Are Mermaids Real and The Letter W

Spring break was great but it's time to get back into the swing of things! There is still so much to learn and do in the next six week before summer vacation. 

We started our Ocean Commotion unit today. I'm already loving it! The kids were very curious and had so many questions. By this time of the year my class becomes very close to me and each other. They begin to treat me like their mom and each other like siblings. I mention this because of the argument that broke out over mermaids. It was intense. I had to chuckle listening to my class as they listed what they believed to be true and false about mermaids. 

It all started with listing the things we know about ocean creatures and then things we wonder about. Little P wondered what mermaid tails look like. Then my son Henry wondered if mermaids exist. Little P was shocked! Of course they do! T insisted they were just pretend like dinosaurs. (I guess I didn't teach that unit very well. Ooops!) Little C said she had seen one at Disney Land so the had to be real. It was kind of boys against girls on this one. I let the discussion go on for a bit until it looked like feelings would be hurt. I promised the class that we could talk and learn more about it next time. I love when curiosity happens! 

Any recommendations on how to go about this?  I don't want to ruin the magic and fantasy for some of them. It would be like telling them Santa doesn't exist. But, I want to teach them facts and the legends about mermaids. I'll have to think on this for a bit before I decide how to go about it. I'm sure I can come up with a way and keep the fantasy alive while still presenting the facts. 

By now, we have pretty much learned all the letters. But, I still like to highlight one each week. W is one of my favorite letters. Yes, you can have a favorite. W has tons of personality and the sound is really fun to say. Plus we get to wiggle while we make the sound so that is always a crowd pleaser. 

 Here are some of the words the class came up with to help us remember. Please excuse my art. I'm more of a musical kind of girl.

This whale craft from Mother Goose Time  was perfect for our ocean lesson and our letter of the week. Rainbow whales are my favorite kind of whales. 

During our lesson about wales, I wanted to let the kids hear what whales sound like. I pulled up a whale video on youtube with whales singing and communicating to each other. Then we tried talking in whale to each other.
I also showed them a video of a whale surfacing to breath through its blowhole.  Little R always wondered what that hole was for.

We talked about mammals and why whales need to surface to breath. We practiced holding our breath and as scientist do, we charted our results. I'm pretty sure half the class just breathed through their noses while puffing their cheeks out.

 We ended our day heading outside 10 minutes early to wait for pick up and enjoy a popsicle. I wanted to let the class meet my newest baby chicks that showed up over spring break. It's becoming a farm over here. We're up to 10 Chickens now! Plus, we have goats on the list of pets to adopt. Heaven help me!