The Fate of the Frog
The winner of the 2018 Beverly Hills Children's Fiction award, this Seuss-inspired picture book by Melissa Rooney, who is an Arts Council educating artist and Associate Supervisor for her county's Soil and Water Conservation District, tells an engaging story about a boy whose neighborhood is experiencing a drought and a frog who is trying desperately to leave his birth puddle before it dries up. The creators use perfectly metered anapestic tetrameter and playful watercolor illustrations to address the importance of water resources as well as other K-3 curricula topics.
" As a kindergarten teacher, it was magnificent to find a developmentally appropriate book about life cycles that integrates other common-core-aligned science units into a fun and relatable read aloud. After reading the book to my class, here are some excerpts of the conversation: "It was fun because the frog kept on trying!" "It was fun and amusing." "It was a nice story, can we read it again?!" Post read aloud, the students were observed recreating various scenes from the book during free, unstructured play time in collaboration with water cycle knowledge. The Fate of the Frog quickly became a must read in my classroom!" ~ Emily Hayes, Durham Kindergarten teacher, The Lerner School
This is a great book to supplement required Kindergarten thorough fifth-grade science curricula (dpi.state.nc.us/docs/curriculum/science/scos/support-tools/new-standards/science/k-2.pdf), which include:
Kindergarten:
K.E.1. Understand change and observable patterns of weather that occur from day to day and throughout the year.
First Grade:
1.L.1 Understand characteristics of various environments and behaviors of humans that enable plants and animals to survive.
1.L.2 Summarize the needs of living organisms for energy and growth.
2nd Grade:
2.E.1 Understand patterns of weather and factors that affect weather.
2.L.1 Understand animal life cycles.
4th Grade:
4.L.1 Understand the effects of environmental changes, adaptations and behaviors that enable animals (including humans) to survive in changing habitats.
5th Grade:
5.L.2 Understand the interdependence of plants and animals with their ecosystem.