Animal Lovers Unite

One of our Bling Slip rewards was Show & Tell.  Students were given an option of bringing in 3 items of their choice or 1 live item.  We had many animals visit this year including 2 unique ones:  a horse and a duck!

Ashton brought her precious puppy in to share with us.  She was the cuttest, smallest thing I had ever seen!

Sam brought in his pet duck, Si.  Si was a huge hit!

And then there was the always anticipated and loved animal man, Bob Tarter.  This year Mr. Tarter brought in (pictured clockwise beginning in the top left corner) a bat, a Three-toed Amphiuma, an opossum (YUCK!), and a raccoon.

Oh Yeah!  We can't forget THE BOBCAT!!  He was a very friendly creature but I wouldn't want to tote him around like Mr. Tarter does. :)

The animal man always brings the most interesting animals.  Lucky for my he chose not to bring any snakes this year.  I've ended up in this situation one too many times :).

Jack's Dog

Jack traded in 5 Bling Slips to bring his dog, Oreo, in to school one afternoon.  Oreo is the smallest, most precious little dog.  We loved getting to meet Oreo!  Thank you for sharing with us, Jack!

Baby Chicks

Before Christmas break Mrs. White had 7 chicken eggs in an incubator in her classroom.  We were able to watch the eggs hatch and see the baby chicks pop their heads out.  It was the most precious thing and the kids LOVED it!

Fiddler Crabs

Tuesday we went back to the Adventure Lab to meet our Fiddler Crabs.  Each student received their own crab to observe.  

They noticed that the crab's carapace was typically a dark brown.

 They saw little feeler hairs on the crab's legs.

They learned that the crabs can only move from side-to-side.

A few other things they learned were:

Fiddler Crabs molt by their exoskeleton softening enough to grow

Fiddler Crabs have gills to help them breathe under water

Male Fiddler Crabs have one large chelae and one small chelae

Female Fiddler Crabs have two small chelae

They have two eye stalks on their cephalathorax

Meet Ginger

Molly loves horses, so naturally she chose to present her non-fiction book share on horses and ponies.  Molly chose to bring her horse, Ginger, as her something extra.  The weather wasn't the best, but the kids LOVED meeting Ginger.  Many had never seen a horse up close before, which made this a great experience!

Molly shared about Ginger's age, how she cares for her, and how she is able to get climb onto such a large animal.

Thank you for sharing with us Molly!

Dwarf African Frogs

Monday we traveled to the Adventure Lab to FINALLY meet our critters.  The first animal we had to pleasure of observing was the Dwarf African Frog.  The students were able to see just how tiny these little creatures are.  They were fascinated!

They learned that the frog's webbed feet help it as it swims.

 

The were able to see just how thin the frog's skin is.

They learned that the frogs molt, or shed their skin.

 They also saw their tiny little claws.

We had a great time observing our frogs!

Animal Olympics

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures from the completion of the Animal Olympics.  I was so engaged in the experience that I forgot to snap a few pictures!

Today the students competed in a long jump and a high jump.  Mrs. Sain was responsible for the long jump so I do not know the longest jump, but I do encourage you to ask your child how far they jumped and how that compares to a kangaroo.  I was in charge of the high jump.  The highest jump recorded was 84 in. or 7 ft.  The students know that a flea can jump 130 times its height.  They realized they couldn't even jump twice their height.

We discussed the animals' adaptations and how they are helpful to their survival.  It was a lot of fun!

Animal Olympics

This week the students began working on an animal adaptations project.  They are learning about features animals have that help them survive.

Today we went outside for a 100 yd. sprint.  The students lined up to see how quickly they could run 100 yds.  I believe our fastest time was 34 sec.

They compared that to the fact that a Cheetah can run 1 mile in 1 minute.  WOW!

 Following our run we went inside to practice our accuracy and jumping skills.  The students were to jump on an 8x8 in. square without losing their balance, then they were to move to a 4x4 in. square, and finally a 1x1 in. square.  When the square got smaller the challenge became more difficult!

This challenge helped us understand about an antelope's adaptations that help it jump from rock to rock.

Our final test was the wing test.  Each student did as many arm circles as they could in 1 minutes.  The majority of students found they couldn't even make it to 100 arm circles.

Do you know that a hummingbird flaps its wings over 4,000 times a minute?  WOW!!!!

We've had a lot of fun doing this and learning at the same time.  Tomorrow we will practice our jumping skills to compare ourselves to a kangaroo and a flea!

Bling Slips

Students have the opportunity to earn Bling Slips using our Clip Up, Clip Down system.  A Bling Slip can be earned by clipping so far up the chart that the student's behavior gets them "off the chart."  Additional ways to earn Bling Slips are:  having a clean desk during a random desk check, winning a game, unused Oops Passes, and even returning papers on time.  5 Bling slips can be cashed in at any time for a reward.

A few of our reward choices are:
1.)  A lunch buddy from Mr. Holmes' or Mrs. Parker's class
2.)  A big fluffy chair all to yourself during any reading time for a whole week
3.)  A free slushie
4.)  A free bag of popcorn
5.)  An extra Oops Pass
6.)  A free Homework Pass
7.)  3 show & tell items
8.)  Read to a 3rd Grade or Pre-K Class

Lorelei was the first to cash her slips in and she chose to have a friend eat lunch with her.
Alyssa was next and she chose to sit in a big fluffy chair all week.
Annalaura followed Lorelei and Alyssa by choosing a homework pass.
Sam cashed his bling slips in and chose to read Tiger Woods to Mrs. Morris' class.

Today Mary Bradford used her Bling Slips to bring in a show & tell item.  She chose to bring her dog, Henry, to share with our class.  We LOVED getting to meet Henry.  We were able to hear him talk and see him give high fives.  He ran and ran and ran some more.  I bet Henry sleeps well tonight!