One thing I do is I put an exploratory table in my classroom. I have a small table with seashells, rocks, plastic ocean animals, starfish, and a seahorse, which for the most part were purchased from Michael's craft store. I of course have some books, but most of my books are on my thematic book rack. The big thing is that I have live creatures. I have a couple of red eyed turtles, a couple of hermit crabs and a beta fish. This exploratory table becomes one of my center rotations. Students spend time observing, discussing, investigating and experiencing a hands-on approach to learning.
Here is what it looks like.
Here is my thematic book rack.
Another thing that I do is I have my class help me create a large ocean mural. I use a large piece of blue butcher paper; paint the ocean floor; add a rock, a starfish, and some ocean plants/seaweed. I do this ahead of time of course so that it will be dry and ready when I go to use it. Then on a day when I am focusing on sharks I have students get creative and make sharks to add to our mural. I actually got the print out from Learning Page.com many years ago, so I don't know if they still have it. I know that they have dolphins though. Here is the link http://www.learningpage.com/free_pages/galleries/oceans.html if you are interested.
Here is the before and after of what my mural looks like.
I hope that you find these ideas helpful. It really doesn't take much to get kids excited about oceans. I've been doing this for many years and they always seem to really enjoy it.
Please feel free to visit my TPT Store for other teaching ideas.
Ocean Themed Activities
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