Alfie the Turtle

🎓 Audience

Education: Grade(s) K, 1, 2, 3, 4, Homeschool/Family, Learning Pod, Library Patrons

 🐾 Topics

Language Arts/English, Literacy, Reading, Science, STEM

🗂️ Format

• Introduction and Prior Knowledge: Learners are invited to share what they know, what they’ve observed in nature, and what they’re curious to learn about turtles.

• Segment 1 - Story Time: We read Alfie (The Turtle that Disappeared) together. As the story unfolds, learners explore reading comprehension through interactive discussion, making predictions, noticing seasonal changes, and thinking about the surprise ending.

• Segment 2 - Turtle Talk: We review key moments from the story and connect them to real turtle traitsbehaviors. Learners take a closer look at turtle shells, models, and other biofacts. We also talk about responsible pet care and the needs of turtles in the wild and in human care. 

• Segment 3 - Q&A Session: We conclude with a live, educator-led Q&A about turtles, their care at Mote, and how healthy watersheds support both wildlife and people.

🎯 Objectives

1. Describe the physical features and behaviors of turtles.

2. Compare turtles as reptiles to mammals.

3. Engage in a discussion about turtle habit and habitats and how they change with the seasons.

4. Explore the responsibilities of pet ownership and how people can help protect turtles.

5. Develop curiosity and confidence in asking questions about animals and their care.

✏️ Standards this program supports

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.K.RI.1 – With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. Application: Learners are guided through a read-aloud of the story and prompted to ask and answer questions about Alfie’s behavior, the setting, and seasonal changes.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.1.RI.1 – Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. Application: Learners respond to comprehension questions and revisit key events in the story to deepen understanding of Alfie’s disappearance and return.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.1.RL.5 – Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types. Application: Learners compare the fictional story of Alfie to real-life facts shared during the turtle biofact segment.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.2.RI.1 – Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. Application: Learners explore story events and turtle behaviors using guided discussion and question prompts.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.3.RL.1 – Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. Application: Learners cite details from the story to explain Nia's and Alfie’s actions and how time and seasons play a role in the narrative.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.3.RL.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language. Application: Learners explore descriptive and figurative language in the story and discuss how it adds to the reader’s understanding of time, change, and emotion.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.4.RI.1 – Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Application: Learners use story clues and real turtle knowledge to make inferences about Alfie’s journey and the human characters’ responses.

Next Generation Science Standards

• LS1A K–2 — Structure and function. Learners observe the physical features of turtles and describe how their shells, legs, and cold-blooded bodies help them survive.

• LS1A 3–5 — Structure and function. Learners analyze how reptiles’ specialized body structures and compare these traits to other reptiles, mammals, and amphibians.

• LS1D K–2 — Information processing. Learners explore how turtles use their senses to respond to the world around them.

• LS1D 3–5 — Information processing. Learners explain how animals like turtles gather and respond to information using their senses. They connect turtle behaviors to survival strategies, including hiding, exploring, and recognizing safe places or familiar people.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• • 14 - Life Below Water

  • 15 - Life On Land

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS)

• SC.K.L.14.3 – Observe plants and animals, describe how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the things they do. Application: Learners observe turtles and compare their body parts and behaviors to those of other animals, focusing on traits like shells, legs, and how they move.

• SC.1.L.14.1 – Make observations of living things and their environment using the five senses. Application: Learners use sight and sound to explore turtle traits and behaviors through biofacts and live examples.

• SC.2.L.17.1 – Compare and contrast the basic needs that all living things, including humans, have for survival. Application: Learners compare the needs of turtles (clean water, food, shelter, warmth) with those of people, and explore how responsible pet care and healthy watersheds support both.

• SC.3.L.15.1 – Classify animals into major groups according to their physical characteristics and behaviors. Application: Learners classify turtles as reptiles and identify traits that make them different from mammals, such as cold-blooded bodies, scaly skin, and egg-laying.

• SC.4.L.17.4 – Recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment. Application: Learners explore how human actions, like releasing pets or polluting water, affect freshwater habitats, and identify actions that help protect turtles and other wildlife.

☑️ Evaluation Link

When answering these questions, please focus on the quality of the content and not the technology. You can answer anonymously. After clicking Did the program take place?, choose if you are you an Educator or Parent.

• cilc.org/ContentProvider/Evaluation

• adaptation: A body part or behavior that helps an animal live in its environment.

• aquarium: A place where aquatic animals are cared for and where people can learn about them.

• aquatic: Living in or near water.

• cold-blooded: An animal whose body temperature changes with the temperature around it.

• communication: The way animals share information, even without using words.

• freshwater: Water that is not salty. It’s found in places like rivers, lakes, and ponds.

• habitat: The place where an animal lives and finds everything it needs to survive.

• hatchling: A baby turtle that has just come out of its egg.

• mammal: An animal with fur or hair that is warm inside and feeds its babies milk.

• pet: An animal that lives with people and needs special care and responsibility.

• pond: A small body of water where animals like frogs, fish, and otters can live or visit.

• reptile: A type of animal with dry, scaly skin that usually lays eggs.

• risk: The chance that something could be dangerous or cause harm.

• season: A time of year with certain weather, like winter, spring, summer, or fall.

• shelter: A safe place where an animal rests or hides.

• territory: The space an animal lives in and keeps safe from others.

• watershed: An area of land where water flows downhill into the same river, pond, or lake.

• wetland: A place where the ground is wet most of the time and lots of animals live.

Play Turtle Bingo

Play virtual bingo using a computer, smartphone or tablet during your program to focus on key concepts and vocabulary.

• Online

• On paper/PDF

🌐 Websites

• Alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii)

• Diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin)

• Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)

• Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)

📚 Books & Publications

• Alfie (The Turtle that Disappeared) by Thyra Heder

🖥️ Videos

• Ready Set Draw! The Turtle from ALFIE

• Reading Alfie and going on an Observation Exploration https://youtu.be/9ncFe4qo0F4?feature=shared