Showing posts with label Reptiles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reptiles. Show all posts

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Lots of Lifecycles!

Heads up...this will be a long post, but I wanted to catch you up on what has been happening in my classroom for the past 3 weeks! 

For the past three weeks we have been learning about life cycles. First we learned about insects. We read The Grouchy Ladybug. Then we made a grouchy ladybug and wrote about when we feel grouchy.

My kinders loved learning about all of them but especially the butterflies. We learned all about the life cycle of a butterfly through books and made an anchor chart together.

They wrote a mini book about the lifecycle of the butterfly and did an excellent job. Here are some pictures of one of my kinders' book:



Each child's book was different because they all told what they thought was most important during each stage of the life cycle of a butterfly.

At the end of the first week, they wrote about their favorite insect. I was amazed at how many different insects were chosen, but here is one:

For week 2, we learned about reptiles and amphibians. This was a favorite of all my kinders but especially my boys. They loved learning all about them. We made charts with pictures of the animals and which family they belong to:


Then together as a class, we wrote about what reptiles and amphibians are, can, have:

These charts really helped my kinders with their writing in their science journals. 

For week 3, we learned about the life cycle of chickens. My kinders wrote about what chickens can, have, are. 


My kinders used these charts from their science journals to do their writing about chickens. 

At the end of week 3, we read the book Chickens Aren't The Only Ones and my kinders were able to fully grasp that many animals lay eggs. They loved the book and learning the word OVIPAROUS! This is their writing after reading the book:



The past 3 weeks have been so exciting for my kinders and for me. They have loved doing informational writing and reading informational books and I have been amazed at how much they have learned!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Reptiles & Bugs...Oh My!

This week my kinders and I went on our field trip to Cypress Gardens which is a local blackwater swamp near Moncks Corner, SC. This is one of my favorite field trips that we get to go on each year. We usually do it at the end of our lifecycles units on insects and reptiles, but we had to go a little earlier this year because it was already booked up.

On this field trip, there are 3 fantastic parts: a guided wooden boat ride through the swamp, a class on the life cycle of insects with a trip into the butterfly house, and a class on reptiles where the kinders actually get to touch several reptiles including a box turtle and a corn snake.

Here are some photos from our guided boat ride through the swamp:

The cypress trees growing in the swamp


One of the alligators we saw lying on a log in the swamp

Another alligator (much larger one) with only it's head sticking out of the swamp

The bridge that crosses over the swamp - This was used in the filming of the movie The Patriot with Mel Gibson!

01 07 08 09 10
Pin It button on image hover