Spring is here, and many teachers are ordering their butterfly habitat kits and teaching about the butterfly life cycle. It is such a popular activity, especially in elementary school. But have you wondered how to make this life cycle more accessible to your students who have significant challenges? Many of the materials that come with the butterfly kit assume a certain skill set, like reading, writing, drawing, or even just communicating your observations. All of these may be either lacking or totally missing in your classroom. (At least, they very often were in mine.) So, I came up with ways for my students to track the course of the butterfly life cycle, communicate their observations as independently as possible, and make authentic connections to their own lives and experiences. Here are some things you can do yourself, or let me help you (see video at the end of this post). Either way, your students will never look at a caterpillar or butterfly the same way again!
Be sure to read all the way to the bottom of this post for some free downloads and resources to add to the lesson plans you may already be using.
1. Use a calendar to track changes during the life cycle
My class worked on calendar skills EVERY morning during our morning meeting. So, adding a calendar to this unit seemed very natural and had the great added benefit of generalizing the material to a new subject, stimuli, and location. In the unit I created, I made a generic counting board because I was not sure when people would be using it. However, if you have the chance, I would simply substitute it with the appropriate blank monthly calendar.
2. Report and record observations on the life cycle
Most of my students were not able to draw. So that meant getting creative to find a way to report what they were seeing each day. Many of my students were really good with technology, so we assigned a photographer each day to take a picture on the class iPad to record the changes in our caterpillars. This gave the students some independence and a tool they loved to use.
In addition to taking photos, we also practiced using a digital scale I had in the classroom. Students would take turns weighing several of the caterpillars. As they would read the numbers off the scale, I would write them down. There is a lot of math you can do with this data, depending on the learning level of your students:
- Get an average weight
- Calculate the rate of change or growth
- Graph the weights
- Record the greatest and the least weight
3. Look for more evidence of life cycles on nature walks
I wanted the students to realize that what was happening in our classroom butterfly habitat was also occurring outside during this spring season. We would go on nature walks, looking for (and recording) evidence of more of the butterfly life cycle. The more we learned, the better they got at looking for those hidden eggs under a leaf or the cocoons tucked behind a branch. If you are looking for a FREE scavenger hunt for Spring to use, check out my blog post, 5 New Ways to use a Scavenger Hunt (click here).
In addition to looking for signs of more caterpillars and butterflies, make sure students look for the “perfect” spot where you will release your butterflies once they are ready. Weigh the pros and cons of various locations. Think about protection from predators as well as food sources for the young butterflies.
4. Create a Butterfly Life Cycle Book
It is funny, but I found that my students loved making books shaped like something. For this unit, I created a butterfly template, cut out 8 pages from construction paper, and had the students create their own story about the butterfly life cycle. They LOVED it!!
If you would like a FREE copy of My Butterfly Book, click the button below.
5. Make it personal
Since I was in a classroom with students with diverse social and emotional needs, I was always looking for ways to address these needs in EVERY subject. Science was no exception. The metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly was a great way for me to talk about the idea of change. It was also getting close to the end of the year, and many of my students would be facing many changes in the next school year. So, I created a social story to go with this unit on dealing with change. It may seem odd or feel like an awkward transition, but I promise it is not. I have a detailed lesson plan included in this unit to help you navigate the transition from science to a social story. My students loved it, and we talked a lot about how everything, even insects, has to deal with change.
I hope this gave you some new ideas to add to the lesson plans you likely already have on this topic. As special education teachers and parents, we are always tweaking and modifying materials. We get really good at it after a while!
If you would like to download some FREE vocabulary cards to go with my Butterfly Life Cycle unit, be sure to sign up for my Free Resource Library right here at my blog. There is a free set in there with color and BW cards, as well as a cut-and-paste activity to go with them. Just click HERE to get access.
If you want to check out my unit on the Butterfly Life Cycle, click HERE or watch the video below. This unit includes lots of activities, including:
- 12 days of lesson plans
- 36-page book
- vocabulary board
- circle maps
- sorting activities
- Venn diagram
- life cycle cut & paste worksheets
- close worksheets
- assessment
- PLUS a social story and activity on Dealing with Change
