how my units have evolved over time. . . . It reminds me
of taking out the Christmas decorations from our attic at
home every year- some things are forever cherished, some have
seen better days, and some just don’t make the cut from out of
the storage tub and
into the house! When I look into my tubs
at school I find the same kind of situation. . .
love
it – trash it – or not this year!
Just
like with my Christmas decor, I always feel the
need to update!
Updating my units breathes new life into
my teaching! Adding new books, lessons, activities, etc. just makes me
so happy! I love finding new and
different ways to engage my little ones
with ideas that will insert
a broader range of standards and fun! It
makes me feel like the longer
I teach (and update) the more I have to
offer in purposeful, rich experiences for my little ones!
several times after
that. Every year we order caterpillars (from Insect Lore) and hatch
butterflies. It never gets
old!
For me it just wouldn’t be spring without
it!
As the standards have changed,
I have added to my Butterfly Life Cycle Unit to
include Close Reading with many writing
extensions. It was one of the first
passages I wrote for my kids when
I was unable to find a short, worthy
piece of text to fit my needs for teaching
the standards in a kindergarten and first
grade friendly kind-of-way. It was
really the first time I saw kids respond
to my writing in a way that
inspired me to write many, many more
close reads! It has become
the cornerstone of my butterfly unit, and
I am continually humbled
by the writing that has come out of the
annotations my kids have done!
Much of the beauty of doing close reads in kindergarten (or any grade for that matter)
comes in the conversations that occur. Dialogue with their partner that includes
academic language, and content vocabulary, all in a most authentic way, is
the key element in producing all of this clever writing.
The writing happens after synthesizing information
by listening, re-telling, discussion, and opportunities for multiple conversations,
each time talking about something different.
When a young child
can create a pictorial representation
of this sort, add writing to it, discuss it, and
explain it to me, it provides me the most compelling
evidence of deep understanding and
mastery of standards, far more than
any high stakes assessment ever could.
I
am their teacher. I want to know
what they really know, how they can show it, and how it will ulitimately
contribute to the pocketful of riches they have aquired to help make them
an articulate, educated human being that
loves to learn and knows how to learn.
In this case it was about butterflies,
but it’s just so much more than that.
:o)
This year our district has provided us
with more technology resources!
Our kids used the i-pads
to scan QR codes
to write about the butterfly life cycle.
They loved finding the QR code reader on the i-pad,
and then scanning their QR code recording sheet, which took
them to the butterfly life
cycle anchor chart. It was so much fun to
watch them use technology skills
to integrate science, ELA, and writing
standards!
(Want to try it?? Grab it here for free!)
If you have never hatched butterflies in
your classroom, I urge you to give it a try!
(Appropriate for kids ages Pre-K – 100)!
Nothing says spring like butterflies, and
it is such a wonderful way to let your kids
shine and show how much they know!
If you your butterfly unit needs some updating you
will find my resource by clicking on the picture below!
(On sale this through this week!)
Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Happy Spring!
