Chicks come to the classroom at elementary schools across Lincoln County

LENNOX, S.D. – First- and second-graders in Lincoln County experienced the excitement of hatching chicks in their classroom this spring.

Two hundred thirty-nine first grade students at Harrisburg Adventure Elementary and Tea Area Venture Elementary, along with second-graders from Harrisburg Endeavor Elementary, Lennox Elementary, Canton Lawrence Elementary and Beresford Elementary got to experience the process of embryology throughout March and April.

Teachers across districts love seeing the excitement from their students throughout the program.

“Having the chicks in our classroom is always so exciting for the kids! I even find myself becoming quite attached to them,” said Lisa Olson, Tea Area Venture Elementary first grade teacher.

SDSU Extension 4-H developed the Chicks in the Classroom curriculum that was utilized in the classroom by Wendy Sweeter, SDSU Extension 4-H Educator – Lincoln County.

“Bringing the Chicks in the Classroom curriculum to youth our elementary schools brought a little bit of agriculture to the classroom. The kids were engaged in learning about how a chick develops in the egg and super excited to see some of them hatch,” Sweeter said.

The curriculum consists of four weeks of programming. The first week students learn about the parts of the egg and the eggs are set in the incubator. The second week they learn about how the embryo is developing and the eggs are candled.

“This is the highlight of the year for my second-graders. Every day of the 21 days before they hatch, they check on the eggs and say how excited they are for them to hatch. Mrs. Sweeter is amazing and she educates the children about the whole process once a week. Personally, my favorite part is the candling process. The children and I look forward to doing this every year to come,” said Monica Erickson, second grade teacher at Canton’s Lawrence Elementary. 

In the third week, they learn about the nutritional components of eggs. In week four, the eggs have hatched and they learn about the brooder and other chicken housing.

“From the six schools, we had a total of 53 chicks hatch. It was an exciting time for all of the kids to see the eggs get candled and the chicks hatch,” Sweeter said.

Thanks to local poultry farmers who supplied the fertilized eggs, county youth were able to hatch eggs in 12 classrooms this spring.

“Having my students learn about chicks and the hatching process from Wendy is always one of my favorite parts of the school year. Watching our chicks hatch in our second-grade classroom brought science to life in the best way. The experience taught my students patience, responsibility and wonder as they witnessed new life begin right before their eyes,” Melanie Pries, Harrisburg Endeavor Elementary second grade teacher.

“Most students coming into my classroom know that hatching chicks is a project we do. They look forward to it starting on the first day of school. It’s such an awesome project that teaches the students so much. It’s a great way to get some hands-on learning,” said Stacy Lund, Lennox Elementary second grade teacher.