New class pet

Today, while on my walk at recess, we found a baby turtle on the road. I had to bring it back. We just had a great turtle presentation at school a few weeks ago. The children would love it. I brought it back. We had a mid day meeting. I had the children sit in a share circle. 

"I have something special to share with you. We need to have a very quiet share circle."

After everyone was quietly sitting, I brought it out. Did it ever create a stir!

Stay tuned for more about our new turtle!

June 4, 2014

I have begun writing the continuation of our pet story many times and have gotten distracted. So here it is. Our turtle's story.

After we brought the turtle into the class, the children had many wonders. They decided to write them down so that we didn't forget anything that we were curious about. 

They also started to create a home for it.

Here is an up close and personal look. The children are amazed with him. They also decided, with my help of course, that they were not allowed to touch him. Some thought that it would be best to make signs to go with our turtle world too. 

They also did some research and found out that the turtle is a midland painted turtle. They researched on a website that asked them all kinds of questions. They had to observe the turtle and look closely at the details of its shell, belly, head, and markings. We also looked on a pamphlet that was given to us from the turtle rescue presentation. From all of that information, they determined the type of turtle he is. 

Throughout the next few days, the children observed our turtle. They also wrote down more wonders and drew some different observations. 

I presented another shell to the children a few days afterwards. It was one from my cottage. The kids were thrilled.

I also thought I would bring in some interesting books to read about legends of the turtle, how the turtle got its shell as well as some non-fiction books. 

We also went on a habitat walk. When we release our turtle, we want to make sure that it is in the appropriate habitat. We discussed shelter, water sources and food sources. They took their outdoor journals and drew their observations. When we got back, we discussed the habitats we watched. They loved the one with the stream and voted to call it the stream habitat.

So today, I announced that we were returning our turtle to the wild. The kids were sad but at the same time excited to see him out in his natural habitat. 

Ms. Stacey:"Where do you think the best habitat would be for our turtle?"

S.H.:"Down by the ocean!"

J.D.:"I think he'll like the sand and water there."

Ms.Stacey:"What do we know about our turtle? Where does he go the most in his turtle world in our class?"

M.H.:"He loves the long grass. I think we should put him in the stream."

S.G.:"Yes, it had long grass for shelter and water."

We found the perfect spot in the stream habitat. The kids gathered around quietly to say our good-byes and watch him. It was very exciting! 

I put him on a rock and we all watched. He loved it. He sat basking in the sun on the rock...

...until he decided he would check out the swimming. It was a little faster than he was used to but quickly got the hang of it and soon swam away under some long grass.

We followed the stream all of the way down to the river. The children wanted to make sure that he would have access to the big water. When we got down there, another adventure ensued!

Water snakes! The kids thought it was hilarious watching me run screaming away! 

So, our pet turtle is now back in its natural habitat. But the children have said they wish our turtle learning could continue. We still have so many questions to answer! Therefore, there will be more to come so stay tuned!