Old Gnome and the Sea Star

This week theme was "The Seastar" by Suzanne Down.  

July Week 1 Circle 

Good morning dear Earth,

Good morning dear Sun,

Good morning to the trees

and the flowers, every one.

Good morning dear beasts,

And the birds in the trees,

Good morning to you

And good morning to me.

Here is the Deep Blue Sea  (make wave motion with hand)

Here is the boat, and here is me  (make boat with other hand and you with your thumb go in opposite direction of the sea hand)

All the fish down below  (wiggle hand to make a fish)

Wiggle their tails, and away they go  ( hide hands behind your back)

Sing two round of Row Row your Boat

1,2,3,4,5,  Once I caught a fish alive  (clap hands together and wiggle like a fish)

6,7,8,9,10 Then I let him go again (separate hands)

Why did I let him go?  (hold hands out, shrug shoulders)

Because he bit my finger so!  ("bite" little finger on the right with your other hands two fingers)

Which one did he bite?  (hold hands out, shrug shoulders)

This little one on the right!  (point to little finger on your right hand)

Rufty and Tufty were two little elves

who lived in a hollow oak tree.

They did all the cooking and cleaning themselves

and often asked friends in to tea.

Rufty wore blue, and Tufty wore red

and each had a hat with a feather.

Their best Sunday shoes 

they kept under their beds

they were made of MAGIC green leather!

Rufty was cleaver and kept the accounts,

but Tufty preferred cooking.

He could bake a fine cake,

without weighing amounts

and eat it when no one was looking!

After circle time we would hear the story, "Old Gnome and the Sea Star", from Suzanne Down's book Old Gnome Through the Year.

On Monday we wet on wet water colored the deep blue sea featured in Old Gnome's Story.  

This is the story I told as we watercolored:

Blue was high up in the sky looking down at the earth, but could not find any blue!  Blue raced across the sky looking far and wide for blue on earth, filling the sky with beautiful shades of blue, but still could not see any down below.  So Blue sent a tiny drop of blue down to the earth to search that little drop searched East and West then North and South growing wider and wider until the Earth was almost completely covered with beautiful blue water. 

On Tuesday we made yellow play dough and then cut out "Little Star" from our story using cookie cutters, then baked Little Star in the sun. 

On Thursday we wet felted over a rock with silk ribbons tied to it, to create a shooting star.  At the end of the week each student had their own Little Star story set to take home.