PROSPERITY — Many people around the country have taken to watching live animal cams, from baby pandas to the birth of a giraffe.

Right here in Newberry, two teachers at Prosperity-Rikard Elementary School turned a live cam of Osprey at Lake Murray into a learning experience for their classes.

“I have been watching the live cam with my students for several years now. There are lots of great live cams, but the ties to Lake Murray excited me with it being so close to home for our children,” said Donna Parnell, first grade teacher at Prosperity-Rikard. “This year was different in that the children encouraged me to enter the live chat — I was reluctant, but they insisted.”

Parnell’s class began to chat on the live feed, and she said they immediately received a response.

“It was so exciting,” she said. “Within an hour we had received an email asking us to name a chick. We watched as all three chicks hatched, although one passed away.”

Parnell said the death of one of the chicks was a great, but sad lesson in survival in nature.

As they emailed back and forth, Parnell mentioned that a kindergarten class (Mandy Waites’ class) was also watching the live feed.

“They began to chat and were asked to name a chick as well. They were very responsive to all of our children’s questions through the chat and even mailed us a feather,” Parnell said. “It was an exciting mail day.”

Parnell said in the classroom, when they are interested and engaged in a topic, it drives their learning with a natural curiosity.

“We began by simply tuning in during the few minutes in the morning while having our breakfast and entering a quick chat. Of course, we had to go with our regular lessons for the day. From there, the children had lots of wondering,” she said. “One particular morning, the children asked a series of questions on the chat and the folks continued to answer. The osprey lady said, ‘your students made my day.’ We told her back, ‘you make our day every day.’”

During the osprey learning experience, the children were able to use Epic Books — an app where they can search and read books on topics that interest them.

“Through these resources, they were able to not only answer their questions, but make learning connections between the osprey and other birds or animals. They had lots of questions about their wings, feedings, when certain milestones would happen, and especially about the chick that hatched then passed away,” Parnell said. “We were able to incorporate math and calendar skills by adding/subtracting birth dates, and the dates we were given for the milestones.”

The students were also able to expand their vocabulary with the lessons learned from the live feed, according to Parnell. For example, they learned words like fluttering (like panting in dogs) and fledgling (developing wing feathers for flight).

“Students quickly learned the definitions and could talk openly about these words as they discussed the birds,” she said. “They were especially engaged when asking about chick three who we were told would either be carried away or buried in the nest after passing — not sure which actually happened.”

When it came to naming the chicks, Parnell said the two classes got together and brainstormed.

“We went to Mrs. Waites’ classroom and made a list of our favorite names, then we started the voting process,” she said. “The final decision was made and the names were chosen. The names of the two Lake Murray osprey are Twinkle and Twilight. We emailed the names to the person in charge and she was very excited. She announced the names of the two chicks on the live chat. We continued to watch the chicks as they grew and changed.”

So where did the names Twinkle and Twilight come from? Parnell said they have been learning about synonyms, one student may say moon and then they would do a computer search on the big board in front of them.

“Mrs. Waites led the discussion while I was the scribe and Mrs. Brown (kindergarten assistant) did the computer search. We then decided on names that sounded good together — almost like twin names. We then did a voting system by standing up to show support for certain names narrowing it down to the final of Twinkle and Twilight,” Parnell said.

Parnell’s class has a social media account called Cluster, and Waites’ class has Blooms, where the information can only be seen by their classes. Parnell said she will continue to post milestones on there and encourages parents to tune in with their children as some are already doing this at home.

If you are interested in seeing Twinkle and Twilight on the live feed, you can do so by visiting www.lakemurrayosprey.com.

Students at Prosperity-Rikard Elementary School watch the The Lake Murray Osprey live feed.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_IMG_1197.jpgStudents at Prosperity-Rikard Elementary School watch the The Lake Murray Osprey live feed. Courtesy photo

Students smile with pride for their newly named osprey — Twinkle.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_8AC5320B-1.jpgStudents smile with pride for their newly named osprey — Twinkle. Courtesy photo

Donna Parnell and Mandy Waites first grade and kindergarten classes helped name the osprey Twinkle and Twilight.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_IMG_12221.jpgDonna Parnell and Mandy Waites first grade and kindergarten classes helped name the osprey Twinkle and Twilight. Courtesy photo

The Lake Murray Osprey Twinkle and Twilight, as named by students at Prosperity-Rikard Elementary School.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_twinkle-and-twilight.jpgThe Lake Murray Osprey Twinkle and Twilight, as named by students at Prosperity-Rikard Elementary School. Courtesy photo

By Andrew Wigger

awigger@championcarolinas.com

Reach Andrew Wigger at 803-276-0625 ext. 1867 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.