Butterfly Activities
1 page. Use the cards for students to cut and put in the proper life cycle sequence and then make into an Itty Bitty Booklet. You can also play "I Have, Who Has" to help students learn the vocabulary. Run off extra sets and play a Memory Match game.
4 pages. CCSS: RI.K5 Anchor charts are a terrific way to help students understand concepts and retain information. This one reviews the parts of a book.
1-2-3 Come Be A Very Hungry Caterpillar With Me!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is my favorite book by Eric Carle; it was also one of my Y5's all-time favorites too.
Because so many teachers read this book, as well as study butterflies some time during the school year, I decided to make a variety of lessons that incorporate this hungry little guy.
Hopefully your students will have fun gobbling up the lessons too!
A quick and easy way to review the Common Core Standards that involve "parts of a book" is to have students make their own caterpillar anchor chart cover.
Anchor charts are a terrific way to help students understand concepts and retain information.
This one reviews the parts of a book. I've included a teacher's poster + a template for students to make their own mini anchor chart.
To make it more of a keepsake, have students make the body of their caterpillar by dipping their index finger into a dab of paint, or inked stamper.
Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Parts Of A Book anchor chart activity.
Since the caterpillar is starving, why not feed him a variety of letters, numbers, and shapes as a quick and easy way to whole-group assess your students.
I've also included color as well as black and white picture cards, of all of the items the caterpillar ate in the story. Pass them out to your students and have them feed the caterpillar when you come to that part in the story.
Afterwards, see if they can sequence the cards in the order that the caterpillar ate them.
This 50-page packet also includes:
- traceable number cards 1-30,
- traceable skip counting cards by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's,
- traceable upper and lowercase alphabet cards,
- traceable cards for all of the adjectives in the book,
- traceable life cycle of a butterfly cards,
- picture life cycle of a butterfly cards
- story cards,
- traceable days of the week cards
- traceable months of the year cards
- traceable number word cards,
- covers to go with all of the word cards to make Itty Bitty booklets
- What's missing? number and letter worksheets, for skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's & 10's + counting by 1's
- caterpillar color a pattern worksheet,
- + a Caterpillar Creeps dice game.
Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar activity packet.
Finally, if you are still working on counting to 100/120 with your students, I think you'll enjoy The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats 100 Things booklet.
This packet includes:
- 2 caterpillar craftivities,
- a food sorting idea, + 64 circle pictures of food.
Students trace and write numbers & number words, as well as the time, drawing the appropriate hands on the clock.
They also circle the capital letters and add end punctuation. Children cut and glue the groups of 10 pieces of food to their matching numbered boxes, as they count by 10's to 100.
As you can see, a lot of Common Core Standards are covered in 1 easy reader!
Click on the link to view/down load The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats 100 Things.
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"Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on the door forever." -Unknown
Crawling With Creativity!
Is anyone still doing caterpillar stuff? Even if you’ve completed your studies, I bet you’re still assessing and need a moment of sanity.
Why not plug in anyone of these independent activities for your kiddo’s to work on? Your students can make their own hungry caterpillar by simply coloring the template.
I made mine out of construction paper. You can run the master off on red construction paper and students can cut eyes out of yellow and green scraps if you want to make them that way.
Cut a hole for the mouth, Scotch tape a small Baggie to the back and you’re all set to feed this hungry boy all sorts of traceable cards.
I went crazy making traceable number cards from 1-30, skip counted numbers by 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 10’s, upper and lowercase letters, all 14 adjectives used in the book, the days of the week, the months in the year, + covers so that students can make Itty Bitty booklets to match all of the categories!
There's also cards for everything that the caterpillar ate, including black and white cards so students can color their own little My Itty Bitty Very Hungry Caterpillar book which includes the rest of the story telling cards as well.
Use word cards from other packets (such as the Dolch, CVC, Shapes, or Color word card packets) and feed to review even more concepts!
Decide which cards you want your students to work on and run those off. Make all the sets for yourself, so that you can play “Flash Review” to nail all of those standards.
To make things even more fun, while reviewing whatever concept you want to work on, play “I Have, Who Has?” with your students. i.e., I have 3 who has 6?
I’ve also included several What’s Missing? worksheets for upper and lowercase letters, as well as all of the skip counted numbers + a blank template so you can program your own skill sheets.
Students can also color a pattern on their caterpillar or play the Caterpillar Creeps dice game and review the life cycle of a butterfly. I’ve included traceable life cycle cards as well. Use them as a fun way to "review-read and feed!"
Click on the link to view/download this 50-page fun-filled packet. Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities.Feel free to PIN anything you feel might help someone.
Making Adjectives Awesome
Do you need something fresh to go over adjectives with your students or something easy for them to work on independently while you do assessing? You’ve come to the right place.
Since spring has finally sprung, tis the season for caterpillars and butterflies. I hope your kiddos will enjoy butterfly and caterpillar adjectives.
It’s a nice way to build vocabulary and work on those describing words that will enhance their writing and nail that core standard.
Students color their caterpillar and butterfly, trace the adjectives, add a few of their own, cut them out, sort them to whatever sheet they feel is appropriate, and glue them down.
I’ve included an FYI about how some adjectives are sometimes words that can be used as verbs and adverbs and provide teachable moments, as well as a reminder bookmark of what an adjective is.
This makes a fun writing center or Daily 5 activity. Click on the link to view/download butterfly caterpillar adjective worksheets.
You may also want to download my new grammar posters to use as anchor charts. Grammar poster-anchor charts
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"What a teacher doesn't say...is a telling part of what a student hears." -Maurice Natanson
Fluttering By With Another Butterfly Activity
If you’re looking for something to assess your students’ ability to show spatial directions that will give you a “hard” copy, I’ve got just the thing.
My Butterfly and the 3D Shapes, is an easy reader, that will not only help you with spatial directions, but review those tough 3 dimensional shapes in a fun way too.
Students trace the word and shape and then cut out butterflies and glue them to the appropriate position on the page.
Click on the link to view/download My Butterfly and the 3D Shapes booklet.
This makes a nice Daily 5 activity too.
When everyone has completed their booklet, read it together as a whole group to reinforce concepts of print.
You have my permission to PIN anything you think other teachers may find helpful. Enjoy and be sure and flit on over tomorrow for more fun tips.
"Education can not be conferred. Whether in school or out, learning is a do-it-yourself proposition." -Wheeler McMillen
Do you need some quick and easy ideas with a butterfly theme that reinforce standards, but your students will also enjoy?
You’ve come to the right place.
If you’re assessing right now and looking for something to prove your students can listen and follow directions, a GLYPH is a super easy and fun way to do that as a whole group.
The end results also make a terrific decoration for a bulletin board or hallway. Students can either guess who did which glyph, and practice all sorts of skills, or they can share them with the class and practice their verbal acuity.
Click on the link to view/download the butterfly glyph.
123 Count Butterflies With Me is one of many “count with me” easy readers, that reinforce a variety of math skills.
Students enjoy using a bingo dot marker to stamp sets in a specific pattern. They also cut and glue groups of butterflies to the matching numbered boxes.
When everyone is done, read the booklet as a whole group to reinforce concepts of print and recognition of number words.
Because students can work on these booklets independently, they are perfect for Daily 5.
Children not only enjoy making them, they feel empowered; teachers are then free to assess or work one-on-one.
Click on the link to view/download 123 Count Butterflies With Me.
Click on this link to view the collection of 22 123 Count With Me Books.
I’m always looking for ways to fit in a mini lesson on compound words and rhyming as this can get a bit tedious if you constantly “skill-drill & then kill” it.
I’ve found that tossing in a fun-themed skill sheet, whenever it’s appropriate, is much more palpable and interesting for most students.
Butterfly Word Play does just that. It breaks down the compound word butterfly and has students think of rhyming words for both butter and fly.
Students trace, write and alphabetize the words on a skill sheet. This is a quick plug in for a tabletop lesson, as is adding UT to consonants and making up words for the prefix of butterfly.
Click on the link to view/download Butterfly Word Play.
Finally, I think it’s a lot more fun for students to complete a writing prompt if they know their page is going to be part of a class book.
Writing about being a caterpillar or a butterfly is a wonderfully imaginative thing for a child. Illustrating how they would look as one results in adorable pictures.
I’ve also included a graphing extension to hit yet another standard and learn a bit more about your students.
Click on the link to view/download Butterfly and Caterpillar Class Books.
Happy fluttering through your spring lessons; I hope these helped! Feel free to PIN anything you think might help someone else and thanks for flittin' on over.
I hope you can fly in tomorrow for some new tricks.
Fluttering With The Butterflies: Hands-On "Craftivities"
April is the time that I launched my huge unit on butterflies. It was my Y5’s favorite unit whenever we graphed “favorites”.
I ordered live larva from Insect Lore and my students were amazed to see the eggs hatch into hair-thin caterpillars, eat their way into chubby pencil-thick caterpillars, assume the J-position and spin a chrysalis, finally turning into 5 Painted Lady butterflies that were seen flying around their netted house in about 14 days time.
Every day was hands-on with a large variety of “craftivities” games, and songs that immersed them in the amazing life cycle of the butterfly.
They couldn’t wait to be part of the adventure, create something and become part of the “magic”.
If you subscribed to Mailbox Magazine in 2007-2008 you saw lots of butterfly activities in the Preschool and Kindergarten/First Grade issues by Diane Tondreau-Flohr.
I think they published over 50 of my designs that were kid-tested and teacher approved for nailing standards and being especially fun.
I’ve since designed zillions more. Here are a few of my favorites:
The Butterfly, pictured above,is an easy reader that goes through the various parts of the butterfly's life cycle while reviewing spatial directions. By adding a child's school photo to the butterfly, you make this an extra special keepsake.
The Shapes on My Butterfly is also an easy reader, but reviews the 6 basic shapes. Where Did All The Butterflies Go? practices simple subtraction skills.
Click on the links to view/download these copy-ready booklets, perfect for your writing center or Daily 5 activities.
If you’re looking for some tabletop or center activities, the 95-page Butterfly Unit is sure to have something to keep your students engaged.
If hands-on “craftivities” that nail standards, teach science, make awesome displays and keep students interested, is what you’re looking for, then you’ll want to check out the 153-page Butterfly Art & Activity book 1 or the 105-page Art & Activity book 2
I think my Y5's all-time favorite activity was the "Flutter Flapper". This explained the entire life cycle of a butterfly. Students hung onto the pipe cleaner which represented the caterpillar stage and was a "handle" that they flapped.
It made their butterfly's wings go up and down as they pranced around the room to whatever music they voted on.
The thorax represents the crysalis and the pony bead on the pipecleaner is the egg. I've included a song and directions of how to manipulate the flapper through the various stages.
A parent favorite, was the life cycle done with fingerprints.
The most impressive looking project was our butterfly file folders, which qualified as our scientific research study.
On the outside they looked like a simple file folder.
When you opened them up another folder was cut into the shape of a butterfly and contained all sorts of facts printed on a variety of colored shapes which reviewed 2 more standards.
Students could choose from a variety of projects to show the life cycle of the butterfly.
A few of their favorites were a crown, necklace, caterpillar and reinforcement hole activity.
These were set up as centers. My personal favorite was the tissue paper butterfly collage made from Elison diecuts.
I made the butterfly 3-D by simply folding the wings of an extra butterfly and gluing it to the top of the bottom butterfly. Passersby could not believe these project were done by little kids, as the finished artwork was stunning.
Butterfly Etc. includes 126 pages of projects, games and lots of songs that help teach about butterflies as well.
Click on the links to view/download these units.
I hope you and your students have as much fun flying through this stuff as I did designing it.
I know my students did, and our hallway always looked awesome fluttering with beautiful butterflies!
Do you have a buttefly activity you'd like to share? I'd enjoy hearing from you diane@teachwithme.com or you may also leave a comment here.
Feel free to PIN anything you think others might enjoy as well. I think sharing is so important!
"Education, to be successful, must not only inform, but inspire." - T. Knowlson
