This week, first grade students are exploring our final animal classification and habitat, fish and oceans. We have learned that fish usually have a backbone, breathe through gills, are cold-blooded, have fins or scales, and live in water. After reading Fantastic Fish students completed comprehension activities involving following directions, reading a digram, and using a word bank to fill in the missing text.
Introducing ocean habitats, first graders have learned about the main zones of the ocean: the sunlit zone, the twilight zone, and the midnight zone. They have practiced mapping skills identifying oceans and their relative geographic location. Read alouds such as Coral Reefs by our current author Gail Gibbons, have exposed students to science vocabulary and prompted discussions about why the ocean is blue, what forms ocean waves, and why the ocean is salty.