Shell Advetures

I just got back from GYTO in Orlando.  We live in a small rural community 2 hours north of Chicago. So a warm weather getaway is just what my teach heart needed.  I attended with a great group of teacher that I am blessed to work with every day.  We decided to leave early and drive to St. Petersberg.  We spent a day on the beach.   

While walking on the beach one day, we saw SO many shells. We decided to collect shells to bring back for our students.  When I returned, I told my students that I  brought something back for each of them.  I had them play 20 questions to infer what I had brought back.  The students had some really good questions and they used the information they gained from my answers to drive their next questions.  By the end of the game, they figured out that I brought back shells. 

Next, I had my students buddy up and write adjectives that described their shells. 

While I was at the beach I also saw these adorable tiny shell creatures that would bury themselves into the sand after the waves would wash it away.  This reminded me of the Disney short film titled, Piper.  This is an adorable film of a little bird tries to get shells that bury themselves in the sand.   I showed this short video to my students then showed them my real life video.  We talked about how movie makers and writers use real life experiences to get ideas.  

Lastly, I showed my students a shell I found that had been broken.  We talked about what could have happened to this shell.  We visualized it what it might have looked like before it was broken.  I had my students write about the adventures the shell had been on to become broken and washed up on the beach.  Click the picture below for you FREE copy of this fun writing activity.