Book choices for today:

Hurry and the Monarch   Antoine O’ Flatharta
The Sun is Shining Somewhere   Allan Fowler
Sun Up, Sun Down   Gail Gibbons
Sun Song   Jean Marzollo

Zoology: (first circle)

Need for lesson – North America map and pictures of Monarch butterflies.

Zoology 40

We have found out that butterflies are insects. They hatch as caterpillars and go through metamorphosis to look like the adult butterfly. This is a monarch butterfly. They are large beautiful butterflies with orange, black, and white markings.These butterflies go on an amazing journey every year. We have learned that some birds fly south for the winter. They migrate to warmer places so they can find food. Well, Monarch butterflies also migrate. As cold weather approaches millions of these delicate butterflies leave from Canada and the United States and travel to Southern California or Central Mexico, more than 2,000 miles away! Looking at our map of North America, where is Canada? Some start here and travel way down here to Mexico. Isn’t that amazing! They arrive in the fir forest of Mexico in the month of November. During this migration hundreds of monarchs can be seen gathered together. Wouldn’t that be exciting to see so many at one time! When it is time to fly back to where they came from, female Monarchs lay tiny eggs on milkweed plants. Out of these tiny eggs hatch green and white striped caterpillars. They will eat the leaves of the milkweed plant until they are ready to make a chrysalis and go through metamorphosis to become adult monarch butterflies. When it gets to be cooler weather they will make the same journey and travel to California or Mexico like their parents did.

       Monarch Picture (From Garden of Butterflies by Rick Mikula)

Additional Works:

Butterfly Card Set Drawing – This is a beautiful set of moths and butterflies that was at one of the schools I worked at. The children enjoyed tracing them onto paper and then designing them.

      Card Set

       Drawing

Art:

Butterflies – Using close pins, coffee filters, liquid paint, and pipe cleaners children can make butterflies. Show the children how to spray just a little bit of the paint on the filters and watch the colors blend. Too much paint will make the filter wings rip.

Stain Glass Butterflies – Tissue paper, watered down glue, and 2 pieces of black butterfly shapes cut from construction paper, children can glue the tissue paper in between the black outline butterfly shapes. Remind them about the ‘stained glass windows’ that we talked about with Europe.

      Butterfly Art

       Butterfly Art

      Butterfly Art

      Butterfly Art

Book on the Shelf:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – I made the props our of felt to go with the story.

      Book on the Shelf

Science: (second circle)

Need for lesson – The book, The Sun is Shining Somewhere by Allan Fowler, a small lamp without the shade, and Sandpaper Globe or a ball to represent the earth as demonstrated in the book.

Have a review about the sun and read the story. Using the lamp and globe, place a sticker on the globe about where we live. The lamp acts as the sun and as you turn the Earth, notice how the sun is shining on another part it? Ask which continent is having sunshine while we are having night?

Art:

Suns – This work idea is from The Mailbox. Cut a paper plate in half and staple one half to the back of another paper plate to make a pocket. Children paint their suns and color and cut out some pictures of what the sun gives us. They place their little pieces of paper into the back pocket of the sun.

     Sun Art

       Sun Art

Song (CD) choices for today:

Mr. Sunshine   I Have a Song for You
The Butterfly   Our Earth – Macmillan
The Butterfly   Learning Through Music
Butterflies and Bumblebees   Circle Time