Over the past six weeks, our class has been on an inquiry adventure all about butterflies! This is our first “formal” written unit with our new International Baccalaureate PYP model. What an awesome six weeks it has been! Miss Santiago and I are amazed at the deep rich conversations, learning, critical thinking, and play that took place within our classroom. I am so proud of our children and am excited to share with you pictures of their learning through play!
Our central idea for the unit of inquiry was: Relationships within an environment impact change. This helped guide us into our lines of inquiry for the children to explore and learn. This ties in with our central idea. Our lines of inquiry included: What a butterfly is. How a butterfly impacts the environment. The life cycle of a butterfly. Through these lines of inquiry, we thoughtfully created questions and lessons to stir child interest. From there the children took over, and what a study it has been!
Throughout the six weeks, we had the privilege to have 45 tiny butterfly larvae (right out of the eggs) come to our classroom! Each child was able to “pick” their own “caterpillar” to raise and take care of throughout their life cycle. We had a lot of science and exploration going on in room 121, and I am so thrilled each student had the opportunity to take care of and observe daily their very own caterpillar that turned into a butterfly. We released them the week before Memorial Day weekend, and it was such a rewarding experience for the children! Each student kept their own “Butterfly Observation Journal” that tracked the progress of the life cycle that their butterfly was at. They will be coming home the first week of June with a rubric to show you our goals for them, and how they achieved them through their journal!
Our large culminating experience was a field trip to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, where we visited the Butterfly Haven to observe and learn more about butterflies! We “adopted” one butterfly to release into the haven on that day! What a rewarding experience for the children!
This last week of our butterfly study we have been doing our reflection piece for the unit. I have been sitting down with each student one-on-one to talk with them about our unit study. As an educator, I feel so fortunate to be having these moments with each of my students, and am so proud of the learning that has taken place.
Please enjoy this picture slideshow below of all the learning that took place in our classroom!
Preschool in the City with Mrs. Gabelman 
Thank you Miss Hopkins, At home we received updates on the caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly, release stages. It was completely hands-on for our growing learner! Thank you.