Last Day Blues...:(

Today was our last day teaching our wonderful 2nd graders. These kids were honestly the best group I have ever worked with! They were so well behaved and I enjoyed every second I spent in their class. Because it was the last day, Paige and I wanted to have fun with the kids. After our introduction, we read the story "I Wish I Were a Butterfly" by James Howe and illustrated by Ed Young.

Next we had the kids create a wheel of the life cycle of a butterfly. The kids colored the pictures, cut them out, pasted them on a wheel, then had a cover with a window so as they spun it, a new stage would appear. The kids seemed to have fun with this activity. This was also the activity that we assessed. We created a checklist to make sure the kids were able to follow each step along the way. Overall, the kids did a fabulous job! Finally, we watched the Brain Pop, Jr. video on butterflies. The kids loved this and shouted, "Play it again!"

I had so much fun teaching these kids and I will miss coming to their class every Monday. They taught me so much about techniques I will use when I become a teacher. Thank you so much, kids!!!

The Butterflies Fly Free

The time has come to release our butterflies into the wild. The kids enjoyed the time they had with their butterflies into the classroom, but they were happy that the butterflies were getting a chance to be free and continue the life cycle.

 

     For our lesson this week, Paige and I taught the students about different life cycles, specifically the tree life cycle, the frog cycle, and the butterfly cycle. Hands down, this was the best lesson that Paige and I have done so far!
     Paige began the lesson with a quick introduction, letting the kids know that the butterflies were released on Thanksgiving. Then she asked the kids if they knew what a life cycle was. We got a lot of great responses! To start the instruction, I did a demonstration of the tree life cycle, but drawing the different stages in the board. Every time I drew a new stage, we went back to the beginning and the kids told me what each stage was. By the end, they knew each stage by heart!

 

     Paige took over the lesson and taught the kids about the frog life cycle. We had a blank wheel that the kids would fill out along with Paige about the frog life cycle. The kids did great a knew a lot about this topic already! They were eager to share all of their stories about tadpoles they'd seen and frogs that they had touched. While Paige used the doc cam, I walked around the room and helped the students, making sure they were staying on task.

     We had the kids make their own models of the caterpillar life cycle using paper plates and pasta. This was so much fun! We used 4 different types of pasta that resemble the stages of the caterpillar life cycle, from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. This was everyone's favorite part of the lesson. I think the kids liked doing it because it's not something you see everyday. 

    Although we will miss our friends, I'm happy that we were able to set them free and I'm glad that the kids enjoyed having the butterflies for a little while!