Frogs: Facts & Fiction!

Ask any of my second graders and they'll tell you that I love frogs!  We just concluded a unit comparing fiction with non-fiction, and the culminating activity was centered on my favorite amphibian.  The students started off researching facts in the many, many books I have on the subject.  They learned a lot as they practiced how to take notes and cite sources!  Here are a few of their fascinating frog facts:

Jaxon learned that one kind of frog eats mice!
(source: Frogs by Nic Bishop)

Tyler learned that the goliath frog can jump father than any other frog!
(source: The Frog Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta)

Casimir learned that some frogs use their eyeballs to swallow.  The food is pushed down their throat by blinking!
(source: Frogs! by Kathryn Satterfield)

Joey learned that a frog can eat more than 5,000 insects in one summer.
(source: Nic Bishop's Frogs by NicBishop)



Taylor learned that leaches are predators of frog eggs!
(source: A Frog's Life by Ellen Lawrence)

Ramsey learned that the African clawed frog has no tongue!
(source: Frogs by Barbara Taylor)

Next, the students were challenged to exercise their creativity by imagining a frog that couldn't possibly exist.  By designing their "fiction frogs" I hope to give them a concrete, personal image they can refer back to when trying to remember that fiction means "not real".  (The terms fiction and nonfiction are frequently mixed up!)  As you can see, their illustrations provided some hilarious results!

 "FICTION FROGS"

You'll never see a frog...

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