We went diving into our new ocean unit! I wanted to make the first day of this unit BIG, so I went with a glow-in-the-dark theme…like the bioluminescent animals in the midnight zone! I painted coral reef backgrounds. The students had made glow-in-the-dark jellies in art class last week that I had planned to use as part of the display.
I recorded students’ reactions as they entered the classroom when they arrived at school. They were so surprised that almost every student was silent! After their outside playtime, I recorded again as they all entered the classroom together. THIS was the reaction I was originally expecting!
I planned different activities….each activity had a glow-in-the-dark component. I displayed the rotation of activities on the SmartBoard. Students knew which group they were a part of according to the sea animal on their headband.
Here is a closer look at the activities:
Students searched the room for sea animals with pictures on them. They then spelled the words on their activity sheet using a highlighter.
Using a glow-in-the-dark ruler, students measured sea creatures and recorded their answers in inches. They again used a highlighter to record their answers.
Building items found under the sea using glow-in-the-dark rubber bands and geoboards was a hit!
There were many fun designs.
Coloring CVC words using neon crayons was fun as well.
Students identified 3D shapes, including the number of faces and vertices each shape has.
Students strengthened spatial awareness and practiced identifying shapes by building sea animals with pattern blocks.
The final activity was using glow-in-the-dark perler beads to make an ocean animal. Glow-in-the-dark perler beads?! Who knew?! This activities is a great one for strengthening fine motor.
We had so much fun learning in the midnight zone. I was impressed with how well the kindergarteners focused in the glowing classroom. What a special day!