The Salamander Room

Today we had a very special visitor!  Eli's grandmother, "Mini", spent the afternoon with us today.  She shared one of her favorite books, The Salamander Room.

Mini read the book about a boy who wants to turn his room into a habitat for a salamander.  Then she gave each child a fact sheet about salamanders and their very own salamanders and cardboard tubs!

 (They are actually rubbery fishing lures but they looked an awful lot like real salamanders!)  After reading all about the cool things the boy wanted to put into his salamander habitat, they were ready to go outside and finds things to put into their salamander habitats.

They collected leaves and rocks and moss and all sorts of nature goodies!

Then the group gathered with their salamanders and habitats and each child had a chance to introduce us to their salamander.  Each was asked to name their new pet and tell the group about their favorite part of the habitat.

After everyone shared, we headed inside to do some writing about our new friends!  Each child had a booklet to fill about their salamander.  They got to name their new friend and then tell about what salamanders eat and where they like to live.  

Thanks, Mini, for a fun afternoon!  There were some very happy first graders taking new friends home that night!