senoracmt

Butterfly Life Cycle in Spanish 3

We just finished our unit on Biodiversity and Conservation and I have always been interested in doing a unit on the monarch butterfly.  I started to look around on TPT and found this AWESOME unit on the Life Cycle of Butterflies.

I wanted to share what we have done and how much we have enjoyed it!!!

  1. We started with the KWL cards from the TPT unit on the life cycle of butterflies.  Students wrote what they knew and wanted to know on post-its and we hung them in the room.
  2. I ordered these baby caterpillars from Amazon.com (gotta love prime) and we began to do some in depth observing on this Butterfly Garden observation guide
  3. Day 2 we did centers with the level 3 readings from the TPT packet.  We had 6 centers (I laminated all pages and printed in color). Info (What is a butterfly reading), Vocabulary (butterfly parts posters), Egg, Larva, Chrysalis, and Adult Butterfly.  I set a 4 minute timer and had students move from center to center in groups of 4 reading the information.  The TPT packet included a document that I used to have students show what they had learned by describing the 4 phases of a butterfly’s life! The vocabulary they used was amazing.
  4. Day 3 we observed our own caterpillars again and recorded on our Butterfly Garden observation guide.  We also read and colored this book.
  5. Day 4 we went back to the KWL chart and recorded what we learned.  We observed our caterpillars one more time!  I think that they’ll form their chrysalis this weekend so I’m thinking next week we’ll be recording a whole different kind of data!
  6. Finishing up- We have other things to do in class so we’re leaving our butterfly study behind but we will continue to observe our little babies as they grow!  Watch for our pictures on Twitter @senoracmt #wildcatSpanish3

 

 

 

Published by senoracmt

I began teaching Spanish in Illinois in 1994. I have taught levels 1-4 in a small rural high school, 8th grade introductory Spanish, Biology 1, and 101 and 102 at the community college level. My Spanish classes are partnered with the community college to offer students 8 semester hours of dual credit on completion of Spanish 4. In 2011 I met Carol Gaab and Kristy Placido and have since co-authored the book "La hija del sastre" with Carol Gaab and authored the novels "La Calaca Alegre", "Bianca Nieves y los 7 toritos." "Vector," "48 horas","Bananas", "Sostenible", and "Papálotl" through Fluency Matters. In 2006 I became National Board certified and I have been serving as a mentor both for candidates seeking certification in world languages other than English and a virtual mentor for candidates in all certificate areas. I completed my Masters degree in Spanish education in 2011 and did my research on the use of Understanding by Design to create meaningful cultural units for the language classroom. I am a frequent presenter on this topic, please consider me if you are interested in a workshop on backward design. In 2013 I was named the ICTFL Foreign Language teacher of the year and in 2014 I was selected as CSCTFL's teacher of the year. In November of 2014 I was lucky enough to be one of the five finalists for the ACTFL National Teacher of the Year in San Antonio, TX. What a "Cinderella" experience! You can reach me via email at carrie at somewheretoshare dot com.

2 comments

  1. Here are a few ideas for the next time you do this unit!
    Consider getting MONARCH butterfly caterpillars (you can purchase them from MonarchWatch.org) and add the preservation of the Monarchs to your unit. You will need to have a healthy source of fresh milkweed leaves to feed your caterpillars — it is the only thing they eat. MonarchWatch has a whole bunch of resources about raising these caterpillars.
    When your caterpillars become chrysalises, you have some time to go on to other units until the butterflies start emerging (10-14 days later). If you live east of the Rocky Mountains, your butterflies will migrate to Mexico to overwinter there. There are so many topics of discussion about the overwintering sites in Mexico and the controversy over preserving them! Great discussion for students of all levels!
    Finally, consider tagging your adult Monarchs as you release them. The University of Kansas has been tracking the migration of the Monarchs for many years. I have been tagging for 25 years! You can discuss migration and so much more with your students as they learn about this amazing natural phenomenon.
    ¡Buena suerte!

    Reply

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