Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!

Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!

By April Pulley Sayre

illustrated by Annie Patterson

Genre: 

Grades:1 to 3

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About The Author

April currently lives in South Bend, Indiana and is the author of over 50 books.  Growing up in Greenville, South Carolina, she spent time picking flowers and observing insects and birds. She attended Duke University where she studied biology and focused on primatology. The link above has more information! 

About The Book

Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! begins on a beach in Florida when a mother turtle lays her eggs. Helping hands keep the eggs safe and two months later the eggs hatch. Once the baby turtle enters the ocean the reader then learns about all of dangers that a baby turtle encounters. Then eventually the baby turtle completes the cycle grow up and lays her own eggs. 

I already have a love for sea turtles, so the book was extremely easy for me to choose. The book also has beautiful illustrations and does a great job of educating its readers. The common words of, Turtle, Turtle, Watch out! is through out the book and makes it a great book for younger readers. The students can even read it out loud with the teacher! The book briefly describes the seven types of sea turtles in the back of the book while speaking about the helping hands that help save sea turtles. 

Lesson

Purpose: To teach students about sea turtles and the different types of sea turtles. To show students how to compare and contrast. 

Pre-assessment: Having student talk about sea turtles with a partner, then asking students what comparing and contrasting means. Student responses should written down.

Lesson: Go over characteristics of sea turtles. Such as they are air breathing reptiles, body characteristic, habitat they live in. Another class chart can be made and then students can go over the 7 different kinds of sea turtles as class, or students can do this in group work, where they create a graph (a graph could be made up ahead of time for the sake of time). Once done let them choose two sea turtles and compare and contrast the two.  Be sure to explain what comparing and contrasting mean, a venn diagram would be helpful.The students can then write a paper on it. Depending on the grade level students may need a demonstration of comparing and contrasting or writing as a class can also be a helpful tool for them. 

Post assessment: Looking at student work, the graph, and paper, while also taking into consideration students reposes during discussion. (notes should be taken)