Students greet the newly hatched chicks. Provided photoThere was a welcome sign of spring in Tracy Brew’s first grade classroom at the Ginther School on April 18. Students observed excitedly as the second and third out of four chicks hatched right before their eyes.
“While the children were also prepared in case the eggs didn’t hatch, seeing the looks on their faces when the chicks hatched was priceless,” said Brew. “They were talking to the chicks and encouraging them as they worked so hard to hatch from their eggs.”
Hatching the chicks included a series of enrichment lessons that correlated with the Life Cycles unit of the first grade science curriculum. Students experienced the 21 day life cycle of a chicken, from egg to chick. They read many non-fiction books about the life cycle of chickens and how to care for chicks. Each day they looked at a picture of what the developing chick looked like inside of the egg. Throughout the unit, the budding scientist made observations and predictions. The students also helped to create the habitat used once the chicks had hatched.
The lesson also extended into language arts as the students created their own non-fiction books titled “All About Chickens.” The books were complete with contents, headings, photographs and a glossary.
All first grade classrooms do a similar unit with the life cycle of earthworms as part of their science curriculum.
