read real facts about sharks. Discuss how they have
to be in constant movement because of lack of air bladder.
If not, they sink. List characteristics of sharks on large cut-out of shark
for display.
4. Sink/float experiments - Predict items that will sink/float. Divide
students into cooperative groups to test sink/float items and
sort into groups. Assess results of group effort.
5.Students make color and cut out two sharks. One is labeled “yes”
and the other is labeled “no.” Glue each one to a tongue depressor.
Make true and false statements about sharks, octopus, and fish.
Students hold up the appropriate “yes” or “no” shark depending on the
statement. Assess response of each student.
Day Five – Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Alphabet
1.Read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Listen to audio that sings the book
Sand pail with alphabet letters and sand. Each child pulls a letter until
all are removed. Count letters, introduce alphabet. Sing ABC’s
2. Name activity Assist students in finding the first letter of their name.
Distribute name cards. Help students build their names with foam
alphabet letters. Display names on the Chicka Boom Boom tree.
Assess whether students are able to read their names.
3. Coconut snack Taste fresh coconut, coconut milk, and shredded
coconut. Share real photos of coconut trees.
4.Small group Distribute magnetic letters and cookie trays to each
child. Reread story letting children find correct letters in ABC order to
retell the story.
5.Sponge paint ABC’s in alphabetical order.
6.Make a Chicka Boom Boom Tree with celery and
Alpha-Bits.
Day Six – Seahorse, Starfish, Salt Water,
1.Read Stevie B. Seahorse Direct attention to the setting of
the story (ocean). Discuss ocean water v. fresh water.
Taste the salt water and fresh water.
2.Read real facts about seahorse. Observe how seahorses
move on computer. Generate facts about seahorse on
large cut-out of seahorse for display.
3.Compare/Contrast seahorse to horse. Create a double
bubble map.
4.Play seahorse daddy game. Seahorse
dad has pouch. Students remove seahorse
babies and identify numbers written on the
baby seahorses.
Day Seven- Whales, Blowholes
1.Read Humphrey the Wrong Way Whale Complete KWL on whales.
Have students complete the sentence: A whale is as big as… Illustrate.
2.Measurement activity Tape head of whale on floor of parking lot.
Have students assist in measuring off 100 feet. Tape down tail of the
whale. Draw outline of the whale. Have students sit inside of outline.
3.Read real facts about whales. Explain blowhole is where whale is
filling lungs and releasing through an area called
a blowhole. Have students observe movement
listen to sound on computer. Simulate blowhole
by giving each student a balloon. Have students
blow air into balloon and release air by pinching
the neck of the balloon.
4.Generate list of characteristics and write on
large cut-out of whale to display.
Day Eight – Sand dollars, Earthworms
1. Read Sandy the Sand Dollar. Direct attention to the setting
of the story. Introduce word “setting” to students. Show
students live sand dollars so they can observe movement
of cilia. Examine with magnifying glass. Guess about possible
parts of the sand dollar. Compare live and dead sand dollar
(that has been bleached.) Discuss differences. Read real facts
about sand dollars. List needs of sand dollars for survival.
Discuss why they are called sand dollars.
2. Distribute earthworms to students. Examine with magnifying
glasses. Guess about possible parts. Describe feel of
earthworms. Read real facts about earthworms. List needs of
earthworms. Complete Venn Diagram on earthworms and sand
dollars. Give each student a sand dollar as a souvenir.
3. Generate list of characteristics of sand dollars and write on
large cut-out sand dollar to display.
Project for the Day
Complete Double Bubble Map on
earthworms and sand dollars.
Day Nine – Hermit Crabs, Animals/homes, Shells
The day revolves around three books that provide great stories and
information about hermit crabs. They are as follows: A House for
hermit crab, Who lives in a shell? and Is this a house for hermit crab?
1.Read A House for hermit crab. Divide students into groups. Each
group is responsible for putting picture cards in sequential order to
retell the story. Each member of the group is responsible for the order
and for retelling a part of the story to the class. Act out/Role play story.
Discuss ways that hermit crab made friends. Leveled questioning.
2.Read This is the place for me. Discuss various home of animals.
Have students match picture cards of animals to their homes.
3.Students discuss where they live (apartment, mobile home, house).
Students graph where they live.
4. Writing is to complete the following:
I live in a ______. ______ live in a _______.
5. Math activity involves racing to sort a bag of shells.
After sorting, look at shell chart to identify the names.
6. Read Is this a house for hermit crab? Determine the
problem with each of the crab’s possible homes.
Introduce class crab. Discuss responsiblities of the
pet helper to take proper care of the crab.
7. Read real crab facts. Generate list of crab facts and
record on large cut-out crab to display.
8. Students are given 5 pennies to purchase items to
decorate a hermit crab shell. Items such as feathers,
jewels, etc. can be purchased for varying prices.
Day Ten – Beach Blast Day
1. Beach Blast Day is a culminating day of academics, activities, and fun!!
We will enjoy sinking/floating activities, water play and beach music.
We will also play games such as the crab walk. We will bring beach
towels and soak in the sun.
2. We will have a large sandbox set up outside complete with
sand castle molds, buckets, sea shells, and shovels to enjoy
building in the sand on a much larger scale.
3. We will have a sampling of seafood such as calamari,
shrimp, flounder. I have discovered in the past that many of
my students have never tasted any type of seafood and the
texture of the food is very foreign to them.
4. We will also play culminating academic games such as
“complete this sentence…” to assess learning. We will also
view our Power Point slide shows
Types of Assessments
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Learning Log/Daily Writing
KWL (What You Know, What You Wonder
About, What You Learned)
Informal Observation
Leveled Questioning
Anecdotal Records
Daily Reflection of activities/learning
Graphic Organizers
Retell (ability to sequence and retell story)
Ending Plus/Delta for the unit
Weekly Interactive Photo Journal to
document learning
Interactive Blue Tooth/Smart Board
questions
A Final Note…
Each day I have described my main focus of the day. Many days I have only one or
two books listed. I read 4-5 books on each given subject throughout the day.
Each of these books have a game/activity/technology component that
accompany them.
Every day in our classroom we enjoy music and movement activities that are
integrated with our thematic unit such as “Down in the meadow in an itty, bitty
pool.” We also have morning routines that reinforce learning such as calendar,
weather, concepts of print for stories.
Centers are also equipped with specific learning activities on daily basis.
I utilize my assist for small group or one-on-one instruction with a specific learning
activity every day.
I have provided for you a highlight of our day due to the length of this document.
Hopefully, you will see how much we learn in kindergarten!!
If you’re ever in town, please come to visit us at :
G.E. Massey Primary
Kellett’s Kindergarten
Childers’ Children
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Final Assessment
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Go to
www.calstatela.edu/faculty/eviau/edit557/oce
ans/linda/fish.htm
Go to “answer questions” and take a quiz!!