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Thursday, May 21, 2015

Butterfly Firsts and YouTube Kids (iPad Must Have)

Disclaimer: TOTALLY geekin' out tonight.

I have never done the butterfly life cycle with my class before - until this year - and ohemgee, HOW COOL!

I was absolutely enamored (and disgusted) by the process.


When we got the caterpillars they were pretty little, and grew in this cup. Side note: we were in the middle of discussing habitats, so we took the opportunity to research and discuss the natural habitat of caterpillars.

After a few days, they all made chrysalis'. We were all amazed at this process!


While we waited for the butterflies to appear (almost 2 weeks!), we spent some time on the YouTube Kids app and with trade books researching the butterfly life cycle. YouTube Kids has a voice recognition feature so that the kids don't have to spell what they are searching, but can speak it, making the app way more functional for kiddos. 

We made a Very Hungry Caterpillar bug chain, write about the butterfly life cycle and talked about the process with friends. 


After what seemed like FOR.EV.ER, the butterflies came out! One of my little ladies discovered it during the middle of centers and you would have thought she saw Santa. All H-e-double hockey sticks broke loose and we took some time out of reading block to just watch the butterflies

(I projected their activity on the SMART Board using the Reflector app. Just kept the video option open on my phone and AirPlayed through Reflector on my computer)

Guys/Gals, I could have watched the butterflies all morning. You could see all the details since it was projected larger. One of them even stuck out his proboscis! The kids noticed what it was and used the right word! Proud teacher moment :o)

After all were hatched we had to let those big guys go. Our literacy coach caught the release on camera, TGFLeah! :o)

If you haven't done this in your class I would totally suggest it. My co-teacher and I were completely disgusted at times, but it was absolutely worth it! 

4 comments:

  1. We do caterpillars too. I have tried showing them on the SMART board with my ELMO, but the reflector app you mentioned sounds like a better way of doing it. What is the name of the app so I can download it as well?
    Thanks, Michelle

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  2. This was such a good experience, not only for your students but for me! Thanks for sharing You Tube Kids with me. My daughter is researching Ninja Turtles using it right now. Not very academic, but she is learning how to make Ninja Turtles out of Play Do. :)
    I love that close up shot of the butterfly!

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  3. Mich - Reflector def. works much better. Here is a link to the site. I think there is a small cost - but it is definitely worth it. You can AirPlay from an iPad, phone, etc. http://www.airsquirrels.com/reflector/

    Leah - That is still academic! They are looking for information on how to complete a task. How fun!! :o)

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