After lunch today, I took the class out to the garden area on campus and we released our five butterflies, Zach, Sparkles, Fuzzy, Shaggy, and Jewel. As soon as I walked out of the shade and into the sunlight, the butterflies started to try to fly around their butterfly net... they were ready to be released!
Here are some pictures :)
One with its wings open and another with its wings closed.
I snuck a little picture with one on my finger!
They are so neat!
On our way to releasing them! In the distance you can see that some of our friends became distracted by a ladybug!
Their home for the last few weeks.
Group picture! Many of the kids were “sad” that we had to let the butterflies go.
Looking back, I can’t remember where the butterfly is in this picture because they flew away so quickly.
This little guy wasn’t quite sure of this big, bright world!
Look above the tree line on the left side... goodbye butterflies!
To conclude our Insect unit, we saved the best for last... Butterflies! The students learned so many neat facts about butterflies this week. And to really solidify their learning, they got to see our caterpillars transition into their next phase of their life cycle (called metamorphosis)... chrysalis!
See you in a little over a week!
Here are some fun videos we watched this week:
... Because who doesn’t love a rap song about butterflies!
Here are some snapshots of centers and activities we did this week:
Ladybugs are fascinating insects that we learned so much about! This week we read books, watched videos, and wrote about ladybugs. We also had many themed ladybug centers including adding ladybug spots, creating a ladybug craft, and many more activities centered around the book, The Grouchy Ladybug!
Here is a video containing many interesting facts about ladybugs. I bet you’ll learn something new!
On Tuesday, we began our day with reading informational, non-fiction texts about ladybugs.
We brainstormed what we knew about ladybugs. These kids remembered SOOO many facts!
We learned about the life cycle of a ladybug and created these crafty life cycles.
Madylan even added some of the “in between” stages that we related to the ladybug’s “teenage years” :)
Macy and Avery making use of their extra time with making their life cycles more creative!
Patrick and Abigail writing facts about ladybugs.
Patrick and Madylan reading Time For Kids: Ladybugs.
Kali and Auden adding dots on ladybug wings after they rolled dice and added each side together.
Hard at work adding!
Great work, Jason!
I forgot to take picture on Wednesday but I definitely need to share the videos the kids recorded of themselves reading the “I am happy when/ I am grouchy when” responses after reading The Grouchy Ladybug. The kids also created a page for a class book. I’ll update pictures later :)
On Friday, the kids got to be BIG kids and use a red marker to edit sentences. We reviewed the importance of capitalization, punctuation and spacing in between words.
Here’s my group working hard at editing!
Avery’s group was counting by 10s and 1s to make ten numbers for a ladybug book.
At Mrs. Dinardo’s center, Carson created a page for our “said” class book. The kids put mixed up sentences back in order and created an illustration. Each kid also got to draw a speech bubble containing what was said on their page. So fun!
No, that’s not a rockstar... that’s Siena at the “Write the Room” center! Now that we finally have learned all five of the vowels, the kids went around the room finding cards with pictures on them and they had to sound out each of the words and write it. The sunglasses are magical because when you put them on you can’t talk to anyone! And they really work!!!
Not related to ladybugs is GoNoodle. We use GoNoodle when we need a brain break (like after doing four centers!). Here the kids are doing a pretend roller coaster!
On Fridays, we have a “Power Half Hour” where the students work on unfinished work and read to each other. While adults are usually the only ones who give the kiddos a “check” for reading their leveled reading books, I let them give each other checks today. They loved it!
Look at these cute little readers!
Watch for that reading finger! :)
Good job, Ava! You got a check!
And last but not least, don’t forget to check our daily updates and observations of our new class pets: caterpillars! Next week, we will be learning all about the life cycle a caterpillar takes in becoming a butterfly! You can click on the “Butterflies” tab above or click on this link: http://kindersonaroll.blogspot.com/p/butterfli.html
