Tarantulas bring learning to life for Bush students

Braydon Moyle spouts off tarantula facts while skimming through a book on the eight-legged creatures in class at Bush Elementary on Thursday.
Braydon Moyle spouts off tarantula facts while skimming through a book on the eight-legged creatures in class at Bush Elementary on Thursday.

It all started with a poem, "Our Class Pets."

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<b>Johnson out as Fayetteville AD, assistant superintendent</b> Dick Johnson celebrates Fayetteville's first ever 7A state football championship with linebacker James Bornhoft (44) and offensive lineman Colby Berna (54) Nov. 24, 2007. Johnson announced he is resigning as assistant superintendent and athletic director effective Sept. 30.

Then there was a lesson on democracy, a few student speeches, a vote and before he knew it, Bush Elementary second-grade teacher Michael Stradford had a tarantula in his classroom. And then five.

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<b>Grape fest prizes</b> Joseph McGuire hangs prizes for the Tontitown Grape Festival's midway Monday as workers set up games and rides for the start of the 111th annual festival today in Tontitown. Check out www.nwanews.com/grapefest for daily updates on the festivities in Tontitown, including photos, videos and links to stories.

Thanks to donations from parents and a researcher in California after Stardford's second-graders voted on what kind of class pet they wanted, his room is now home to several spiderlings (baby tarantulas) and a subadult, with two more due to arrive early this week. With four different kinds of tarantulas at varying life stages, Stradford said the newest - and hairiest - additions to his classroom have provided numerous learning experiences for his students over the past several months.

"At the time, we were studying soil, and that plays an important part in the building for the cage. Later in the year we do life cycles, and they'll be able to apply that too - we've already seen them molt," Stradford said. "It also really helps them put their vocabulary words to use - for example, one of our words now is "stage', and we've been talking about the different stages of a spiderling. And they've learned some crazy words - a lot of scientific names for spiders.

"Their ability to pull stuff and relate it has been really cool."

He noted that another benefit of having spiders in the classroom has been using interaction with the class pets as an incentive for positive behavior.

"It's really helped with their enthusiasm. This is their reward - it motivates them to make good choices," Stradford said.

He said students also have written about whether spiders should be in a classroom, they have started picking up non-fiction books "like crazy" and they also have demonstrated critical thinking skills.

During group reading one day, student Katherine Stevens found an error. The book in question stated that tarantulas have good eyesight because they have eight eyes, when in fact they actually have poor eyesight - a fact Stevens remembered from previous reading.

Asked how she knew which book was right, Stevens pointed out that "this book was written for kids, and this was written by a scientist."

"I was floored when they were reading critically," Stradford said.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.