Mr. Winey Goes To First Grade

    One thing I love about our Trout in the Classroom Program is that it is truly different every year! This year as I was setting up our trout tank I had quite a surprise! I couldn't wait to share it with my first grade class...little did I know it would lead into a shared writing post, new class mascot, a lesson on the voting process, and a first hand look at what happens to animals if they do not have their needs met.

 Below is our shared writing of the experience:

     Mrs. Winey was excited to get the tank ready for our trout. She was cleaning the tank and saw a skink. She thought it was alive and was a little scared.  She gently nudged it with a sponge to discover it was nonliving. She could not wait to show our class.  We talked about how it got in the tank and why it did not stay alive in the tank. We learned it did not have its needs of food and water met in the tank over the summer break.
     When Mrs. Winey showed our class, we wanted to keep it as a mascot and name it!. We thought about naming it Alex, Crawler, Tom, Bob, Peter, Jake, Max, John, Jewles, or Breadstick. But the winning vote was Mr. Winey. We learned that when we vote we may have a say but do not always get our way. We plan to show the school our new mascot at the bug fair and our families at our open house. We can't wait!

Our tank is ready for our Brook Trout eggs
set to arrive in November. We are building
good bacteria so our trout eggs will have what they
need to survive in our trout tank! Check back to
see what we learn as we take care of our Brook Trout!