Centre or Small Group Activity

Material and Preparation): sentences taken from Whales (1989 by Evan-Moor Corp), sentences from common knowledge. Write the sentences on railroad board and tape magnetic tape to the back of them. Draw an intersecting Venn Diagram on the whiteboard with a water-based felt pen (it only washes off, it doesn’t rub off). A copy of the an intersecting diagram for them to copy their facts. Also, make sure that the children have read and listened to many books about whales and fish.

Here is the list of sentences that I used:

-young are born alive

-swims by moving fluke up and down

-some have baleen, some have teeth

-some sing as they swim in the water

-has to come to surface to breathe

-is part of the animal kingdom

-lives in the sea

-die if out of water too long

-young hatch from eggs

-gills take oxygen from water

-swims by moving tail fin side to side

-skin is covered with scales

Procedure: The students read the sentences and decide into which part of the Venn diagram to put it- Fish, Whale, or Both. When their work has been checked they can write their information on the Venn diagram sheet.