Inital observations of Jean's box turtle

PA: Turtles' shells are really their homes. Their body is attached to their shell so if they lose their shell they die. Every part of a turtle is attached to the shell.

CF: I saw a turtle in Korea. It was a little bigger than Yertle. It was a land turtle on the sand. It was walking around and I was playing with it. We put that turtle in the water We were going back to the hotel after we did that. It was a Korean hotel.

KH: He's cold!

J: Maybe he wants to hibernate. His feet are cold.

AG: When I touched him on the nose, he didn't move. His neck felt cold. It was dry and slippery. Maybe he wants to walk on rocks.

 

Numeration & Problem Solving Skills

 

Counting
Using the Money Sheet to Count Change

 

Graphing
Using a graphic organizer	A Wallchart

 

Venn Diagrams

Creating a Venn Diagram

 

Measuring
MEASURING THE SNAPPING TURTLES (10/23) KP and JL used the reversible measuring tapes to measure the snapping turtles through the aquarium glass. KP: This one’s tail is 4 cm. This one’s tail is 2 in. JL: This gut is 3 in from head to tail. Or that’s 9 cm from head to tail. KP: The shell is 1 in and almost 2 in. KP: This one is 4 in from its nose to the tip of the tail. And it’s...11 cm.

 

Sequencing

WHEN WE GAVE YERTLE MEALWORMS - A SEQUENCING EXERCISE (10/15) The teacher asked the children to observe what happened when two large mealworms were dropped into Yertle’s habitat. They paid careful attention to what happend first, second, etc. He tried to get them. He headed straight for them. He streched his neck out. He just grabbed it. He made a sound when he swallowed the mealworm. Like a duck sound. It’s the bottom part of his beak pushing the top part. When he swallowed, the back of his neck went up.

Language Arts

Reading -Material to Come Soon!

Writing
CAZ 11/22 Writing Sample	The Cover of One of MG's Many Books about Yertle
YERTLE THE TURTLE
YERTLE THE KING
OF THE POND
SAT ON HIS THRON
HE WAS NOT HAPE
BEEKAS HIS THRON WAS TOO
SMOL SOW HE YILD IVRE ONE
CAM TOO KING YERTLE SOW THAY DID
CAM THAY STACT UP IN TOO A PIYL
AND HE YILD FOR I AM KING OF
OL THAT I SEE BUT JAST THAN
YERTLE FIL OFF THAN HE WAS THE KING OF THE MUD
BEECAS THAT IS WHAT HE COOD SEE
To See an Experience Story about the Pet Shop Owner's Visit, PRESS HERE

 

Vocabulary

Plastron - the bottom of the turtle’s shell Carnivore - "meat eater" Carapace- Scutes-

Poetry -Material to Come Soon

 

Question Framing

SOME OF THE QUESTIONS ASKED BY THE CHILDREN AND PUT INTO A CLASSROOM BOOK: Are turtles related to crocodiles? Are turtles related to snakes? What are some ways box turtles survive in the wild? Where do box tutles lay their eggs? Do turtles take care of their babies? How long can box turtles live? How long can snappers live? What’s a turtle’s shell made of? How does a veterinarian care for turtles? What are some good ways to treat turtles? What are some good non-fiction books about turtles? What do scientists try to find out about turtles? How should a pet owner care for a turtle? How strong is tarantula venom? How fast are they? Does a turtle have a shell when it hatches, or does the shell grow on later? What are those orange things on Yertles’s legs? Do they hurt him? Are turtles reptiles or amphibians? How can we tell? What does cold-blooded mean? What do box turtle eggs look like? What sicknesses are a threat to tutles? Are turtles related to lizards?

Questions for the Pet Shop Owners

Investigative Skills

Observations

DK’s EXPERIMENT:

DK decided to make a path for Yertle to follow using math manipulatives that look like big blue feet. After he had made the path, the teacher set Yertle down at one end of it. The turtle walked on the path briefly, but veered off and did not return. DK wanted to try again. The teacher set the turtle on the path again, and again he left it after a few steps. DK decided this experiment would not work. "What might you try next time to make it work?" the teacher asked. DK replied that next time Yertle should look at the footpath first.

Identifying Turtle Parts	JW's Examination of Turtle Parts

On 9/11 a group of naturalists observed Yertle outside. Someone said, "This is more like his real life." The teacher asked the group to see if Yertle made tracks in the sand. Some people guessed he did. Two people sketched what they thought his tracks looked like. The first sketch, by SG, was a single irregular row of circles. The teacher smoothed out the sand and moved Yertle back so he could walk on smooth sand again. The second sketch, by CF, showed two rows of circles of different sized. The teacher moved Yertle so the group could again ovserve the tracks being made. SG observed a pattern: "deep part, line, deep part, line." The deep part, the group agreed, is made by "his claws," the lines, by his legs dragging. CAZ said, "I noticed his shell flattens the sand out." When several of the children looked again at the tracks, they agreed there was a smoothed area where Yertle’s sheel passed over. DK then sketched the tracks. His drawing showed the "line" and small holes on the "deep parts" made by claws.

First Turtle track drawings (9/11/96)

Hypothesizing

WHY WAS YERTLE'S NOSTRIL CLOSED UP ?(10/2)

One of Yertle's nostrils seemed to be closed up, because only one was visible. DK and the teacher collected opinions about why it might be closed up. DK: The last time I saw him his nose wasn't clogged up. Yertle might have a runny nose. He migh have turtle boogers. SG/EK: Maybe he was born that way. CL: Maybe he just tried to suck his nose up and have it stay that way. PF: Maybe he has a thing in his nose that blocks the front of his nose. L : Well, because it's snotty inside, because he had a runny nose. KH: Maybe because he's getting old. I saw a turtle that was getting old and its nostril was closing up.

 

 

Predictions

What Students Hoped to Learn from the Pet Shop Owners' Visit

Data Collection

Resource Skills-Material to come soon!

 

Art/Aesthetics

Constructions

 

Representations
	Turtle Habitats
Making a Turtle with his body
	Clay Representations

Dramatic Play

WHAT DO WE NEED TO MAKE A PET SHOP IN DRAMATIC PLAY? 10/23 ANIMALS "We can use stuffed animals." THE THINGS LIKE TABLES (COUNTERS) PEOPLE TO WORK THERE THINGS FOR THE MONEY - CASH REGISTERS "We can make one out of boxes." CAGES FOR ANIMALS PRICES SO PEOPLE KNOW WHAT TO PAY SHELVES FOOD AQUARIUMS FISH PRETEND MONEY "We can make the play money." BIRDS "Because KH really likes birds," said KP CUSTOMERS MEDICINE FOR FISH "Because my fish had ick," said JL CARS AND A ROAD TO DRIVE ON A SIGN "We can make the sign on big paper."

Music-Material to Come Soon!

Technical Skills

Instrument Usage

Making Measurements for the Pet Store

Computer Skills

Sending EMAIL about the pet store

 

Social/Emotional Skills

Motivation-Material to come soon!

Self Esteem-Material to come soon!

Independence-Material to come soon!

Responsibility

Feeding the Turtles

Sharing

Making a Cooperative Diorama

Negotiations-Material to come soon!

 

Communications

Writing Thank You Notes to Visiting Experts

 

Group Interactions

Creating the Topic Web

EXCERPTS FROM A CONVERSATION COMPARING SNAPPING TURTLES TO BOX TURTLES (10/10)

SA: Yertle's eyes are red. Can Yertle see red, with red eyes?

JL: Just a minute.

SG: Me, too.

(They go to get sheets of paper and writing instruments. They return)

JL: I'm writing down questions. What are some questions?

(SG and JL begin to think of questions for each other, then begin to write down their own. SG ends up with three, JL with one. EK gets paper and marker and writes her own questions)