The Butterfly Life Cycle!

Today I had another great experience teaching the 2nd graders. They never stop surprising me on how smart they are!  Lindsay and I did a wrap up lesson on the butterfly by explaining to the students the stages in its life cycle.  This was a fun lesson, because the students were able to make connections between what they have already learned so far with the new concept.   Like always,  the students were able to remember a lot of the information we previously taught them, which is always an assuring feeling.  In order to teach the students about the life cycle, Lindsay and I decided to have the 2nd graders build a paper-plate model with pasta. We used four different types of pasta to represent the different stages: orzo for eggs, corkscrew for the caterpillar, shells for the chrysalis, and bow-tie for the butterfly.  All in all the activity was successful, and we were able to somewhat incorporate the focus point of the week, which was technology and engineering.  In order to incorporate technology and engineering, we found a framework that stated: 1.3 Identify and describe the safe and proper use of tools and materials (e.g., glue, scissors, tape, ruler, paper, toothpicks, straws, spools) to construct simple structures.  I wish we could have better incorporated this into our lesson; we were able to have the students use some of these materials, but we should have given better instructions on how to properly use them.  At times, I found students trying to put glue on their small pieces of pasta, rather than just put glue on the plate and put the pasta on top. When I saw this occur, I would go over and show the correct way of using the glue, but it would have been more beneficial if I instructed the whole class on using the tools before starting the activity. This activity had a lot of difficult steps, in which the students needed broken down.     

In our lesson plan, Lindsay and I almost thought we allotted too much time for the activity, but I am glad we did because it was a very difficult project for the class.  Lindsay and I had to break the steps of the activity down into very small pieces, and we found it to be very challenging.  Even though we had a visual model, written directions, and we gave oral directions throughout the activity, students still needed a lot of assistance.  In the end though, all the models looked amazing, and the students were able to learn about the life cycle in a meaningful, hands-on way. We closed our lesson with a brain pop video on the butterfly, which was a good review of everything we have covered in our lessons thus far, and also a good introduction for our next lesson on all different types of life cycles. The students loved the video, and it was another great way to teach our key question about the stages of a life cycle.  I believe that  the students were able to develop a deep understanding of the life cycle since Lindsay and I had them make connections to previous knowledge, make a model, and watch a video. The lesson was designed to benefit a variety of learning styles.  I have learned so much from this experience thus far, and I am sad that next week will be out last lesson.   

The Butterflies Make Their Debut

The Vanessa Cardui butterflies finally arrived today, which was perfect timing since Lindsay and I's lesson was based on the parts of a butterfly.  The students were very excited and receptive to learning more about the insects that have been living in their classroom.  I was very impressed, during the introduction of the lesson, of how much information the 2nd graders remembered from last week's lesson. For example, one student said, "Caterpillars molt their skin a few times in order to create a chrysalis." This put a huge smile on my face. Hearing that assured me that Lindsay and I are are teaching our lessons in a meaningful way.  I believe part of our success can be attributed to the systematic way we have taught our lessons in.  Since we have created our own lessons, we have been able to start each one with a review, teach one new key concept, and then close by assessing whether students understood the key concept. We have focused on creating connections to prior knowledge, as well as connections to the students' lives.  So far from this experience, I have learned that it is more important to teach students concepts with quality lessons, rather than teach them a quantity of facts. 


In order to teach students about the parts of a butterfly and incorporate technology, which was one of the focus points of the lesson, Lindsay and I created a transparency to use on the overhead.  We had the students  work with us to label all of the parts of a butterfly on the board. This was a very visual activity, as well as an auditory one. We also used this instructional time, to have students make connections between the caterpillar parts they already learned, and the parts of a butterfly.  We taught them how some parts of the caterpillar has changed when it turned into a butterfly.  The students found the changes to be super interesting and they asked some very thoughtful questions, which Lindsay answered brilliantly.   This activity provided a review of the parts of a caterpillar as well as introduced the parts of a butterfly.  


During the next portion of our lesson, we incorporated writing.  We asked the students to observe their butterflies and draw what they saw; we also  had them write where they thought their butterfly was going to go once it was let free, and  what they thought their butterfly might do. I was awed to see that several students wrote that their butterflies were going to lay eggs on a mallow plant.  They already seemed to be grasping the idea of a life cycle.  I was surprised that they remembered most of the information we taught them a few weeks back about caterpillars being born from an egg, and the mallow plants they eat.  Having the students write about science was a good tool to assess whether they were grasping some of the big ideas we were teaching them.  It informed Lindsay and I what we should incorporate into our next lesson about the life cycle, and our one after that about migration.  Some students seemed to have a good hold on both concepts already, but others need more explicit instruction to gain a deeper understanding. I am already looking forward to next week! :) 

The Very Hungry Caterpillars Are Now In A Chrysalis!

            Today’s lesson with the second graders brought lots of excitement for both the students and me.  The lesson focused on the changes a caterpillar makes after it’s born.  Before entering the school today, I was not positive myself of what stage the caterpillars would be in; this definitely was a challenge when planning the lesson.  I assumed the caterpillars would be in chrysalis form, since they were growing at a fast rate, but when working with live insects you never can be positive what is going to occur.  I was pleased to see that the caterpillars were doing well, and that the students were able to observe the amazing changes a caterpillar makes in just a few weeks.    Lindsay and I started off the lesson reviewing what we covered last week.  I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle to the class to review what caterpillars need to grow and survive; it really got the students engaged and the lesson off to a great start.  One of the major focus points of this week’s lesson was to maintain a good flow. I feel Lindsay and I were able to do this by creating a lesson that had a good balance between instruction time and exploration, and having a lesson that was centered around one key question.  We were able to use the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, not only to recap what we were doing, but to set us up for our next activity.  The book discussed how caterpillars changed, so we had a mini discussion, and then had the students go and observe their caterpillar cups for any changes that occurred.  The students observed the caterpillars in chrysalis form.  The observation activity then led us to our discussion on what a chrysalis is, and how a caterpillar molts.  Each component of our lesson plan had a purpose and connected to the key question, which made the lesson focused; and as a result our lesson had a nice flow.  I also believe our lesson ran smoothly since we were prepared had our materials organized.

                Another focus point to our lesson was vocabulary.  Lindsay and I taught the students three new tier three vocabulary words.  During our instruction about a chrysalis, we introduced the students to the vocabulary words:  molting, exoskeleton, and chrysalis. We wrote the words on the white board, and referred to them when we were answering the students’ questions about the changes they observed their caterpillars making.  I found it beneficial to only introduce a small number of new words, and discuss them in context, because it was easier for the students to get a good grasp on their meaning. 

                Also during the instruction of the chrysalis, we identified the misconceptions students had about caterpillars forming a cocoon.  Lindsay and I discussed that unlike the caterpillar from The Very Hungry Caterpillar, our Vanessa Cardui caterpillars do not spin a cocoon, rather they molt their skin and form a chrysalis.  I found that the students were able to grasp this concept well, since we linked the new information to their background knowledge.    To check whether students understood what we taught, Lindsay and I had the students answer the key question a slip of paper.  By collecting this data, Lindsay and I will be able to inform our instruction for next week, and whether we need to readdress the changes a caterpillar goes through to form a chrysalis.  We found a book in which we plan to introduce at the beginning of next class, to review what we already learned. 

                Thus far I have had an excellent experience teaching science, and the biggest thing I have learned that is each lesson should start by igniting students’ prior knowledge, be focused around one key question, and end by answering the key question/getting the students excited about what is coming up next.   

Week Three... The Live Caterpillars Finally Arrive!

Lindsay and I had another wonderful teaching experience today, co-teaching in our second grade class.  As soon as the classroom teacher gave us the floor for our science lesson, the students were inquisitive about whether we would be able to make up the lesson we missed with them because of the snow day.  It was very rewarding to hear how excited they were about learning science.   It was even more rewarding to hear how much they remembered of the lesson we taught them last week;  that ensured us that the class was grasping what Lindsay and I were teaching them.  I believe the successful things that Lindsay and I have been doing is a result of our thorough lesson planning.  For this week, we created another detailed lesson plan, which kept what we were teaching clear and focused.  Lindsay and I were able to classroom manage, because  we created a lesson plan that had specific learning goals, and clear steps we wanted to follow in order to get the students to attain those goals.  Our key question of the day correlated nicely with the MA Framework we based our lesson on.  We really honed in on our key question, which was what caterpillars needed for survival compared to what humans need for survival.  Also, we focused on one processing skill, observation.  I find classroom management to be easier when a lesson has fewer objectives to attain, and several activities in which are designed to help answer the key question.   Lindsay and I switched the activities up every 10-15 minutes in order to keep the students engaged, and also tried to give clear directions prior to switching to the next activity.  I think one thing we could have improved on, was maintaining the students’ attention when we wanted to answer one of their peer’s important question.  Some students were excited about having live caterpillars on their desk and were distracted in their own side conversations.  I found using the classroom teacher’s cueing system, in which the student knew quite well, worked to gain their focus back.

              

           In order to implement a scientific processing skill this week, we re-covered what we learned about making observations of caterpillars with hand lenses.  We did an activity that helped bring the students’ prior knowledge on parts of a caterpillar, and hand lens skills to their working memories.  I was surprised how much the students remembered what we taught them about making observations, and I think spending several lessons on this skill, was very beneficial.  The students seemed to be able to put the skill into practice, and make good scientific observations once the live caterpillars were finally introduced.   This also resulted in them recording good data; the students were drawing detailed pictures of the cups with their caterpillars, and labeling specific parts they saw on the caterpillar with the hand lens. 

                In order to conclude our lesson, Lindsay and I made it a point to re-examine the key question and assess whether the students grasped the learning goal of the lesson.  Time was running out on us towards the end of the class, but we managed to have the students write their answers to the key question of a slip of paper, and we had a few students share what they wrote.  The lesson seemed to be successful, since the second graders could list what a caterpillar needed for survival.   Some students shared caterpillars need air, and others shared caterpillars eat mallow food , and others shared shelter.  I found that the sharing allowed for students to feed of each other’s ideas and remember all the components we taught them about caterpillars’ survival.