Overall Objectives
How To Begin
Collaborative Method
Pre-Writing Activities
Ideas for Collaboration: Story Prompts and Poem
Themes
- Learn about the global nature of sea turtle species, their behaviors and the marine eco-systems they inhabit.
- Learn about threats to sea turtle survival and conservation methods needed to protect them.
- Develop writing skills, including character development, plot and dialog
- Gain insight into creative problem solving
- Develop a greater appreciation for the diversity of our global community through communications
Work with your teaching partner to build creative writing lesson plans. What type of writing project will excite your students? Poetry, verse or stories inspired by mythology? Perhaps a whimsical fairy tale or a graphic book that focuses on student art? We provide sea turtle conservation themes and sample story prompts. Check out our Teachers' Resource page —simply amazing!
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Find your collaborative teaching partner
Collaborative Method - Across the Rainbow
With your teaching partner, decide if your story will be structured or free form. Pass the story back and forth across the rainbow through email. Classes can develop their own turtle characters and share them with the other. After that, decide which class will begin the story, first part, or chapter of the book. Then pass it on to the other class to create the next part or chapter. Watch as the story takes on a life of its own. See where it goes and what unfolds.
Create personal email connections between classes.
Create writing blogs to post ideas for class viewing.
See resources for many creative ways to participate in collaborative writing activities within your individual classrooms as we well with a global partner.
- We encourage students’ artwork.
- As part of the global connection, we look forward to seeing bilingual story and poetry books.
- Books may be published through our online store.
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Reading
Reading sea turtles stories or assigning turtle research will provide students with inspiring ideas. The Reading is Fundamental is an excellent source of kids’ books and lesson plans on sea turtles and the ocean for ages 5-12. Our Teachers’ Resource page also provides links for more books.
Writing Warm Up
Ask students to write a short paragraph or poem using some key vocabulary that might be found in sea turtle or conservation topics. When students are ready, they can take our fun interactive vocabulary quiz.
Viewing and Visual Inspiration
View photos and information on sea turtle species.
Movies such as Finding Nemo, The Whale Rider, Audubon Video of Sea Turtles: Ancient Nomads, and PBS, Voyage of the Lonely Turtle, Blue Planet, etc.
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Ideas For Collaboration: Story Prompts and Poem
Two Story Prompts
1. Lost Sea Turtle Objectives:
- Learn about a sea turtle species, their behaviors such as diet, migration, nesting.
- Learn about threats to sea turtle survival such as pollution (oil spills, beach litter), fishing practices, predators, habitat destruction and degradation
- Learn the meaning and importance of “natal beach”
- Make a global connection! Learn cooperation, mutual support and problem solving
The Lost Sea Turtle
Each class will choose a different species of sea turtle and develop a dynamic character. The two sea turtles befriend one another during a journey across the ocean to find the natal beach they both share. During the journey they help each other avoid dangers of the land and sea. *Please note that different species of sea turtles nest in specific regions, so in order to have your story based on facts, please consider using the CCC or another resource to obtain the nesting areas of the species your class chooses.
Consider some of these sample questions for your students:
What species of sea turtle are you and what do you look like? Where does you turtle nest? How do you meet the other class’s sea turtle character and share the journey home to your natal beach to lay eggs? What do you eat and how far did you migrate? What characters/marine life do you both meet at sea? How do the characters work together to help each other survive? What threats to your survival do you encounter in the ocean? Once you reach the shore, what threats do you encounter on the land? Perhaps you both become confused by bright lights and wander into a village or city. How do you both make it back to the beach to lay your eggs? What characters if any, help you to your nesting ground? How does the story end?
- An interactive game on National Geographic, “Turtles in Trouble” illustrates the threats sea turtles face.
2. Ride the Turtle Rainbow Time Machine Objectives:
- Learn about sea turtles species in order to create a character
- Learn where different sea turtles nest
- Learn about species that lived during the time of the dinosaurs
- Learn about the threats that sea turtles face today.
- Make a global connection! Learn cooperation, mutual support and problem solving
Ride the Turtle Rainbow Time Machine!
Each class will develop vibrant, complex story characters using one of the seven sea turtle species.
The turtle characters enter a time machine and travel back in time, between 65 -110 millions years ago.
Sample questions for inspiration might be:
What species are you, what do you look like and what is your name? How does your character meet and befriend the other class’s character? What does your time machine look like? At what time period do you arrive? What creatures do you meet in the ocean or on land? Does your character make new friends? What dangers do you meet lurking in this ancient world? How do your characters work together to survive challenges? Does one character save the other’s life? Do they return to present time? If so, what present day challenges do they face in the ocean or on land?
How does your story end?
*An exciting link with 3-D animals can be found on National Geographic “A Journey Though Time.”
3. Book of Poetry Idea:
Two classes create a collaborative anthology of poetry comprised of the individual voices of each student (see possible themes below). Students may create a drawing or painting to accompany their poem.
Poetry Objectives:
- Students will learn about the environment, our planet, sea turtles, and conservation as they express their own concerns in creative free-verse poetry.
- Students will learn that all people--be they from diverse cultures or separated by thousands of miles of oceans and landmasses share a powerful interest: protecting and preserving our Earth!
- Make a global connection to save our planet!
Sample Idea: Each student creates his or her own poem using the first letter of a word, such as Sea Turtles.
For example:
Students write a poem collaboratively using a term like SEA TURTLES
Each student creates a poem using the letters of the word
All types of poetry are encouraged
The same can be done for words like Conservation, Ocean, Leatherback, Hatching, etc.
Using conservation themes will encourage students to learn about their environment
Ride the Turtle Rainbow will give students opportunities to connect globally and
Think about the world around them
Link global to think global! Learn to work both locally and globally to save our
Earth and its eco-systems
Share the dream of a future.
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Bio-Diversity
Conservation
Eco-system
Endangered Species
Environmental Protection
Extinction
Global Warming: effects on sea turtles, the ocean and beaches
Marine Life
Ocean Pollution
Plight of the Sea Turtles
Sea Turtle Conservation
Sea Turtles Species
Sea Turtles Migration, Habitats & Diet
Sea Turtle Mythology
WE WELCOME YOUR IDEAS!
We want to hear from you, hands-on educators of our world. We are certain that you can offer us the most creative ideas for collaborative, across-the-globe learning. Our non-profit needs an on-line educational support team that keeps us up to date with new ideas in learning. Please, won’t you join our creative team?
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