Rivers, Creeks and Ponds; A Summer Project

During this Phase I of our project, we assessed the children's prior knowledge of rivers, creeks and ponds. To do this, we constructed a web and filled it with the children's ideas. During writers workshop, the children were asked to reflect on a time of their own experience with rivers, creeks, ponds etc. Then the children shared their stories with the group.

Maryland State Curriculum-

Writing -Students will compose in a variety of modes by developing content, employing specific forms, and selecting language appropriate for a particular audience and purpose.
Speaking -Student will communicate effectively in a variety of situations with different audiences, purposes, and formats.
Listening- Students will demonstrate effective listening to learn, process, and analyze information.

Week One

Tuesday- Our first field trip was to a pond close to our camp. We walked there and brought nets and collecting jars with us. We caught crayfish and Rosy Red Minnows. The Children were completely engaged, we could have stayed there for hours if we had brought our lunch. We gathered cattails and saw a family of ducks. Many of the questions developed in the following week stemmed from this preliminary field trip.

Stories About Our Previous Experiences With
Rivers, Creeks and Ponds and the Like

The Pond by Amelia

I went to the pond on my Grandma's street. We walked there. One time we thought we saw an alligator or a crocodile and then we saw it was just a log!

At the Lake by Eli

Once I went to a lake with my Mom and Dad and Sister. We met my friend there and his Mom. His name was Sam. I went in the water with Sam and swam around a little. There was some weird yellow sand. After we swam we dug a hole. Me and Sam put water, sea weed and yellow sand in it. We asked our Mom to put their feet in it but they wouldn't do it. Then we got ice cream and went home.

Cascade Lake by Sofia

One time I went to Cascade Lake. I went there with the other summer camp I went to . I went there with a lot of my friends from school. It was very fun there because there was a water slide which is 200 feet long. The top of the slide is about 50 feet in the air. I passed the swim test with my friends. Cascade Lake is also fun because there is these squares of wood in the middle of the lake that you have to balance on so you don't fall off. There are also people on the squares that push you off if you are not careful. I hope I can go back to cascade lake one day.

The Time I Went to Great Falls by Risa

I went to Great Falls on the last day of school. I went everywhere we were allowed to go! I went over to a place and there was a snake so I threw a rock at it's head. It was funny! He was on the path. I went on the tallest rock. It was very fun! I went with my sister. My parents didn't feel comfortable doing it so they didn't go. Then I had lunch. After lunch, we went on another trail. Then we went home. I had a great time. The End

The Time I went to Chincoteague by Ulito

Part 1. when I went to Chincoteague we had a lot of fun at the beach.
Part 2. when we went to the gift shop I bought a lot of stuff.
Part 3. When we got there in our house it was awesome! I went straight to the room and there was a basket full of shells.
Part 4. The End

The Creek by Kaitlyn

I'm going to tell you about the time I went to the creek in my backyard. Well one day I asked my Dad, "Can we go down by the creek ?" Then I was so excited because he said YES!!! So I changed into jeans and a t-shirt and my Dad and sister and I went down by the creek and we went about half way up the stream. Then I was about to step on a stone. Then I looked down into the water and saw a baby eel abut 6 inches long that was the first time I saw an eel. Anyway a couple days later we went back down to the creek and we saw the eel again. This time it was farther down stream and it was eating algae! That was the time I saw an eel in the creek .

The Time I Went to Assateaque Island by Jivan

The time I went to Assateaque Island was so fun. We got to see wild horses. Our amp site was down in a dune so we had to walk up and then we'd reach the beach. At night we would go up to the beach and watch little crabs play. In the morning we would go up to the beach and I would boogie board. My brother would boogie board by the shore. I had so much fun.

At the Smith Center by Seo Young

Once I went to the Smith Nature Center for a field trip at my school. We got to learn and review about bugs. We got to catch bugs too! When we were catching bugs we went to a pond to catch fish and bugs. We didn't catch fish, but me and my friend caught a HUGE dragonfly! I freaked a little bit 'cause it was bi for the small cage but we caught it. We had to let it go. But it was super fun!

Creek

Once I went to a creek. I had a bathing suit on. Because I wanted to swim but I couldn't because the water was too cold for me and I had my dog Bubby with me. He was playing with other dogs he is very cute. There was lots of minnows in the water. It started to storm so we left. The End

Coral at the Lake by Caitlin

Once I went to a lake in Georgia. I went on a walk around the lake, I saw a purpley bluish thing. I touched it with a stick, it was a fish! We walked back. We were about to leave but I asked to walk more. So I did! I caught a baby turtle and named it Coral. We brought it home and later let it go.

The Scare by Arturo

I went to the ocean and played with my friends and when I was going back to the shallow water there was so much sticks that the sticks took my foot and it scratched me.

Niagara Falls by David

At Niagara Falls my mom, dad, younger sister and I went on a boat that took us to the Niagara Falls and back. On our way we learned that once a boy was playing at the top of the falls and fell off. The boat we were riding saved him. There were three falls. The largest was the horseshoe falls (which were shaped like a horseshoe). The American Falls was a smaller fall and the Brides Veil Falls was the smallest of the three. As we got to the closest falls the spray would have gotten us soaked, but we had our rain coats on and didn't get wet. Then we went back to the land.