As part of our study of insects, we read several books by Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Quiet Cricket, The Lonely Firefly and The Grouchy Ladybug. We discussed the similarities between the stories such repeating words and that the illustrations are made from paper that had been painted and cut into shapes. The children had the chance to make flowers using this technique. Eric Carle's books also introduce various insects in a fun and simple way.
We began our unit on insects with bees. Part of our discussion included the importance of bees in helping flowers to grow. The children made bee hats and pretended to be bees finding and collecting nectar from flowers and bringing it back to their hive.
We reviewed the life cycle of a bee, its metamorphosis and the many jobs of worker bees such as feeding the queen, guarding the hive, cleaning the hive and gathering the nectar. Through nonfiction texts, students learned that while gathering nectar, pollen sticks to the bees and they carry the pollen from flower to flower which helps to form new flowers.
This past week we received caterpillars in the mail. We read several books about butterflies and their metamorphosis and discussed how caterpillars grow and shed their skin. Students observed our living creatures with magnifying glasses, orally described what the caterpillars looked like and how they moved and then drew pictures of the caterpillars in a journal. We will continue to observe the changes in these creatures over the next few weeks.
Literacy
At our literacy center, students practiced matching upper and lowercase letters, matching pictures to the letter that identifies their beginning sound and letter recognition. Below is a game the children played in which the children rolled a letter die and then swatted the fly on the table with the corresponding letter.
Dramatic Play
The dramatic play center included props for the students to pretend that they were camping. Children were able to roast marshmallows over a fire and make smores, go fishing and cook their fish over the fire or a portable stovetop, sleep in a tent and pack gear for going on a hike around the classroom.
Sensory Table
At the sensory table, students searched for different insects among black beans. They used tweezers to pick up the insects and magnifying glasses to observe them more closely.
Art
The art center included a variety of projects throughout the two weeks for creating insects discussed in Eric Carle's books, the grouchy ladybug, the lonely firefly and a butterfly.
Playdoh
The playdoh center had a tray of parts for students to create their own insect. With pictures of insects and their different parts labeled hanging up as models, children were encouraged to include 3 body parts, eyes, 6 legs and wings to their insects.
Games
The children practiced turn taking at our game station where they played The Ladybug Game and the Honeybee Tree.
Some more examples of cooperative play in the classroom:
Gym
At Gym this week the students participated in an obstacle course during which they acted out the different animals in the story The Grouchy Ladybug. Students hopped to different flowers like a bee, zigzagged like a beetle, walked on their heels like a praying mantis, hopped over hurdles like a bird, crawled under ropes like a lobster, burrowed through a tunnel like a skunk, slithered on a map like a snake, balanced like a gorilla in a tree, stepped like a rhino and slapped their hand against the wall like the whale slapped his tail.
Here are some of our bug collectors. We think they found fireflies on the playground.
