Note Taking Instruction & "Frog in a Box"

The 4th grade classes were studying animal adaptations at the time that I wanted to work on their note-taking skills.  I had previous used an activity at the zoo at Chehaw Park called "Frog in a Box" developed in 2008 for American Zoos & Aquariums recognition of the Year of the Frog.  The activity consists of having a volunteer become a frog. Various things are put on the volunteer representing adaptations which  turns them into a "frog" (swimming flippers representing webbed feet, ear muffs for the large tympanum-ear drum).  I instructed the students to take notes on a graphic organizer I designed which included spaces for 4 adaptations and how they helped the frog survive.  As I "dressed" the student volunteer with adaptations the other students took notes. I also wrote each adaptation on a white board as we added them.

I think the students enjoyed this activity and we accomplished two things at once.  They learned about the adaptations of frogs and how to take notes from an oral presentation.