Did you see my post over at Classroom Tested Resources?
Today,
I'd like to share with you how I plan ahead for the Butterfly Life Cycle Unit
that I do in my 2nd grade classroom every year.
The Importance of
Planning Ahead
I think we all know the importance of planning
ahead. However, when caterpillars are involved, you really have to plan ahead
and make sure you are ready for their arrival. Our district studies the
Butterfly Life Cycle in every 2nd grade classroom. The day that
the “box” arrives is always an exciting one…more so for the students than the
teacher. The box with the big red letters LIVE on it can
only mean one thing. Drop everything you had planned for that
day and it’s caterpillar time! It’s important to have a PLAN!
A few weeks before the anticipated arrival of
the crawly little caterpillars, I start front-loading my students on the
butterfly life cycle. We start talking about what they already know, what they
want to learn, what they think will happen, etc. Usually many students know
Eric Carle’s story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. However,
we need to plan ahead to know that all of those things that caterpillar
eats will not be part of our real caterpillars’ diets.
Starting with a KWL
I use these to help me understand what the kids already know and what they want to know. I also make my own to remind myself of what I want them to know when we are finished with the unit. You can click the KWL organizer below to get a FREE COPY for yourself from my TPT Store!
Planning Ahead Through
Reading
My
other favorite way to plan ahead and front-load my students is to completely
immerse them in caterpillars and butterflies in the classroom through
books.
I put these books in our seasonal book basket for
literacy center rotations. We also read some of these books in our small groups
and for read aloud time. I let the students choose these books for their
independent reading time. All of this planning ahead will pay off because we
will be ready when the caterpillars arrive. Plus…it builds excitement!
Caterpillar Arrival Day
This year, I am planning head for this arrival day. I
have created an anchor chart to remind the students of all of the steps we must
take when the caterpillars arrive. Plus, I have added some rules for handling the
caterpillars. We also work together ahead of time to make sure we have
all of the materials needed for the caterpillars’ arrival.
Daily Observation &
Recording
Here is where we record our observations daily (Or
almost daily!) Sometimes it can be a hard task to get everyone’s caterpillar
cups out to observe, but our goal is to observe every day! We use the
magnifying glasses, then draw a “life-sized” picture of the caterpillar, along
with a description, especially if it has changed since the day before.
During these daily
observations, we are still reading all of the books that we have to learn even
more about our caterpillars while we anticipate the next steps of the life
cycle.
Chrysalis Transfer
Soon, the students start to observe the
caterpillar transforming into its chrysalis. At this point, it’s important to
have a plan to transfer the chrysalis into the classroom butterfly net “home.”
This is mainly done by the teacher, as each chrysalis can be very
fragile.
Butterfly Arrival Planning
Soon,
the kids will start notice a lot of wiggling going on inside the net. When this
happens, you know that some of the butterflies will start emerging soon, so you
need to have "food" available. You'll want to have food available
before they come out, but not too soon, or it will dry up. We use small
dishes of sugar water. It is possible to have a straw coming out of the net so
you can continue to add water to "wet" the food in case it dries out
too soon. Your students can also help plan for the butterfly arrival by
bringing in sticks and flowers for the butterflies. But, once all of the
butterflies emerge (depending on how many you have) there isn't much extra room
in there!
Butterfly Flight Day
It's
important to plan ahead and be honest with your students from
the beginning of the project by telling them that you WILL be letting the
butterflies go soon after they all emerge inside the net. This will be
upsetting for some of the students (it is every year...), but you can assure
them that if they stay in the net they won't be getting the right food and they
will not live. It's more important to let them go so that they can find the
correct food that they need. Make a party out of it and a big deal! You can
even write letters to the butterflies once you come back inside! I have had a
lot of students have "sightings" of their butterflies in the weeks
following flight day.
Butterfly Life Cycle Kit
Everyone has their own
way of completing the butterfly life cycle with students, but if you are
looking for a full set of already prepared activities to get
you through the life cycle, here is my full kit in my TPT store. Also, in case
you missed it, click on the KWL picture above to get that for FREE from my
store. My entire kit is listed below. I hope all of this will help you plan for
butterflies in your classroom, whether it's a requirement of your district
(like mine) or it's something you've always wanted to do, but didn't quite know
how to prepare for it!
