Sea Shapes
(Sandpiper; 1st Voyager Books ed edition-1998)
By: Suse MacDonald
Grade:PreK-1
Sea Shapes is a great introductory book to shapes (including shapes that are not typical). It is a great book for younger kids to learn about shapes paired with their interest in the ocean and sea animals. It is a great book for art too because on the left side of each page it has pictures. For example, on the triangle page, the first picture will be a triangle and the second will be triangles in the sharks mouth to represent teeth. The back of the book also has sea facts about different creatures of the sea.
Theme/Skills taught: Shapes, Art, Counting
About the Author: As a child Suse loved to draw and imagine. When she began college she knew art would be a focus in her life. She loved doing art but where would she fit in the art world? After college, she got a job in a large New York studio illustrating science text books where she became fascinated by the commercial side of art. Five years later Suse and her husband Stuart moved to Vermont to operate a construction company but after ten years she decided to return to illustration. She attended two Boston art schools: the New England School of Art and Design and the Art Institute. As her studies progressed she became more and more attracted to children's books and started to get ideas. Her first book Alphabatics, jump started Suse's career. Since 1986 Suse has written and or illustrated nineteen books. Suse Macdonald's Bio
Pre-Reading Activities: What shapes do you think you can find in the ocean? Students will brainstorm and attempt to recall shapes they know.
Post Reading Activities: Have them draw an object using only shapes they learned about in the book. It would be interesting to see where their imagination will take them! Have them count the amount of shapes (ex. triangles)they find on a specific page.
This sounds like a great book! Kids love the ocean and when they are so young, not many of them have been to the ocean yet so they tend to be really interested. I like that you have them drawing pictures using shapes. It would be great if you could put all of their pictures into a book for the class to look at too.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea! I just like that there is a base to start their drawings. I always struggled with Art and still do. So I think at a young age it is important to teach that you can start with one shape and make something really creative.
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