written and illustrated by

Mrs. Shellenberger’s First Graders

Stony Point School April 2006

We dedicate this book

to

Jerry Pallotta who wrote the greatest books,

Mary Lou Lundgren

who helped us with art, research and writing,

and to

all our friends and

families.

How We Did It!

We were reading the Jerry Pallotta alphabet books, The Yucky Reptile Alphabet Book and The Icky Bug Alphabet Book and wondered about making our own alphabet class book. Maysn brought tadpoles for our class and Ms. Shellenberger thought frogs were really cool. We got books from the library and our own class library and brainstormed a list of all the frogs we could find. We never knew there were so many kinds of frogs. We found out a lot of information from the computer. Ms. Shellenberger made us a special research process log to write and draw in. We drew the red-eyed tree frog with MaryLou Lundgren and figured out all the frog parts. We painted frogs on the computer, too. First, we made the outline and then we colored them. We found a dead dried-up frog in the Japanese Garden. It was interesting to see it up close. We used a magnifying glass. We used the magnifying glass to look at the tadpoles, too, so we could sketch them. The tadpoles grew pretty slow. We took pictures of them for the class web page. After we checked out all the books, we decided which frog we wanted to study more. We drew them on the cover of our process log using colored pencils. We did more research on them. We had lots of questions. We did “note-taking” with the facts we learned. Some of us had personal connections to frogs (“note-making”). We went to the Art Studio to make frogs out of fadeless art paper. “What kind of toes does your frog have, suction cups or digging toes?” Ms. Lundgren said. We were careful to put lots of details on them. Another thing we had to know was where it lived, so we could make a background. Interesting facts…. it was hard to figure out interesting facts. One thing we did was to all write down a fact on a piece of paper. During our class meeting time, we would go around and read them. If people thought it was really interesting, they would do “thumbs up”. “I really like the part where we drew the frog.” “I liked when we went around the circle and did thumbs up.”

A a A is for Anura Harlequin frog This frog’s skin makes poison and when he’s scared, it comes out behind his ears and neck. Patrice

B b B is for Golden Bell frog Screeeech! Screeeeh! says the bell frog because it’s almost extinct. Schuyler

C c C is for Tri-Colored poison arrow frog The poison this frog makes comes from the eating of ants. Kierra

D d

D is for the dried-up frog we found in the Japanese garden. http://www.frogpool.at/frogpool.htm http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/index.html http://www.frogsonice.com/froggy/ http://muppets.go.com/main.html http://www.jerrypallotta.com/

E e E is for Eastern Narrowmouth Toad It eats ants and termites and lives only in the eastern part of Virginia. Aaron

F f F is for Fire-bellied toad This slimy toad from China has toes that look like they were dipped in red paint. Jordan

G g G is for Glass frog You can see inside this frog’s body and see its heart beating, liver and him chewing his food. Rodney

H h H is for Green House frog It only walks around at night or in rainy weather. Kyle

I i I is for Illinois Chorus Frog This frog has a bird-like whistle and digs with its front legs to hunt food underground. Madison

J j J is for frog Jokes

Q: How do you get a frog off your windshield? A: Use the defrogger!

Q: What kind of stories do frogs like? A: The kind with hoppy endings...

Q: When is a car like a frog? A: When it's being toad.

Q: What did the frog order at McDonald's? A: A diet Croak and a large order of Flies.

Q: Why are frogs so laid back? A: They eat whatever bugs them!

Q: What happens when two frogs collide? A: They get tongue-tied.

Q: What's green green green green green? A: A frog rolling down a hill.

Q: Why did the frog say "meow"? A: He was learning a foreign language.

Q: What happened to the frog's Beetle when his parking meter expired? A: It got toad.

Q: What has more lives than a cat? A: A frog that croaks every day

Q: What do you say to a hitch-hiking frog? A: Hop in! Q: What kind of shoes do frogs wear? A: Open-toed Q: What do you call a frog that crosses the road, jumps in a puddle, and crosses the road again? A: A dirty double-crosser!

Q: How deep can a frog go? A: Knee-deep, Knee-deep!

K k K is for Kermit the Frog Bein Green Lyrics

It's not that easy bein' green Having to spend each day the color of the leaves When I think it could be nicer bein' red or yellow or gold Or something much more colorful like that When green is all there is to be It could make you wonder why But why wonder, why wonder? I am green and it'll do fine It's beautiful And I think it's what I want to be

L l L is for Northern Leopard frog This frog will hibernate in the bottom of ponds for about three months. Devon

M m M is for Mink frog At night, this frog sounds like a carpenter working on a house. Cut…. cut.... cut…. Caitlin

N n N is for Northern Cricket frog This tiny one inch frog can jump six feet! Shellaria

O o O is for Ornate Horned frog These frogs eat their own species. That means they eat their own family… tadpoles and other frogs. Hailey

P p P is for Yellow-banded Poison dart frog The South American Indians in the rainforest used the skin of this frog for their poison blow darts. Will

Q q

Q is for Quito tree frog He lives by the equator where the air is wet all the time. Nathaniel

R r R is for Red-eyed tree frog These frogs look like jewels in a tropical ocean and blend in with the leaf where they sit. Emma

S s S is for Strawberry poison dart frog The tadpoles of this frog can swim in water with less than a teacup. Alexander

T t T is for Midwife Toad The mom lays the eggs and the dad carries them around on his back until they hatch out. Becca

U u U is for U.S. stamp

USA Wyoming Toad

(From the 1996 Endangered Species collection)

Poland

Bufo Calimata

Poland

Bufo Viridis

Poland

Hyla Arborea (Tree Frog)

Poland

Bombina Bombina (European Firebellied

Toad)

Spain

Alytes Obstetricians (Midwife Toad)

Spain

Hyla Arborea (Tree Frog)

Spain

Rana Tempria

Australia

Pseudophryne corroboree

(Corroboree Frog).

Australia

Litoria bicolor (Northern Dwarf Tree

Frog)

Australia

Litoria citropa (Blue Mountain Tree

Frog)

Australia

Litoria bicolor (Northern Dwarf Tree Frog)

Australia

Litoria Splendida (Magnificent Tree Frog)

Australia

Litoria rothii (Roth's Tree Frog)

Australia

Litoria microbelos (Javelin Frog)

V v V is for Bird-Voiced tree frog This has the most beautiful frog call in all North America. Maysn

W w W is for Wood frog The wood frog freezes his own body and stays that way until spring. Raymond

X x X is for Xray of a frog

Y y Y is for Mountain Yellow-legged frog This frog is almost extinct because they were eaten by hungry trout that were stocked into the ponds. Natalie

Z z Z is for Zig-zag shiny glittery frog We looked everywhere for a frog or toad that starts with Z. We couldn’t find one and decided to make our own.

Tadpoles

week 1

week 2

week 3

week 4

Frogs and Toads

All Toads actually are Frogs!

Frogs

Generally speaking, though, when we think of frogs, we generally picture what are called "True Frogs"....

members of the family Ranidae, containing more than 400 species. These frogs have the characteristics of:

• two bulging eyes • strong, long, webbed hind feet that are adapted

for leaping and swimming • smooth or slimy skin (generally, frogs tend to like

moister environments) • Frogs tend to lay eggs in clusters.

Frogs from this family can be found on every continent except Antarctica. They are referred to as the "true frogs" because of their generalized body form and life history: the so-called generic frog. Members of this family include the bullfrog, common frog, green frog, leopard frog, marsh frog, pickerel frog, and wood frog.

Toads

The term toads tends to refer to "True Toads"....

members of the family Bufonidae, containing more than 300 species.

These types of frogs have are characterized by:

• stubby bodies with short hind legs (for walking instead of hopping)

• warty and dry skin (usually preferring dryer climates)

• paratoid (or poison) glands behind the eyes • The chest cartilage of toads is different also.

Toads tend to lay eggs in long chains. (There are some toads (genera Nectophrynoides), however, that are the only types of anurans to bear live young!) True Toads can be found worldwide except in Australasia, polar regions, Madagascar, and Polynesia. The family includes 25 genera, all of which, like the frogs, are anura!