The Preschool Corner: Letter U

This week I used lesson plans from Itty-Bitty Bookworm's Bo Curriculum {Year 1 month of June} for the letter U. The majority of 'U' ideas that I was coming up with all revolved around the word 'under' or 'umbrella' so I went with 'underwater/under the sea' and focused on an ocean theme, using several different WONDERFUL books {because I was thinking a week of umbrellas might just throw me over the deep end}.

We borrowed the book Over in the Ocean and also Underwater Counting from the library and had a lot of fun doing the activities that Itty Bitty Bookworm lays out in the plans ~ let me tell you, it's all there for you! We still continued with our alphabet book and letter sheet activity on our own, but otherwise pulled our activities from the lesson plans. The plans provided so much more to do, but these are the things that we chose to do together this week {especially as the last part of the week one of the other kids was sick and at the doctor}.

ABC Book: Umbrella

Umbrellas were very appropriate this week since all it has done is RAIN.

Activities: In the Ocean Booklet

Itty-Bitty's plans provide a booklet for children to work on over the course of a few days. It includes sea animal words for children to trace along with pictures on each page for them to color.

Fun Activities: Underwater Watercolor

While the girls were creating their watercolor masterpieces, Zachary wanted to participate too, so he painted his own picture. Can you figure out what it is?


It's a pregnant scuba diver. The grey is her air tank and the bumps on the front are her baby belly. The dots are the air bubbles {apparently he's an abstract artist}.

Language: Oral Word Play, Word Sorting, & Sentence Starters

Oral Word Play

We used some underwater words to help with phoneme awareness: goldfish, seahorse, dolphin, clownfish, shark, and whale. For the first few words we used this pattern:

Say goldfish. "Goldfish." Say it again, but don't say fish. GOLD
Say goldfish. "Goldfish." Say it again, but don't say gold. FISH

We did some different sounds with some of the other words too, but Zachary had a fun time figuring out the different words and how to separate them.

Word Sorting



Zachary used some animal word cards and sorted them by which group they belonged in: zoo, farm, and ocean animals. He looked at the animal on the cards and then wrote their names in the correct column.

Sentence Starters

I asked Zachary to help fill in the blanks of this sentence: If I could be a sea creature I would be a ____________ because ________________________.

His answer? I would be an octopus because they squirt black stuff.

Yes. He is a boy all around.

Math: Counting by 2's and Graphing Goldfish

Underwater Counting by

Movement: Underneath Things & Fish, Fish, Shark


Zachary took some time to go around the house and see what he might be able to fit underneath. We counted how many things there were upstairs and downstairs and then added them together.

Upstairs: Girl's bunkbeds, kitchen table, barstools, his bunkbed, Mommy & Daddy's bed = 5

Downstairs: Futon, Mommy's worktable, Daddy's workbench, the spare bed, the desk, the coffee table, the shelves in the closet, 2 chairs = 9

Fish, Fish, Shark ~ This is a game that is just like Duck, Duck, Goose. Just use the words Fish, Fish, Shark instead! Much fun {especially when the shark chomps you}.

Letter Sheet/Collage

Click thumbnail to download printable

Stories and Books

Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef by Marianne Berkes. The artwork alone in this book will amaze you. The book can either be read or sung to the tune of 'Over in the Meadow'. We had the board book version of this book, but it also gives ideas for hand motions to go along with the rhyme. Kids count their way through the ocean with sea creatures and a sweet rhyme. LOVED it!

Underwater Counting: Even Numbers by Jerry Palotta. The pictures in this book are also wonderful. After the number one, the book begins counting fish and underwater animals by 2's all the way up to the number 50. When we had finished reading the book, the kids figured out that the number being talked about was also hidden somewhere in the picture ~ too fun!! They've been looking at this book all week.

Things We Used

About the Preschool Corner:

The Preschool Corner is a place for us to share the ideas we are using during our "preschool time" with our kids. You can join in the fun and record what you are doing in your house. Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below (if you have questions feel free to ask). Be sure to link back to this blog post so that your readers can find some other great ideas too!

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.

Share what you've been doing in your house this week! Please leave a comment if you link {since Mr. Linky doesn't let me know when you join up!}.

Be sure to check out Itty-Bitty Bookworm for
great resources and wonderful curriculum!