Special Events

I enjoy doing thematic units with my students. We do many types of activities to learn about our topic. Each year we begin with a study of the Monarch butterfly. I collect Monarch caterpillars and the children observe them as they grow. Each morning I collect milkweed to feed them. The children learn many facts about Monarchs. We watch each caterpillar shed its skin and become a chrysalis. Then we wait patiently for two weeks until the butterfly finally emerges. What a beautiful sight. We allow the wings to dry and then we tag and release our butterflies into the Cameron Lasagna Garden out front.

Click on the pictures below to see the
four life cycles of the Monarch Butterfly.

In the spring, our class does a unit on "eggs." I have a forced-air incubator and a still-air incubator. Chicken eggs are acquired from a local farmer and placed in the incubators. A chart is kept above each incubator to count down our progress. Each day, one child opens a plastic egg with a picture of what the embryo would look like at that stage. The children then log in their observations in a science journal. As we count down to our "due date," the whole school gets involved. Everyone gets excited with anticipation. On "Hatch Day," the children observe the hatching process. They invite their homeroom classmates to join us. They also do many activities that compliment the project. When all of the chicks have hatched, we keep them in the classroom in a brooder. We again observe changes and log them in our journals. After a week or so, the chicks are returned to the farmer. This is such a fascinating project. The children look forward to it from the first day of school!

ABC Farm Book PowerPoint Presentation

ABC Australian Book

ABC Chocolate Book

ABC Patriotic Movie

(Click on the presentation you would like to see. Enjoy!)

Chick Hatching Movie 2008

Chick Pictures Photo Album

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