I thought only birds came from eggs...hmmm

This week we learned that more than just birds come from eggs. We started the unit brainstorming animals that hatch from eggs & made an interactive writing chart. Of course, they were quickly able to tell me all types of fowl. Then, I told them to think of animals without wings that come from an egg. The first student raised his hand and said, "penguins". I said, "but penguins have wings". He said, "Yeah, but they don't use them." I guess I can't argue with that one. Anyway, I gave them clues about a turtle...hard shell, lives in oceans or ponds, hides inside the shell when he gets scared, etc. They figured out that it was a turtle. I read a book about sea turtles & then we watched a United Streaming movie about the sea turtles hatching and finding their way into the ocean. After that we made a turtle and wrote about him. Check it out.

 










The next day we learned that frogs come from eggs. Frog eggs look a little different from the eggs of other animals and it took a little convincing to persuade them that they were actually eggs. We talked about the life cycle of frogs. After that we made frogs, complete with long, curly tongues and wrote about them. Here is how they turned out...

 

I just love these little guys!

After frogs & turtles, we talked about snakes!
I am not a fan of snakes, but my students ALWAYS love to learn about them! This year my class is heavy on boys (12 out of 17) and this unit keeps them so engaged! I LOVE teaching through themes. I know that the theme keeps them so engaged that I can slip in writing, reading & math skills without them even realizing it! :) I do not have pictures of our snakes because I couldn't get them to turn out. We colored 2 sides of a paper plate and then cut them in a swirl so that they looked like curly snakes. Then, I hung them from the ceiling. They would twirl when the air kicked in and the kids loved it!

All in all, this was a great unit. My kids stayed engaged and excited the entire week. I was able to teach them valuable math, reading, writing, & science skills...what more could I have asked for? :)