TADPOLE TALES: The Tadpole Days

Tadpole Tales: Week 1

Tadpole Tales: Week 2

Tadpole Tales: Week 3

Tadpole Tales: Week 4

Tadpole Tales: Week 5 

Welcome back to Tadpole Tales!

Leg-a-less continues his metamorphosis into a frog. This week, his legs have grown longer and broken free from being encased in the transparent portion of his tail. He uses his new found legs and feet to push off from the bottom of the tank. His energy is returning as we see him constantly swimming. We added a rock in his tank that sits above the water line. That way, he'll be able to have a place to rest outside the water once he's primarily using his lungs to breathe. 

TADPOLE TIDBITS:

• Legs are elongated with more pronounced web feet 
• Legs are now free floating outside the tail 
• Very active, using new legs to push off the bottom of the tank
• Rising to surface every 1-5 minutes to take a breath
• Eating meal worms and small pieces of lettuce
• Eyes are closer together
• Enjoys hiding underneath the new rock in the tank

Episode 58: Pogona Vitticeps, Part 2

Click here to listen to: Pogona Vitticeps, Part 2 (23:45)

Admist tradgedy, Vivien learns the secret behind her visions 

and discovers she has a difficult decision to make. 

Hi All,

We want to send out a special thanks to our friend, Claire for introducing the second part of the Pogona Vitticeps for us. She did such a great job in her narration! Her father is a professional audiobook narrator and podcast host. He explained to us that while helping him record, Claire was bitten by the audio narration bug and wondered if she could do some narration of her own. The best way to learn how to do something is by practicing and we were happy to give Claire an opportunity to hone her skills. Keep up the good work, Claire. 

SPARKLING ANNOUNCEMENT

It’s been a busy year. Summer vacation is upon us. Mr. Chris and I have decided to take a small break for the summer from producing new Night Light Stories. We’re going to use that time to continue to submit stories to different publishers.

While we're away, we encourage you to go back through our 58 stories and re-listen to some of your favorites. Please tell others all about Night Light Stories while you're visiting with family, splashing in waves or waiting in line to ride a huge roller coaster.

We look forward to watching the glow grow brighter with the many stories we can share together. Have a great vacation everyone! We'll see you in the Fall.

VORACIOUS VOCABULARY

What did you say? A word of the day! In our story

there are many juicy words that are fun to use and say.

admire: to regard with wonder, pleasure or approval
elegant: gracefully refined and dignified
engulf: to swallow up in
portal: a door, gate, or entrance

JUST ADD IMAGINATION!

Try these activities to keep your imagination glowing

after hearing the story.

1. A pet name is a nickname or an affectionate name that someone calls you. For example, Vivien names her bearded dragon Pagona, but calls him Pogo for short. What is YOUR nickname? Type your nickname into http://metaatem.net/words to create something like this:

 

2. Take a picture of your pet and send it to us at nightlightstories@gmail.com or post it on our Facebook Page. 

3. Keep a journal (or blog!) this summer of all your fun adventures. Use it to document facts you have learned, trips you've taken and masterpieces you've drawn.

COMPREHENSION CHALLENGE

After listening to the story, can you recall the

details to answer these questions?

1. Who left Vivien the pendant?

2. What change happened to Pogo?

3. Where did Vivien's mother go with Noona when Vivien was three?

4. Why did Vivien have to go alone into the portal?
5. How did Vivien's latest vision help her?

We want to send out bright birthday wishes to:

Drew M from New York
Alex P of West Virginia
Catie P of Colorado
Alyse B of New York
Zoe of West Virginia
Molly D of Virginia
Luke of Texas 
Kim of the Musing Mommies Podcast

We hope your days SPARKLED!

TADPOLE TALES: The Tadpole Days

Tadpole Tales: Week 1

Tadpole Tales: Week 2

Tadpole Tales: Week 3

Tadpole Tales: Week 4

Welcome back to Tadpole Tales! 

Leg-a-less continues his metamorphosis into a frog. This week, his body has changed shape again. His tail continues to grow more solid and shorter. His mouth is fully formed and fully functional. He devours the dried meal worms and small pieces of lettuce we feed him daily. But his biggest growth this week has been in his legs. We noticed just yesterday that a small, webbed foot has formed on the end of his leg! 

TADPOLE TIDBITS:

• Small, webbed feet are beginning to develop
• Body continues to change shape 
• Tail is continuing to shorten
• Rising to surface every 1-5 minutes to take a breath
• Eating meal worms and small pieces of lettuce
• A distinct mouth is formed 

TADPOLE TALES: The Tadpole Days

Tadpole Tales: Week 1

Tadpole Tales: Week 2

Tadpole Tales: Week 3

Welcome back to Tadpole Tales! 

Leg-a-less continues his metamorphosis into a frog. This week, his body color has become a deeper hue of green. His once translucent tail is now forming into a more solid part of his body. We're noticing he is coming to the surface to take breaths about every 10-15 minutes now. He's also started to enjoy eating some dried meal worms and small pieces of lettuce.

TADPOLE TIDBITS:

• Body is becoming a darker hue of green
• Back legs are becoming longer and more pronounced
• Front of body is looking more frog-like in shape
• Tail is becoming more solid
• Rising to surface every 10-15 minutes to take a breath
• Eating meal worms and small pieces of lettuce

TRASH MONSTER

One of Mr. Chris's colleagues, Mr. Josh, has a creative blog called Design Make Teach. Mr. Josh posted steps for how he and his daughter created a "Trash Monster" for her first grade class assignment. They were to use only recycled materials in honor of Earth Day. 

Mr. Chris thought it would be a fun project for the Night Light Stories Household to complete.

So, our 5 year old sketched out a design. 

Then, we gathered the materials out of the recycle bin we wanted to use.

Finally, we had an amusing time putting our 

"Trash Monster" together.

 

Thanks so much, Josh, for the creative and 

eco-friendly activity! 

You can make one, too! 

Please post pictures on our 

Facebook page of your masterpieces!

TADPOLE TALES: The Tadpole Days

Tadpole Tales: Week 1

Tadpole Tales: Week 2

Welcome back to Tadpole Tales! 

Leg-a-less has been busy growing and shrinking. Wait a minute! How can that be? It's true. His tail is shrinking, but he is growing into a more frog-like body. We're noticing his metamorphosis seems to be using up the bulk of his energy. He's spending a lot more time hanging out at the bottom of the tank rather than swimming all around. And he continues to swim to the top every half hour to take a breath. 

TADPOLE TIDBITS:

• Body is more elongated 
• Back legs are becoming longer and more pronounced
• Gills are shrinking
• Tail is becoming shorter

TADPOLE TALES: The Tadpole Days

Last week's post on 'Tadpole Tales'

Welcome back to Tadpole Tales! 

First things first. We had some really creative entries in order to help us name our Tadpole. Our favorite was inspired by the Lord of the Ring series from our friend, Elizabeth. Without further ado, his name will be... (drumroll, please) 

Leg-a-less 

In the past week, we've seen some exciting changes in Leg-a-less. He's been very busy. 

Compare these pictures below! The first one is from last week. The second one is from this week.

Tadpole Tidbits: 

• Back legs are forming.
• Tail is becoming shorter.
• Color is turning darker.
• The tadpoles are beginning to visit the surface to breathe in oxygen from the air. 

Check it out!