PAGE 8 THE DALAL AS POST Sunday, November 16, 2008 | By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com I t was sleeting and the wind was whipping dur- callis Elementary School reading specialist Caitlin Cooper read a book to a group of fourth- graders on the floor near double doors. Although the children’s attention kept diverting to the ele- ments, Cooper never anticipated what would hap- pen next. Mitchell Winters, a boy in the group, spotted what he thought was a rat outside the door. Cooper redirected the students to the book and minutes later, Winters once again said he saw an animal. Cooper said it was probably a leaf, but the boy insisted it was an animal. Finally, Cooper allowed the students to look outside. There in the freezing weather was a 10- inch long black reptile with yellow spots that ap- peared to be a small lizard. The fourth-graders, along with Cooper, round- ed up several teachers who went outside and caught the reptile. “I just saw something moving,” Winters said. “It freaked me out. He turned and was coming toward me. I'm like, ‘You should bring it in,” but they didn’t know what to do with it.” Wyecallis fifth-graders went on a field trip in Sep- tember to Frances Slocum State Park to explore and learn about wetland life. The fifth-grade class- rooms are located next to the double doors and the students soon heard about the creature. Fifth-grader Steven Darling grabbed a book, “Salamander Rain,” that the fifth-grade classes read and quickly discovered the reptile was a spot- ted salamander. He also learned the salamander eats insects, spiders and earthworms and typically lives in wetland areas. The students named the salamander “Sally” re fo 37 REBECCA BRIA PHOTOS / THE DALLAS POST “Sally,” a spotted salamander, is temporarily living in a plastic container in Nicole Valkenburg's fourth-grade class at Wycallis Elementary School. Fourth-grader Mitchell Winters noticed the sala- mander on Tuesday, Oct. 28, outside the doors of the school. Teachers caught the salamander, which was out in the winter weather, and brought it in- doors. Let Us Do The Cooking This Thanksgiving! Check Out Our Dine-In And Take-Out Information RONTSV ROT TEN TC NOW BOOKING HOLIDA ON OR OFF PREMISES Our Lady or Mt. 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CALL FOR RESERVATIONS AND TAKE-OUT DETAILS "Pi izza Perfect 1 CARVERTON RD, TRUCKSVILLE * . 629-2100 | Mon.-Thurs. 4-10 PM | | ‘Sally’ is newest fourth- ader Fourth-grader Mitchell Winters holds a plastic bin containing the salamander he noticed outside the doors of Wycallis Elementary School. even though they are unable to distinguish wheth- er it is a male or female. “They looked up the habitat, food, etc. and de- cided to begin to take care of this animal,” Cooper said. “Word spread quickly and many other class- es came to visit and see Sally, our new pet. It was definitely a great hands-on science lesson and a perfect example of how sometimes you have to drop the ‘planned’ lesson and go with what is hap- pening in the moment.” Darling and his classmates in teacher Linda Jo- seph’s class fed beetles to Sally. The class previ- ously did an experiment with the beetles to learn about their habitat. “Our teacher doesn’t like the beetles so she said, ‘Let’s feed it the beetles,” Darling said. Sally is temporarily staying in a plastic contain- er in teacher Nicole Valkenburg’s fourth-grade Steven Darling, a fifth-grader at Wycallis Elementary School, identified the salamander that was lingering in winter weather outside doors to the school. classroom and Valkenburg has integrated the sala- mander into her fourth-grade science lessons. Her class recently finished a chapter on life cycles and is beginning a unit on adaptations, making Sally’s appearance very timely. Through her own research, Valkenburg learned that Sally could live from 20 to 30 years. Valken- burg says spotted salamanders usually hide under rocks in wetlands and only come out in the spring to lay their eggs. The students gathered dirt and leaves and add- ed water to Sally’s living quarters. 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