From Caterpillar to Chrysalis

Last week we watched an amazing transformation.

Our caterpillars went from crawling around their cup to hanging from the top as chrysalids (the plural of chrysalis).

We have also spent the week participating in other caterpillar activities such as: putting together life cycle of a caterpillar floor puzzles, looking at caterpillars through magnifying glasses, playing with insect puppets, making caterpillar art projects, reading caterpillar books, and playing with life cycle of a caterpillar plastic toys.

Things we learned about caterpillars this week:

-Caterpillars come out of an egg.

-Moths make a cocoon and butterflies make a chrysalis.

-Caterpillars come in all shapes and sizes.

-Birds and insects like to eat caterpillars.

-When caterpillars are ready to change, they crawl onto a leaf and their skin falls off. Their skin underneath turns into the hard shell.

-Inside the chrysalis an amazing change is happening.

Here are pictures we have of the caterpillars and their transformation so far:

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Check out an animation of The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Here is a retelling of the story in sign language:

Goodbye Pet Store and Hello Caterpillars

Here are some pictures from our week last week. We finished up our Pet Store Unit and started our Very Hungry Caterpillar Unit.

One of our final activities for our Pet Store Unit was to go on a "shopping trip". We each had a list with a specific animal on it. We walked around the school and found different "areas" of the Pet Store (accessories, toys, food, and homes). We had to find the items that went with our pet. We picked those items and then explained what they were for.

We have been really excited to watch the transformation of our caterpillars from caterpillars to chrysalis! Watch for those pictures this weekend!

Here is a video that contains signs for other animals you probably won't find at the pet store!

Here are the pictures from our week:

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Gobble Fingers

Here are 3 very important fingers:

These 3 fingers help kids with very important activities such as writing and other fine motor activities. Kids at this age need to be able to manipulate these fingers before they are able to use them effectively for writing.

Because we know this, we make sure to do a lot of activities in this class that require the use of these 3 fingers.

One of the things we do in class is to sing a snack song that incorporates the use of these 3 fingers by having the kids just use those 3 fingers to open and shut before the regular snack song.

We sing:

Gobble, Gobble

Crunch, Crunch

Gobble, Gobble

Crunch, Crunch

Open, shut them,

Open, shut them,

Give a little clap, clap clap.

Open, shut them,

Open, shut them,

Now it's time for snack, snack, snack.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

One way you can practice at home is to play a game during snack time. We sometimes do this during snack time at school. Play a game so that the whole family can only eat their snack (goldfish, popcorn, little crackers) if they pick it up with those 3 fingers.

In order to prepare for writing skills, this is one of the best ways to practice! Have fun with your "Gobble Fingers"!