Mrs. Winey! Are the trout here yet?

On Tuesday November 5, 2013 I answered this question over 200 times throughout the day. In an attempt to make the arrival of our trout eggs a teachable moment, I thought we would incorporate a lesson on how punctuation helps us understand how to read with expression. I intended to introduce the  question mark and the exclamation mark and place a sign on the trout tank letting the whole school know that our trout eggs had indeed arrived. The students colored the words and the punctuation marks  for the

sign in groups. Then we place the words and punctuation marks in order to make the sentence and response,
Mrs. Winey! Are the trout here yet? Yes!

We discussed how the exclamation marks help the readers know we are excited and the question mark indicates asking a question. One of my students raised his hand and said he thought the question mark should go after my name  because they are asking me and the exclamation point after are the trout here yet because they are excited and want to know now.
Because the students often call my name in an
asking tone, I decided to go with it even if it
is not completely grammatically correct and teach them that the punctuation marks can change the way a sentence is read. We practiced reading it both ways and the students decided they wanted the question mark after my name and the exclamation mark to show they were excited. It definitely was a better expression of  how we wanted the sentence to be read. I did tell the students that to be grammatically correct we should use the question mark after are the trout here yet.

Another Successful Year- Thanks to All!!

Trout Release Day is always bittersweet! I am always amazed at how everything comes together! I am blessed with an abundance of community support for our program! I can't thank everyone enough! I'd like to give a special shout out to Central Juniata EMS for joining us on our release day this year to help put us at ease about taking 130 elementary students to Karl B. Guss Park where cell service is sketchy!

Here is Joe who drove the ambulance with a few of the students. I truly believe he had a great day along with everyone else involved! On a side note, Bunny Princess and Mater made it safely into East Licking Creek and the students who released them said they were happy! Although the little girl who released Bunny Princess asked me on Friday afternoon in school if we could go get Bunny  Princess and bring her back to the tank! Sometimes it is hard to let go! Enjoy the video of the events of the day!
http://www.kizoa.com/slideshow/d4550470k3626026o1/lack-tuscarora-trout-release-2013

Bunny Princess meet Mater!

 

Good news, we have not lost any trout so far from this new batch. It is amazing how the trout are growing! All except one tiny one that never seems to get any food because he is  chased away by the larger fingerlings. We noticed he was laying on the bottom not looking well last week so... We concluded that it was not getting enough to eat and the students begged me to  put it in the basket with Bunny Princess to allow it a better chance to get some food during feeding. After about an hour of chasing him around the tank and enlisting Mrs. Hoover to assist me in capturing him, we placed him in the red basket with Bunny Princess.

 One of the students named him Mater! So we introduced Bunny Princess to Mater. They appear to be good room mates so far!  Bunny Princess has grown and could more than likely hold her own in the big tank, but the students want to keep her separate so they know which one she is. She is larger than Mater. Hopefully, he will catch up before release day on May 16.



 

Third Time Is A Charm!

I am almost hesitant to say that the trout are doing well in fear of jinxing myself... We received a new shipment of 69 fry to add to our tank...Bunny Princess is still alive and well swimming in her own red basket floating at the top of the tank. My first grade class insisted we provide her protection since she has endured so much so far being the only fry to survive ich. She is much smaller than the trout we received and would most likely be eaten by some of the larger fry.

 We have placed a cover over half of the tank to provide the trout with some type of  hiding place and provide less stress on the fish as the tank is in the lobby and the constant motion by the tank stresses the fish which in turn can create water quality issues. We are hopeful to keep this bunch alive until May 16. It thrilled my heart to hear the students talking in front of the tank saying which trout was "their" trout and sharing the names that they had chosen for their trout. Hopefully, the third time is the charm!

Survival of the fittest!! ...Bunny Princess LIVES!

So much has happened since my last post...We have encountered another round of ich! I spent 4 hours Saturday at the school giving the remaining living trout a salt bath in an attempt to keep some alive. On Monday, the students were glad to see one survived the process and is holding her own. She has been named Bunny Princess by one of my first graders who announced Monday that the only fish living was her fish Bunny Princess!

 

I contacted JHS's Ag. teacher Mrs. Morgan to find out how their fish were since we do our release together. At that point she had 80 fish. Sad to say she also has encountered ich and has lost most of her fish. I stopped at the high school to  discuss what I had learned about bathing the fish in salt. She now has 5 fish surviving.

 

We contacted the PFBC and found out the fish at the hatchery have ich as well and it is a systemic problem throughout TIC this year. They agreed to send more fish, but they will also have ich. It appears this year, we will be learning about the diseases fish get and how to treat them...Hopefully, we will have a few to release in May...It truly is a learning process!! Stay tuned!

Fish Tales!

  

The students were so excited today  to become

Published Authors and Illustrators  in 2013

Fish Tales!

Today our book came! The students were so excited to actually hold a book written and illustrated by our class! Each student wrote and illustrated a nonfiction and fiction story about our Trout in the Classroom Program and trout.

Water Chemistry



Testing Water Quality...

The students enjoyed checking the water quality parameters to help make sure our water is perfect for our trout. Today's test results: 7.8 pH; 0 Ammonia; 0 Nitrates; and 0 Nitrites with water temperature 51.9 degrees. We have lost a few fish here and there. Currently we have 44 healthy fry.

checking pH, ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites...

all within normal ranges!