The Monarch Butterflies - The Gillen Brewer School

GILLEN BREWER
SCHOOL
The Monarch Butterflies
M A R C H 2 0 1 1
Neighborhood and Maps
This month, the Butterflies began expanding what we’ve learned about our
school community into neighborhoods. We began by taking a scavenger hunt walk
around the block to notice the different buildings in the Gillen Brewer neighborhood.
Then, each child started examined their own neighborhood by compiling a scrapbook
of pictures or drawings of places in their neighborhood, such as apartments, stores,
banks, parks, and restaurants. Each student shared their scrapbook with the class, and
other students immediately noticed similarities and differences between their
neighborhoods and those of others. After sharing their scrapbooks, students selected
a building from their neighborhood to build a model of during art. Kids chose colored
paper, beads, cardboard, and shapes to replicate the different aspects of their building.
Once they were finished, kids drew roads, sidewalks, people and vehicles in between
their buildings to recreate a neighborhood.
Building off of this, we began to examine a map of the city and located where
different students live. Students learned about the cardinal directions, a compass
rose, and began to incorporate this understanding into learning about maps of the
united states and the world. Each side of the classroom is now labeled with its corresponding
direction, and students enjoy playing a hide-and-seek type game finding their
friends based on which direction they are hiding near. We will continue to learn
about maps, and using directions to navigate in the coming weeks.

PAGE 2
Games
During choice time, many butterflies are choosing to play
games with groups of friends, such as Uno, Jenga, Connect
Four, high-low, and Trouble. Students have been working
on learning the rules to new games and explaining them to
other kids, as well as deciding as a group who will go first.
Twice a week at the park, we play freeze tag as a whole
class where teachers are the freezers. Students have begun
to work together as a group, helping unfreeze kids
who are tagged and occasionally working together to
freeze teachers. This month at the park, after teachers
stopped to take a break, students organized their own
game of “What time is it Mr. Fox?,” taking turns being it
VIP Day
VIP day was a huge success in the butterflies! Prior to guests arriving, we
discussed what “VIP” means. Students wrote a sentence explaining why
the person they chose is important to them, or why they wanted that person
to come to Gillen Brewer. Students then illustrated their sentences
with their VIPs, and decorated a frame around their paper using different
art supplies to give to their VIP as a gift. After finishing the projects, butterflies
got a chance to show their VIPs the scrapbook they had made of
their neighborhood, and show them around the classroom. Thanks to all
the VIPs for coming to spend time with us!
THE MONARCH BUTTERFLIES

Spring
PAGE 3
In anticipation of the first day of spring, we talked about how the
seasons change throughout the year. We read nonfiction books
about how some plants change or start to grow in the spring, and
how some animals who have been hibernating come outside their
burrows. In the fall, we decorated a paper tree in our classroom
with leaves, and then changed the decorations to snow flakes in
the winter. On the first day of spring, students decorated flowers
and leaves out of tissue paper to add to our now blooming
spring tree.
Visiting the Art Farm
This month, the butterflies went on our first field trip to the Art Farm. At
the art farm, we walked downstairs to see all the animals that live there,
and then sat in a circle while Gabby showed students three new animals
that we hadn’t seen before. First, we looked at Benny the tortoise and
kids got a turn to pet his shell. Then, students got to look at and touch
Africa, a gray parrot and Angela, a blue-tongued skink. Students were able
to ask questions about the animals, and learn how they protect themselves.
At the end, kids got to decorate a sign to place on their favorite animal’s
cage or house to thank them for letting us visit.