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Arts Lesson Plan- Art Teacher: Emma Gustafson Grade Level- Prek- 3 Objectives- Children will learn about the animal group- fish. Students will experiment with different objects that are found in nature to make something new and creative. As the students are learning about sea life they will use their creativity skills to decorate their shell. The students will also learn how to be creative in a confined space like the shell that is being used in this project. Motivation The motivation is to get children interested in learning about sea life and the creatures that live in water. Not every child is fortunate enough to be able to go to a beach or see one of the major oceans so this project is important to broaden the students horizons and motivate them to become interested in learning about something new. This will also help develop their literacy skills my relating what they read to what they are creating. Materials Open shells for each student (can be muscles or just shells found on beach) Non-toxic permanent markers Glitter, sequence, beads (decorations for students to use) Glue (non-toxic)

Procedure 1. First discuss the group of animals that are classified as fish with the children. It is good to introduce the different characteristics that classify an animal as a fish - gills, breath underwater etc. The teacher should also discuss the environment that fish live in. 2. Next, show the children pictures of fish and underwater environments in which they live in. 3. Introduce and discuss what kind of things that can be found underwater and on the beach like shells! 4. Then read the book Rainbow fish to the students. 5. Pass out the shells and materials that the children will need to make their shells unique.

6. Demonstrate and show the children how they can color and decorate their shell to look like a fish or an underwater animal of their own. Adaption for special needs: For Ashlyn (hearing impaired): For this activity it is important that Ashlyn is able to learn about the sea animals and the sea environment as well as hear the directions for the craft. To help Ashlyn the teacher should teach the lesson on fish by using large pictures of fish, the sea, beaches etc with captions. Also the students should be broken up into small groups so the teacher can come close to the students and explain the activity - that way Ashlyn is able to hear and understand what is happening. The teacher will visit each small group of children so that group does not feel singled out. For Jackson (fine motor skills problems): For this activity holding a pen might be hard for Jacksons fine motor skills. To help aid this issue the teacher should provide markers with special grips for any student to use that will help Jackson grip his marker. If drawing in the small confined space is too difficult larger shells can also be distributed. Resources Notes and reflections This is a good lesson for the end of the year when the weather is getting warm and it is almost time for summer. The lesson will get children to go out said and play at the beach or play in the water like fish. This would also be a good lesson plan if the class was just getting a pet fish in the classroom. Variations/ Other possibilities This lesson could also be changed into having the children create a sea life scene inside of their shell. The fine details of an entire environment may be too complicated for younger children and better suited for older grades. Another variation is that the children could take a trip to the aquarium to see fish in real life. Or an aquarium could be brought into class. Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister Seashells by the Seashore by Marianne Berkes