TADPOLE TALES: The Tadpole Days

Tadpole Tales: Week 1

Tadpole Tales: Week 2

Tadpole Tales: Week 3

Welcome back to Tadpole Tales! 

Leg-a-less continues his metamorphosis into a frog. This week, his body color has become a deeper hue of green. His once translucent tail is now forming into a more solid part of his body. We're noticing he is coming to the surface to take breaths about every 10-15 minutes now. He's also started to enjoy eating some dried meal worms and small pieces of lettuce.

TADPOLE TIDBITS:

• Body is becoming a darker hue of green
• Back legs are becoming longer and more pronounced
• Front of body is looking more frog-like in shape
• Tail is becoming more solid
• Rising to surface every 10-15 minutes to take a breath
• Eating meal worms and small pieces of lettuce

TRASH MONSTER

One of Mr. Chris's colleagues, Mr. Josh, has a creative blog called Design Make Teach. Mr. Josh posted steps for how he and his daughter created a "Trash Monster" for her first grade class assignment. They were to use only recycled materials in honor of Earth Day. 

Mr. Chris thought it would be a fun project for the Night Light Stories Household to complete.

So, our 5 year old sketched out a design. 

Then, we gathered the materials out of the recycle bin we wanted to use.

Finally, we had an amusing time putting our 

"Trash Monster" together.

 

Thanks so much, Josh, for the creative and 

eco-friendly activity! 

You can make one, too! 

Please post pictures on our 

Facebook page of your masterpieces!

TADPOLE TALES: The Tadpole Days

Tadpole Tales: Week 1

Tadpole Tales: Week 2

Welcome back to Tadpole Tales! 

Leg-a-less has been busy growing and shrinking. Wait a minute! How can that be? It's true. His tail is shrinking, but he is growing into a more frog-like body. We're noticing his metamorphosis seems to be using up the bulk of his energy. He's spending a lot more time hanging out at the bottom of the tank rather than swimming all around. And he continues to swim to the top every half hour to take a breath. 

TADPOLE TIDBITS:

• Body is more elongated 
• Back legs are becoming longer and more pronounced
• Gills are shrinking
• Tail is becoming shorter

TADPOLE TALES: The Tadpole Days

Last week's post on 'Tadpole Tales'

Welcome back to Tadpole Tales! 

First things first. We had some really creative entries in order to help us name our Tadpole. Our favorite was inspired by the Lord of the Ring series from our friend, Elizabeth. Without further ado, his name will be... (drumroll, please) 

Leg-a-less 

In the past week, we've seen some exciting changes in Leg-a-less. He's been very busy. 

Compare these pictures below! The first one is from last week. The second one is from this week.

Tadpole Tidbits: 

• Back legs are forming.
• Tail is becoming shorter.
• Color is turning darker.
• The tadpoles are beginning to visit the surface to breathe in oxygen from the air. 

Check it out!

Episode 57 - Pogona Vitticeps, Part 1

Click here to listen to: Pogona Vitticeps, Part 1 (16:00)

Strange images seemingly appear out of nowhere when Vivien 

spends time with a special animal. 

Hi All,

Here we are at the end of April. That old adage has proven true. There have been a lot of showers (granted some were snow showers) but that precipitation has brought us May flowers. We are starting to see some buds blooming around our yard. Take a look!

VORACIOUS VOCABULARY

What did you say? A word of the day! In our story

there are many juicy words that are fun to use and say.

deliberation: careful consideration before decision.

devour: to swallow or eat up hungrily.

indigenous: originating in and characteristic of a particular region or country.

inquisitive: eager for knowledge.

JUST ADD IMAGINATION!

Try these activities to keep your imagination glowing

after hearing the story.

1. Go outside and hunt for crickets or other insects. When you find one, study it and make a sketch labeling all of its parts. Be careful to include as many details as possible. You can use the following website for help looking up the names of different insect parts: http://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/insects

2. Illustrate what you think the main character, Vivien, looks like in the story. 

3. In the story Vivien has done research on bearded dragons. Conduct your own research on bearded dragons or pick an animal you're interested in! Keep a journal of interesting facts you discover!

4. Send us picture of all your hard work at nightlightstories@gmail.com or post them on our Facebook Page. 

COMPREHENSION CHALLENGE

After listening to the story, can you recall the

details to answer these questions?

1. Who asked the store clerk what happened to the bearded dragon?

2. What recent event caused Vivien to be sad?

3. Where did Vivien find a strange, sooty black mark?

4. Why did Vivien give Pogo fruit?
5. How did Vivien convince her father to buy the bearded dragon?

We want to send out bright birthday wishes to:

Olivia of Ohio
Kaileigh of New Hampshire
Mason G of Kentucky
Alessandra of New York
Ethan of Massachusetts
Annabeth of Illinois
Lilly of New Jersey
Riley of South Dakota
Alex P of Colorado
Riley of Colorado
Madelyne
Oliver B
Morgan B

We hope your days SPARKLED!

TADPOLE TALES: The Tadpole Days

Welcome to Tadpole Tales! 

Every Spring at the Night Light Stories Household, we have a pond full of budding tadpole eggs. We usually collect a few of them each year so that we can watch them grow into frogs. This year, we wanted to share that experience with YOU!  

For the next twelve weeks, follow along with us as we watch this tadpole's transformation.

WAIT! 

One more thing before you go. This tadpole needs a name. Leave your classroom's, child's, student's, grandmother's or your own suggestion for a name in the comments below. We'll randomly choose one and announce in our next installment of Tadpole Tales. 

For now, we'll leave you with the first picture of our new little friend, along with some facts about his development. 

TADPOLE TIDBITS: 

• Hatch from eggs.
• Have no legs.
• Swim with a tail.
• Live in the water.
• Breathe with gills.
• Feed on the egg yolk they still have in their gut.

LIGHTING THE WAY WITH WORDS

Pedal Power (14:21)

While learning to ride a bike, a boy learns perseverance 
breeds confidence.

Free audio download: Pedal Power

Blog with activities: Pedal Power 

While the kids and I were in Boston visiting our family over Spring Break, we took a ride to the beach with my parents. On our way, my dad noticed a hawk in a tree. Since the road we were driving is a popular bird watching site, we pulled to the side so that I could capture a picture. The hawk watched the ocean from his perch, scanning for any possible meals to surface.  

LIVE LITERACY

This Wednesday, April 10th at 6:30pm, Mr. Chris and I are going to be doing a LIVE reading of our fully illustrated e-book, 

Dragonfly, Dragonfly Show Us the Way.  

Where, you ask?

We'll be in Purcellville, Virginia at a local event to help support the Loudoun Literacy Council.

To learn more about this event, buy tickets to attend or donate to the Loudoun Literacy Council, visit the website for the event at http://bit.ly/llcevent.

We hope to see you there! 

Dragonfly, Dragonfly Show Us the Way is available for an in-app purchase on the Flying Books app. The app is free to download on your iPhone or iPad.

 Get your copy of the book for just $1.99 until April 20th! 

LIGHTING THE WAY WITH WORDS

The Farm Girl and the Feather (22:59)

A fairy tale that proves warriors and their weapons come 
in different shapes and sizes.

Free audio download: The Farm Girl and the Feather

Blog with activities: The Farm Girl and the Feather

My mom had a dear friend who was visiting from Japan. She taught my mom how to follow a series of steps to fold decorative paper to create a simple bird. This art form is called origami. Before her friend left to go back to Japan, she made the following figures as a memento. They still hang in the hall of my parents' house twenty-five years later. Have you ever tried origami? Send us a visual definition of origami to nightlightstories@gmail.com or post a picture on our Facebook Page.

Episode 56: The Basement

Click here to listen to: The Basement (16:26)
A boy works to keep his imagination from getting the best of him 
in order to complete a chore for his mother.

Hi All,

Happy Spring! The birds are chirping, the sun is shining and it's snowing. Wait? What? Back up the train! I'm serious. We've had the craziest weather in our neck of the woods this March. They weren't kidding when they said March comes in like a lion. Snow, slush, sleet and freezing rain have all fallen from the skies in the past 26 days. We are hoping it goes out like a lamb with some mild, springlike weather. 

LIVE EVENTS 

On Wednesday, April 10th at 4pm ET, Mr. Chris and I will be presenting a LIVE webinar for the Virginia Society for Technology in Education. The webinar is called Can You Hear Me Now? and we’ll be talking about using audio in contemporary educational practices. If that sounds like something interesting to you, please join us. You can learn more about it at http://bit.ly/vstewebinars.
On the day of the webinar you can access the event by going to http://bit.ly/vstewebinarroom.

Also, on April 10th at 6:30pm ET, Mr. Chris and I will be doing a LIVE reading of our fully illustrated e-book Dragonfly, Dragonfly Show Us the Way, which is available as an in-app purchase on the Flying Books App. The live reading will occur for the Loudoun Literacy Council in Purcellville, Virginia. You can learn more about this event at http://bit.ly/llcevent.

We hope to see you there!

VORACIOUS VOCABULARY

What did you say? A word of the day! In our story

there are many juicy words that are fun to use and say.

conjure: to bring to mind; recall.
gnaw: to bite or chew on.
oblige: to be kindly accommodating.

JUST ADD IMAGINATION!

Try these activities to keep your imagination glowing

after hearing the story.

1. Make a list of strategies to help you stay calm when you are afraid of something. 

2. Listen to our short poem, Click, about the comforts a night light provides!

Free audio download: Click
Blog with activities: Click

3. Make up a fun story or poem in your head as you fall asleep. 
4. Sit together as a family and assign different chores to complete. Working as a team makes the work go so much faster. 

COMPREHENSION CHALLENGE

After listening to the story, can you recall the

details to answer these questions?

1. Who asks Marshall to get the laundry out of the dryer?

2. What caused the CLANG noise that made Marshall jump back?

3, Where did Marshall think a troll lived in his house?

4. Why does Marshall think a snake might be in the basement?
5. How did Marshall conquer his fear?

We want to send out bright birthday wishes to:

Liv of Ohio
Joe D of Texas

John D of Texas

Grandpa B of New York

Sofia A of New Jersey

Jake F of Texas

Kai of New Hampshire

Garret of Maryland

Kathy S of Maryland

We hope your days SPARKLED!