We have two weeks to go before February break and we are ready! This week our tadpoles finally arrived! We will be beginning our life cycle of a frog unit while writing and observing how tadpoles will turn into frogs. We received African Water Frogs which remain in water the entire time, all we have to do is feed them! I also told my students that the frogs do not like loud noises :). At the end of the week we began our observation notebooks. I had students observe the tadpoles in the water and write four observations. I then had students write 4-5 sentences on what they noticed while observing the tadpoles and what they think will change between now and the next time they observe. From the time we received the frogs Wednesday to today, Friday they have already grown and their eyes are much more visible. To wrap up our day we did a popcorn read of an informational texts on frogs. We are in our informational reader's workshop unit so this combination worked out nicely. Attached are pictures of our frogs and observation notes. Happy Friday!
Katie,
ReplyDeleteThe students in your class seems to be very engaged in this observation/writing activity! Observation is so important to practice in the classroom. When I taught preschool last year, we got an ant farm. Since they were younger, we asked the students to observe and draw what they notice. They could also write if they wanted to practice with their writing. They noticed so much about the surroundings of the ant farm (especially the tunnels)! Please give an update on what your students observed! I would love to hear some of their findings!
If there is one thing all of my students can tell you its that my favorite animals are frogs! We also have two African Dwarf Frogs in our room. This year they are names Strawberry and Sky. I opted for earning them as a PBIS award instead of growing them as in the past my tadpole survival rates have not been the best! However, I have many books, props, etc to go along with the life cycle of a frog. I have had them as personal pets. Best of luck growing your frogs! -Michelle D.
ReplyDeleteNever had tadpoles, although I'm sure they are in the pond out back.. sound interesting!
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