Dear Mr. Reader,
t.
Butterflies Book List
From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligman Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin, Jr.
I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe
Butterfly Butterfly A Book of Colors by Petr Horacek Where Butterflies Grow by Joanne Ryder
Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons
Gotta Go! Gotta Go! by Sam Swope
Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly by Alan Madison Clara Caterpillar by Pamela Duncan Edwards A Butterfly is Patient by Dianna Aston
The Crunching Munching Caterpillar by Sheridan Cain
Bye Bye Butterflies by Andrew Larsen
Explore My World: Butterflies by Marfe Ferguson Delano Señorita Mariposa by Ben Gundersheimer (Mister G)
Monday
From Caterpillar to Butterfly Caterpillars and butterflies Butterfly name craft Caterpillar patterns
Butterfly feeders
Tuesday
Waiting for Wings
10 Little Butterflies song Sorting B and C
Caterpillar eggs Fizzing caterpillars
Wednesday
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The very hungry preschoolers Butterfly letters Feed the caterpillar Butterfly life cycle reader
Thursday
Ten Little Caterpillars
Life cycle story board painting Butterfly rhyming Caterpillar measurement Real butterflies
Friday
I Wish I Were a Butterfl y
Life cycle story board writing Caterpillar syllables
Counting caterpillars/ Life cycle necklace
© Preschool Teacher 101 TPT: ECEducation101
Butterfly Lesson Plans Dates: _________________ Read Aloud Whole Group Literacy Math Science
CENTERS
Arts & Crafts
Coffee filter butterflies Clay butterflies/caterpillars Loose parts butterflies Science
Butterfly sorting Life cycle
Pretend Play
Becoming a butterfly Butterflies in the air
Literacy
Letter cards Butterfly words
Math
Symmetry cards Roll and graph
Sensory
Sky sensory bin Crawling caterpillars bin Butterfly sensory bottles Building
Preschool Skills Checklist
Butterfly garden Design your own butterflies
NOTES:
Two additional activities to try if you’re able – visit a local butterfly garden or raise caterpillars from butterflies.
1. Print conveys meaning Concept of a word Letter knowledge Left-to-right progression Sight words
2. Oral language skills
3. One-to-one correspondence
4. Patterns and sorting
5. Shapes and colors
6. Numeral knowledge
7. Measurement and graphing
8. Counting
9. Scientific observation and investigation Force and motion
10. Describe physical properties of objects Chemical reactions
11. Engineering
● Life cycle necklace
● Real butterflies
● Butterfly life cycle reader
● Fizzing caterpillars Butterfly feeders Counting caterpillars Measure the caterpillar Feed the caterpillar Caterpillar eggs Caterpillar patterns Caterpillar syllables Butterfly rhyming Butterfly letters Sorting B and C Butterfly name craft
● Other Science Math Literacy
Materials
Bowtie pasta or butterfly stickers/gems; pompoms; foods to attract butterflies;
plates
Read Aloud
Life cycles
X XXX
XXX X XX X XX
XXX
From Caterpillar to Butterfly
Whole Group Activity
Caterpillars and Butterflies Introduce this week’s theme to your students.
Bring out the caterpillar and butterfly cards (or hand them to the children as they’re sitting down). Have the children sort the cards into two categories – butterflies and caterpillars. Once all of the cards have been sorted, lead an “I Know, I Wonder” discussion. Discuss what the kids already know about caterpillars and butterflies. Then move onto talking about questions the kids might have, or facts they’d like to learn about butterflies and caterpillars. Record the discussion on a chart.
Small Group Literacy Butterfly Name Craft
Write each child’s name in pencil on a piece of construction. For longer names, staple together multiple pieces of paper. Have the children use “butterflies” to create their names, moving from left to right. As needed, model and explain correct letter formation along the way.
Small Group Science Butterfly Feeders
The “butterflies” can be bowtie pasta pieces (dyed or left as is), stickers, sequins, gems, or stamps.
Explain that butterflies drink their “food” via a proboscis, which is long and tubelike. Butterflies don’t chew and eat food like humans. Discuss what butterflies like to drink from. They enjoy sipping from foods such as oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, apples, and bananas. They also enjoy red, yellow, orange, pink and purple blossoms that are flat-topped or clustered and have short flower tubes.
Then work together to create butterfly feeders to observe throughout the week. They can be made by hanging a plastic plate outside with the chosen food. You can also place a plate inside hanging plant holders.
Small Group Math
Caterpillar Patterns Introduce and model creating patterns. Remind the children that patterns repeat over and over. Then explain that
they will be making caterpillar patterns. Use colorful pompoms to make caterpillar patterns. Alternatively, use the printable pattern prompts to read and finish patterns.
Depending on the needs/ages of your students, you can have them copy your patterns, extend patterns you start, or craft patterns of their own design. This can be done individually, in pairs, or in small groups.
---
Materials
Baking soda; vinegar; pipettes; tongs; pompoms (white or yellow) Read Aloud
Waiting for Wings
Whole Group Activity 10 Little Butterflies Song
Small Group Literacy Sorting B and C
Teach your students “10 Little Butterflies.” Sing it to them once, and then encourage them to be your echo. Finally, have the children sing the song together as a class. Use the accompanying butterfly numbers along with the butterfly song.
Make a simple chart, with one column for B (like butterfly) and one column for C (like caterpillar). Say a word that starts with one of those letters. Emphasize the first sound. Children determine where the word belongs. The students can draw the corresponding pictures under B and C on the chart. Alternatively, use the printable cards as part of the sorting activity.
Small Group Science
Fizzing Caterpillars
Make a baking soda caterpillar. Mix 3 cups baking soda with 1 cup water. If desired, add food coloring or liquid watercolors to the mixture. Create small caterpillars with the mix. Place them on a tray in the freezer to firm up even more if desired. Then let the children use pipettes to drop vinegar on the caterpillars, creating fizz.
You can reference this rainbow science activity for inspiration.
Small Group Math
Caterpillar Eggs
Have children use their fingers or tongs to add the correct number of “caterpillar eggs” (white or yellow pompoms) to the printable leaf numbers. For children just starting out with this concept, add small dot stickers to the leaves. For children who need a challenge, use multiple leaves to explore early addition.
Materials
Pasta (bowtie, rotini, shell) or stickers; cardboard tubes; green items Read Aloud
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Small Group Literacy Butterfly Letters
Small Group Science Butterfly Life Cycle Reader
Whole Group Activity
The Very Hungry Preschoolers Write the sentences from “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” that reference what he eats (for example, “On Monday he ate through 1 apple.”) on sentence strips. Cut each word apart individually. Write each child’s name on a sentence strip. Add photos of different foods.
Work with the children to make the chart say different things. For example, “On Monday, Mary ate through 1 banana.”
Place blue dyed rice or salt in a shallow tray. Have the children use “butterflies” to form letters in the tray. Your “butterflies” could be bowtie pasta, butterfly sequins, mini erasers, or butterfly gems. Alternatively, use the rice/salt to make a sensory writing tray. The children can use their fingers or a butterfly swizzle stick (make your own with a craft stick that has a butterfly gem glued to it) to write the letters. Consider using the printable butterfly letter cards as prompts.
Explore the life cycle of a butterfly with an emergent reader. Walk the children through making the book. If desired, you can use dyed pasta to represent the stages of becoming a butterfly. Alternatively, let the kids draw each image or use stickers. Keep the books to reread throughout the theme.
Small Group Math
Feed the Caterpillar Cover cardboard tubes with green paper and turn them into pretend caterpillars. (Do ahead of time or let kids make
them as a craft). Roll a number cube and feed the caterpillar that many items. You can use small leaves, green pompoms, or bits of green chenille stems)
Materials Yarn or chenille stems
Read Aloud
Ten Little Caterpillars
Whole Group Activity
Life Cycle Story Board Painting Plan out a bulletin board about the life cycle of a butterfly. Have the children work together to paint the
egg, the caterpillar, the chrysalis, and the butterfly. You may want to help the kids outline the images in pencil first. Then they can paint each piece – using washable tempera paint, dot paints, or even tempera paint sticks.
Small Group Literacy Butterfly Rhyming
Remind the children about rhyming words. Give them a few simple examples. Then introduce the butterfly rhyming game. Say two words. If the two words rhyme, kids flutter like a butterfly. If they do not rhyme, kids stand still.
Small Group Science Real Butterflies
Look at photos of real butterflies. Encourage the children to sketch the butterflies. Discuss the main body parts and make observations. If you have purchased a butterfly garden kit, now would be a good time to take out the magnifying glasses and observe the caterpillars.
Small Group Math
Caterpillar Measurement Make your own pretend caterpillars using yarn or chenille stems of different colors. Trim the yarn or chenille
stems to varying sizes. Measure the “caterpillars” using pompoms. Use the caterpillar and find things that are longer/shorter/same length. Alternatively, have the children use 1 of the “caterpillars” to measure items in the classroom. Write those measurements on the recording sheet.
Materials
Pasta (bowtie, rotini, shell); dot stickers or dot paints Read Aloud
I Wish I Were a Butterfly
Whole Group Activity
Life Cycle Story Board Writing This is a continuation of the butterfly life cycle bulletin board. Work together to write
about each stage of the life cycle. It can be as simple as labeling each step with one word; it can be simple sentences, “I see a butterfly.”; or it can be more complex writing. This will depend on your preferences and the ages/needs of your students.
Small Group Literacy
Caterpillar Syllables Review how to break words down into syllables. This might include talking “like a robot”, clapping
syllables, or placing your hand under your chin as you speak. Model a few words for the kids. Next, work with the children to sort the printable caterpillar syllable cards.
Small Group Science Life Cycle Necklace
Retell the butterfly life cycle while making a necklace to wear. Children can make their necklace using the printable pieces and string. They can also cut their own leaves out of construction paper. For each stage of the life cycle, you can use dyed pieces of pasta, stickers, or drawings.
Small Group Math Counting Caterpillars
Play a simple counting game with the children. They can roll a die, roll a number cube, or choose a number card. Then they write the number on a piece of paper or on the printable recording sheet. After writing the number, the children can create a caterpillar using the appropriate number of dots (with dot stickers or dot paints).
Centers
Arts & Crafts
Coffee Filter Butterflies - Color a coffee filter with markers. Spray lightly with water. Once dry, wrap a pipe cleaner around the middle of the coffee filter to make the butterfly’s body.
Clay Caterpillars and Butterflies - Use air dry clay or Model Magic to create caterpillars and/or butterflies. Once dry, they can be painted.
Loose Parts Butterflies – Set a variety of loose parts and/or recycled materials from the classroom in the art center. Put up pictures of real butterflies for inspiration. The children can use the loose parts and found objects to make butterflies.
Science
Butterfly Sorting - Sort the butterfly pictures. Encourage the children to record their observations about the images they see. Consider placing magnifying glasses out with the butterfly pictures.
Life Cycle - Draw a picture of each stage of the butterfly life cycle. You can also use the printable life cycle cards. If desired, include play dough life cycle mats. The children can create 3D versions of the life cycle using play dough.
Pretend Play
Becoming a Butterfly – Act out the butterfly life cycle. Include a sleeping bag or a blanket for children to use as a “chrysalis”.
Butterflies in the Air – Add butterfly wings and headbands so children can pretend to be butterflies. Pretend flowers could be added as the “garden”.
Literacy
Letter Cards - Match uppercase and lowercase letters, put in ABC order, or create names/words. Consider placing a sensory writing tray out alongside the letter cards.
Butterfly Words - Use letter tiles, magnetic letters, or other alphabet manipulatives to make the butterfly words. You can use the vocabulary cards in place of the butterfly words if desired. Consider pairing the vocabulary words with a sensory bin filled with letter manipulatives.
------
Comments
Post a Comment