This week in the library students were introduced to the sea turtle habitat by listening to Jim Arnosky's book titled, Turtle in the Sea.Turtle in the Sea follows a mother sea turtle as she is coming to shore to lay her eggs. This mother has been through a lot and the book focuses not so much on her egg laying, but on her previous adventures which brought her to the shore. She has been caught in nets, attacked by a shark, plowed under a boat and had her shell cracked. This mother sea turtle has led a very amazing life and now the circle of life is continuing by the laying of these eggs. Soon, there will be new baby turtles to explore the great blue sea.
We paired this fiction book with two nonfiction books. The first was a journal a mother had written to her daughter titled, Turtle Summer. She was part of a turtle rescue volunteer that searched for turtle nests and marked them so others will know not to disturb which is a federal offense! Real photographs of turtle nests, eggs and loggerhead hatchlings were present. The students were amazed at the facts which were presented in this book. After learning about the turtle nests we read a short book titled, Carolina's story. This is a fantastic book about a sea turtle who washed up on the beach. She was rescued, treated for turtle flu and released after four months at the turtle hospital . Simple text and great photographs made for an exciting ending to our learning about sea turtles. I followed up with a short presentation on how to draw a sea turtle. We learned this was just a fun drawing, not a scientific sketch. Most students wanted to check out books on sea turtles. The library is such an exciting place to be!
Happy reading,
Mrs. Wetherell
