Summary:

What if you were born a frog?  The second grade students will research frogs and their life cycle using pre-selected internet sites and the book Frogs, by Gail Gibbons. They will keep a journal with diagrams, notes, and digital pictures while watching live tadpoles within the classroom develop into frogs.  Using clay, cardboard, and paint, students will each create a three dimensional representation of the frog’s life cycle.  Students will make timelines comparing their life cycle to that of a frog’s and write fictional stories describing  what their life would be like if they were born a frog.

Rationale:

Second graders are required to compare various life cycles.  This project allows them to compare a frog’s life cycle to their own.  If they have studied other life cycles, then it can be easily amended to include them in the life cycle timeline.  They are also required to use magnifying glasses to observe and draw descriptions of objects as well as record sequences of events, and make predictions.  All of this is accomplished in their journals of classroom tadpoles.  Using Frogs, by Gail Gibbons helps them to understand the purpose of reading expository text, the author’s purpose in writing it, and to restate facts and details to clarify and organize ideas. This unit accounts for English Learners as well as different learning styles by having the students actually see tadpoles developing into frogs, make clay representations of the frog’s life cycle, and do a creative writing project about what it would be like to be born a frog.