Ladybug Love!

Happy Tuesday!   My work week is half way over.   I am heading to NC Friday morning to celebrate my cousin's wedding.   I am so excited to see my family!   I live far away from everyone,  so I cherish the time we get together.   My kids are not coming with us,  as this is a super quick trip,  so Jay and I actually going to have some alone time!  I think this is the first full weekend we have had away together since Eden was born,  in October....of 2010!

We have been having the BEST time in class talking about insects.   We started with our ladybugs.   Our larvae are starting to pupate,  well,  I think.   I am not exactly sure,  but my kids totally ARE.   Someone is back there shouting reporting about the MIRACLES happening in that little habitat all day long! 

We have been out in the field looking for the little ladies,  and have even found a couple larva and EGGS!  They are so excited!

I had some ideas of what I wanted the kids to do with this unit.  I had planned to have everyone do ladybug reports and videos, projects or Powerpoints.  We started to research...

 

But, as they often do,  my kids had different and better ideas.   They decided they all wanted to pick different insects to report on and compare and contrast them to ladybugs.  So,  I gave them some time to talk to each other,  to decide what they wanted to do.   I decided to leave it open as I could,  but wanted them to have some clear objectives.  

We discussed our objectives and decided that each presentation should:

• explain what type of metamorphosis the insect has - simple or complex
• explain the habitats the insect would be found in
• explain how the insect gets around
• explain any benefits or dangers the insect might present to humans
• explain the appearance of the insect
• include interesting facts
• BE INTERESTING to the audience

They are able to present their information in any way that they would like - video,  tv news show,  comedy, skit,  rap, newspaper, Powerpoint etc.   They are all working so hard.   They are tapping their little fingers off on their computers and driving our sweet librarian crazy I am sure,  depleting the library of all  insect books.   I am super excited to see what they come up with.  I even bought a couple of pairs of these funny glasses for them to use as props!

In the spirit of all things buggy, and in an attempt to have a few more pages I can take grades on,   I have created a  packet of supplemental materials to go along with our study.   It includes a ladybug life cycle book,  several pages that compare and contrast ladybugs to other insects,  a research guide,  math activities,  and  ELA activities that include science vocabulary.  I love how it turned out.  You can find it here.

We have been measuring like mad in our room,  so we used the ladybug life cycle measuring activity yesterday.   They did a great job with it. 

Gotta go write some sub plans!  Ughhh!  There is no such thing as a free day off I guess! 

Have a great one!