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Reading by the Beach
By Sharon Katz Cooper
August is a month for beach vacations and reading by the seashore.
Children are naturally interested in nature and the ocean holds a
special appeal. Crashing waves, salty water, fascinating creatures,
the feel of sand beneath your feet – there is so much to observe and
soak in.
The lazy days of summer are also great opportunities for reading
together with your child. Reading, of course, stimulates a love of
books and interest in the topics you may read about. It encourages
literacy and learning in a supportive atmosphere outside of the
formality of school.
To combine thoughts and experiences of the ocean and provide reading
ideas, this month we present some of our favorite books about the
ocean and activities to go along with them. Bring them to the beach
to read together – or read them by a pool if you can’t get to the
beach. Remember your sunscreen!
A Swim through the Sea, by Kristin Joy Pratt, 1994.
In this beautiful and poetic alphabet book about the ocean, young
readers will meet all kinds of large and small ocean creatures. The
basic text of the book is simple and melodic, but each page includes
a lot of more detailed information for the parent, older child, or
for research.
Kristin Joy Pratt wrote this book when she was only 15 years old!
You could try to write an ocean alphabet book too. Together, read
through some other books about the ocean and look closely at the
animals and plants in the margins of this book. Then assemble 26
sheets of paper, some crayons, and a stapler, and together come up
with an ocean creature for every letter. You can draw a picture of
each one, or find old magazines to cut up and make a collage.
Over in the Ocean in a Coral Reef, by Marianne Berkes, 2004
In this rhythmic counting book, readers will encounter seahorses,
octopus, clownfish, needlefish, and more. On each page – illustrated
in colorful and textured polymer clay – children learn one
significant fact about where or how the animal lives. Children are
also challenged to count the animals, which are often hiding in
their habitat. The back of the book includes music for the song,
more detailed information about the animals and their babies, and
some background on coral reefs.
In the back of the book, there are some hints on creating a
fingerplay for this story. Go through each of the action verbs in
the book (e.g., squirt, grind, dart, jump, graze, skitter), and
practice the hand movements. Then put on your fingerplay as you read
or sing the story.
This is the Sea that Feeds Us, by Robert F. Baldwin, 1998
This is a book that goes beyond the details of animals themselves to
focus on the relationships between them. In a lovely and poetic
manner, this book traces an ocean food web, from the plankton at its
base, to the people who eat large fish for dinner. Readers can learn
about the flow of energy through the system and begin to appreciate
the complexity of food webs – even those that bring them food for
their own meals!
Think about what would happen if the food chain in this book was
disturbed? In other words, think together about what would happen
without the shrimp? Or the plankton? What would happen to the foods
we depend on? What would happen to the ocean?
Octavia and her Purple Ink Cloud, By Donna and Doreen Rathmell, 2006
In this brand new and very fun book, a young octopus tries to figure
out how to escape from hungry predators by squirting her purple ink
cloud. But somehow it never comes out purple! In the process, we
meet a whole bunch of other ocean critters, who all tell us how THEY
hide or escape from animals that want to eat them.
Many animals use camouflage to hide from animals that want to eat
them. Camouflage means looking like their surroundings. Have your
child draw what he or she might want to look like if she wanted to
hide in the ocean. The forest? The grass?
The Beauty of the Beast, Jack Prelutsky, 1997.
This is a beautifully illustrated book of poems about the animals of
all kinds. In the chapter titled, “Jubilant, We Swim,” children and
parents can read poems by a variety of authors and in a variety of
styles about fish, jellyfish, eels, oysters, crabs, octopus and
more. The watercolor drawings are playful, colorful and calming.
1. In the poem, “Fish,” by Mary Ann Hoberman, there are many action
words, such as wiggling, swerving and whizzing. Ask your child to
act out each of these words. Can your child think of another animal
that does each of the actions described in this poem?
2. In the poem, “Song of the Silver Fish,” Margaret Wise Brown
describes what sunlight and moonlight look like to a fish. Light
changes when you look at it through water. Try an experiment. Fill a
big glass or glass bowl with water and try looking through it at a
light bulb or flashlight. What do you observe? How do other things
in the room look different through the water?
This Helps Develop. . .
Reading together develops many language and literacy skills. It also
contributes to a livelong love of reading and learning.
This monthly family activity series, “Hands-on-Kids!” is brought to
you by a partnership between the Children’s Museum of Northern
Virginia (CMNOVA) and FAMILY Magazine. For more activities you can
do with your children to spark their love of learning, visit the
CMNOVA web site, www.cmnova.org
. On their web site you will also find information about the
Children’s Museum of Northern Virginia and how you can become
involved. CMNOVA is committed to building a place where our children
can freely explore and develop a lifelong love of learning. Sharon
Katz Cooper is a museum educator and freelance writer in Fairfax.
She is a volunteer with CMNOVA.
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