A Dance With the Butterflies

misshopeyummy

2007-03-08T05:14:00.000-08:00

misshopeyummy
Originally uploaded by butterflydanceproject.

Miss Hope along with her colleagues traveled with the Monarch Teacher Network to Mexico.
Read all about her adventure at:
www.misshope.com/mexico

Butterfly Farm

2007-02-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

Butterfly Farm
Originally uploaded by SusanSilverman.

When my husband and I visited the butterfly farm at La Loma Jungle Lodge, I couldn't help but think about our project, A Dance With the Butterflies!
It's the winter now, but before long, these beautiful creatures will return.
Sarah and I are planning our spring 2007 project, Lucky Ladybugs.
http://kids-learn.org/ladybugs
We hope you join us in this learning adventure.

caterpillar1

2007-02-02T06:38:00.000-08:00

caterpillar1
Originally uploaded by SusanSilverman.

Enjoy!

Presentation at NECC

2006-12-20T05:31:00.000-08:00

Susan and I have been accepted to present this project at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Education Computing Conference (NECC) in Atlanta in June. We are excited and proud to share what you all have done. Thanks for such a great project.

Exciting News from Hope

2006-11-14T10:16:00.000-08:00

Greetings,
I just received this message from home and would like to share it with you.
Happy Thanksgiving!
~Susan

I just received word that I got grant money to go on a Monarch Teacher Network sponsored trip to the Monarch Sanctuary region of Mexico in February! We will be visiting the schools in addition to the sanctuaries. I wish I could take our kids but we decided that they could write books. (Which would be translated into English and Spanish) If any of our Butterfly Buddies would like to participate I would be happy to bring their books, too! I will of course take lots of pictures!

And a Ladybug project in the spring sounds AWESOME!!! I can’t wait!!!!
Best Regards,
Hope

Our Monarch Project

2006-10-29T06:40:00.000-08:00

What an amazing season it's been for us,too. I am so glad we can still share our experiences here!
My co-worker and I took a wonderful three day workshop called "Teaching and Learning with Monarch Butterflies from the Monarch Teachers Network. We also particpated in the Symbolic Migration and the children have raised over 50 Monarchs from eggs which were found in our own garden !
We learned how to tag them( It doesn't hurt them or interfere with flight at all) to help the scientists at Monarch Watch track their migration to Mexico.How remarkable it would be to hear that one of "our " butterflies made the trip safely.
The children released the last butterfly a few weeks ago and are already talking about the spring. (Plant milkweed,ladies.. and they WILL come. :)) I posted some photo's on Flkr..but my skills are rusty.. because I can't find them.. but I'll keep trying.
I hope everyone will enjoy nature in all it's glory in every season.
Best,
Hope
Oh, and I like all of these suggestions from NABA for what a "flock of butterflies" should be called. :)

Tagged for the trip

2006-10-29T06:11:00.000-08:00

Tagged for the trip
Originally uploaded by Hope8.

Our summer-fall Monarch Butterfly season has been amazing!
we were able to tag over fifty that we raised from eggs for the trip south~

Journey South

2006-10-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hi to all,
Hope the school year is going well.

Our class was participating in one of Marci McGowan's amazing Internet projects, Autumn Across America. We had been thinking about Autumn in Arlington, Massachusetts, our community, when something incredible happened!

One of my students counted over 280 monarch butterflies flying over our own Peirce School playground after school. In investigating their migration, I found a fabulous project through Journey North, entitled Symbolic Migration.

This beautiful butterfly is by Jamie and it's on its way to Mexico!! To see all the children's work go here: http://geocities.com/ljacoby_2000/monarchs.html and to view all our work for the project, see: http://geocities.com/ljacoby_2000/aaa.html. You'll find links to information on Symbolic Migration on this page, as well.

Best,
Lanise

Lanise's Adventure

2006-08-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

I just received this e-mail from Lanise Jacoby and wanted to share it with you.
~Susan

Hi, Susan,
Hope you've been having a terrific summer. I have some exciting news to share. My husband and I were vacationing in Meredith, NH. We were enjoying an afternoon of sun beside the lake, when a monarch landed to nectar, then another, and another until we saw over 20 monarchs!!! We were in the midst of their Journey South!! I managed to capture a few pictures on my PHONE! I'm attaching the best one. I'm guessing that not many people check the blog any longer, so I'm wondering if you could maybe pass the pick and info along to our Dance group. I think they might be interested. I'm so sad about Shark Bytes. Would LOVE to have joined, but can't make it work for this time of year.
Hugs,
Lanise
Window to Our World
http://geocities.com/ljacoby_2000/window.html
Our classroom site

Butterfly Jeopardy

2006-06-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

dbsam
Originally uploaded by Lanise.

Hi to all,
Here is one of our student projects - Butterfly Jeopardy.
It had every hand in the room up and anxious to answer!

Monarch Live!

2006-06-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

Monarch Live!
Originally uploaded by Hope8.

My audio/visual savy coworker found a really creative use for our equipment! Under the netting to the left is our butterfly tower.Inside,the monarch chrysalides are hanging from bridal netting on an artificial Christmas tree branch.A video camera is below,recording all the action.
We had watched this butterfly emerge but wanted to give her some " alone time" as she dried her wings. He set up the video camera to the VCR so that we could watch all the action as it was happening on TV. And we have a video record of the whole emergence! She was beautiful .We set her free with her brothers and sisters. What a wonderful end to the school year.

A thought about UDL and this project

2006-06-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

I was just sitting here thinking about how sad it is that this collaboration will soon come to an end. It was just so COOL to learn so much in such a short period of time.It was just so awesome to interact with teachers from all over the globe!
I have heard it said often that to compare the teaching strategies and approaches in early childhood education to the public school system is like “comparing apples and oranges.” But I have to say after my experience with this project that with the UDL format... this is just NOT SO. “Teaching every student” means just that. EVERY student whether they are 2 or 42 (or 48 :)) can learn when "multiple means of representation, multiple means of expression, and multiple means of engagement" are part of the equation. Blogging and communicating with all of you has taught me so much about using technology with my little ones. It has proven to me that teaching and learning truly IS universal. No matter the age of the students (or the teachers!)
I think it would be really cool to keep a blog like this going .It would be really great to have a place where teachers could share resources and strategies and continue to learn from one another! What do you guys think?

A Dance With the Butterflies: June 2006

2006-06-05T19:36:00.000-07:00

We Are Looking for our own Caterpillars

Hi all,
Just wanted to report that my class took the news well that their caterpillars might have died over the weekend. They were happy that I had ordered more caterpillars. They were eager to go out and look in their gardens for caterpillars. At recess they were out in the garden that we planted about a month ago. They didn't see any, but they found evidence that something had been eating the new leaves on the various plants.

I was happy that this didn't discourage them from creating their own projects. There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm and excitement for this project. They loved the work that Hope's students did and can hardly wait to see their own work posted.
It was a good day for everyone!
Norma

New Arrivals!

2006-06-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

Today we came in and had eight butterflies that emerged! Six over the weekend and two today. The children and I were amazed! Needless to say we spent most of the day observing them drying their wings and a few were actually eating which was nice. We have several more chrysalides that are due anytime now-they have turned dark. We did have one that was malformed. I took some pictures that I will get up as soon as possible. I am so relieved that the children were able to see this process. I was thrilled to hear their discussions of what they had seen and what they have learned. Looking forward to what we will see tomorrow!!!

Options for Students and More

2006-06-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

Hi to all,
As I've said to a couple of people, the devastation of caterpillars dying or dying in chrysalis has become a grave concern with this unit in recent years.

ALL the most popular companies from which to purchase larvae are "farmers" and with this has come too much inbreeding, and with this disease. I'm greatly concerned with what's happening in terms of the environment. There almost needs to be some guidelines that these companies should follow.

A word to all who are having some problems - it's NOT YOU, it's what the companies are doing. They aren't bad people, but they are clearly driven by the popular demand for these beautiful creatures!

On a totally different note...I worked hard to provide multiple product options for my kids. When I presented them this week, MOST of my kids wanted to do "traditional" offerings. I was shocked at first, but then thought - are they wanting to do what is comfortable??? On an up note, several asked if they could do something different, to which I said "YES!" Now I know I'll always be sure to incude an "Other" option on differentiated assignments.

I'll let you know how it goes.

A Dance With the Butterflies: June 2006

2006-06-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

A Dance With the Butterflies: June 2006

I just went to school to check up on our caterpillars and discovered that they are all dead. At least I think they are dead. They aren't moving and the one that on the top of the lid was on the bottom of the container. I am so upset! The children are going to be so sad. I will try to get more, but I don't think they will emerge in time:(

If I can find more butterflies, I'm wondering how many to buy? I want to be able to have some of them emerge.

Norma

Hope's Project

2006-06-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

After putting together Hope's web page for our project, I took the time to view the other activities she did with her students. Needless to say, it took my breath away! Just listening to her little ones talk about butterflies validated all the work I've been doing with my online friends and colleagues. I'm going to be a featured speaker in Georgia next November and can't wait to share how our group has been blogging for understanding. Hope told me that our blog has introduced her to so many new technologies and it's such a pleasure to see how they were used with her pre schoolers in such a creative way.
Thank you, Hope!

2006-06-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture from my weekend trip to New York and the American Museum of Natural History.

A Dance With the Butterflies

2006-06-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

A Dance With the Butterflies
I am thankful that we aren't the only class with most of our larvae dying. We are down to 4. 2 are against the side of the vial. The children are praying. Despite this, it has been fun studying butterflies. They are delightful little creatures. We have had a few visitors, cabbage white butterflies and a couple moths. Yesterday, one student caught a moth and though it had antennas like a butterfly, it definitely had a broad body. It is great to watch the students examining and arriving to insightful conclusions.
Blessings,
Lori-Anne

A Dance With the Butterflies

2006-05-31T20:36:00.000-07:00

A Dance With the Butterflies
I wanted to tell you that I had the hardest time getting class started this morning because the children wanted to tell me all about what they were going to do for their project and/or what they had learned about butterflies. It was so exciting to see so much excitement for learning. They were so excited, you would have thought they were going to Disneyland for the day! I loved it! I can see that I will be able to share with them my knowledge of computers and programs. This will
be fun!!!! Hurry up caterpillars grow!
Norma

Hope this is it! / My butterfly project!

2006-05-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

I hope I finally made a post! I am NOT technologically challenged, but for some reason I was jhaving a few problems.
This has been a busy year.
My project is coming along fine.
The lifecycle and hatching of the butterfly is studied in kindergarten
and grade 1 in our school. Because of this, I am using this project as an
extension project for one of my higher level grade 2 students. I am using it to heighten his technology skills. This project fit our needs perfectly.
He took digital pictures of a moth and a butterfly. He watched a few videos on the butterfly, and he also searched on the web to find out other information.
He is now in the process of creating a "Max" powerpoint show of his findings. He will be responsible for typing, drawing, and uploading his pictures. He is only 7, but he is having a ball!

A Mother Monarch

2006-05-31T14:46:00.000-07:00

A Mother Monarch
Originally uploaded by Hope8.

New Friends

2006-05-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

MVC-015F
Originally uploaded by Lanise.

These two spent the day looking at each other. Could it be love?

Newly Emerged Butterfly

2006-05-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

MVC-014F
Originally uploaded by Lanise.

Here's one of the pics.

Ladybugs

2006-05-30T18:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a page about our ladybug life cycle experience.

Our Butterflies Emerged!

2006-05-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hi to all,
Borrowing hubby's updated laptop - this summer I'm getting my own new technology - smile!
I've loved reading about what is going on with everyone. This is truly SUCH an exciting topic!

I was worried about our painted ladies from Insect Lore. We have had good luck in the past with this company, but when I borrowed the keys to the school from my principal to go in and check on them over Memorial Day weekend, we had no butterflies. I was concerned that they may have died in chrysalis (has happened in the past with larvae from Carolina Biological).

Today, however, we were THRILLED to find 11 butterflies had emerged. The kids "snacked" with them for more observation time, and then we released those who were ready and able (7) after lunch.

Each class brings their own special twist to this experience. This class immediately became "scientists" taking notes on their own from Day 1. Many said today, "I've got to get notes down about this!" Could a teacher ask for more - smile???

I posted two photos (looked clearer when I took them than when I saw them uploaded) in flickr.

Also, on a ladybug note (I've seen a few postings about this) - I would HIGHLY recommend raising ladybugs. We did it a couple of years ago with larvae from Insect Lore. They did great, and it was a WONDERFUL experience for all of us. I will try to find a page I made about it and post.

Now onto our project piece!

A Dance With the Butterflies: May 2006

2006-05-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

A Dance With the Butterflies: May 2006
Susan,
Thanks for the reference to the article. I'll try to read it tonight. I can see how Lanise's project paper( one she gave to her students) works with this design now and how it is different from Differentiated Instruction. I'm excited to try it. Thanks again.
Norma

Butterflies Just Arrived

2006-05-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

Our butterflies just arrived before Memorial Day weekend. We are really excited to get started. We have wonderful plans for what we are going to do,just hope there is enough time to implement them.

I am not familar with UDL, but I've been reading a little about it. I am from California and it sounds a lot like Differentiated Instruction that we are doing in our state. Does anyone know the whether they are the same or not?

Norma

Hey, Cheri!( and everyone raising butterflies)

2006-05-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

Cheri,

How has your caterpillar rearing experience been going? Our one and only painted lady from Ed Sci was malformed but able to fly.
Our Insect Lore caterpillars seemed to be much more active and are all now in the chrysalid stage.
We had no luck with our Monarch Magic caterpillars. ( The children learned a new vocabulary word.. "disease."):(
But I have a den full of monarch caterpillars from Shady Oaks Farms which are fat and happy.The children can not belive their rate of growth! I had to take them home for the weekend because they are little eating machines!

What has everyone's butterfly or moth rearing experience been like so far?

Hope

Kids Science Radio Program

2006-05-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

More multi media ...I found this cool kid's radio program when the children and I were investigating the difference between a Moth and a Butterfly.

Butterfly Conservatory

2006-05-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

pic18
Originally uploaded by butterflydanceproject.

I visited the Butterfly Conservatory at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Click on the picture to see more photos in Flickr. Please share your photos with us in Flickr.
Susan

Congratulations to Ms. Ireland's Class

2006-05-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

Poetry, art work, dramatics, math, science, language arts.....
A trip to the "Butterflies are Free" exhibition....
A Woolly Bear caterpillar becomes an Isabella Tiger Moth...
Learning doesn't get much better than this!

paintedlady

2006-05-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

paintedlady
Originally uploaded by Lanise.

Lanise posted this picture in flickr. It was very easy to transfer it to our blog. I simply clicked on "blog this."

2006-05-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Mrs. Godsey's Students!
They did an excellent job on their butterfly projects.

http://www.comsewogue.k12.ny.us/~ssilverman/butterflies/godsey/godsey.htm

Awesome Monarch Resource

2006-05-16T06:11:00.000-07:00

It occurs to me that you may not have to have joined this online project to access this great resource.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/KidsJourneyNorth.html
( Although I highly recommend Journey North..It's an incredible learning experience!)

Cool Multimedia Resource

2006-05-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

I found a really cool multimedia resource today !

http://www.junglewalk.com/video/Butterfly-movie.htm

It seems like a great site to enhance any animal unit of study.

My kids loved the proboscis movie clip.

Painted Lady Resources

2006-05-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

Me, again,
Thought I'd share a webpage I created last year when we did our butterfly unit. For those of you who are raising painted lady butterflies, you may find some of the links helpful. I plan on using the page as part of my multiple format presentations. In case the link above doesn't work, here it is:
http://geocities.com/ljacoby_2000/butblog.html.

Also, I was involved with a UDL online course last year. I made a page which is really a compilation of ideas from the participants. One helpful tip is how to access the text to speech feature in Appleworks. There is a box on the page that explains how to do it. I am planning on using this feature in my presentations, as well.
http://geocities.com/ljacoby_2000/udl.html

Happy Moms' Day to all our Moms!

Butterfly Presentations

2006-05-14T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hi to all,
Our caterpillars are arriving this week. In trying to put together UDL lessons (challenging!!), I decided to look ahead to the end of the project and what I would be asking my students to do.

Thanks, so much Susan, for providing it to people in pdf form. I also put it online at
http://geocities.com/ljacoby_2000/udlbutproject.html

Also, Butterfly Vocabulary can be found here.

I joined the Flickr group - it's very cool, especially the badge feature which I hope to use for this project.

Virtual Monarch Life Cycle

2006-05-12T04:32:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Is anyone else raising butterflies in their classroom?
It would be cool to share information.We have Monarchs and Painted Ladies.
This is a great link to learn all about a Monarch Butterflies life cycle.
And it is a neat alternative for anyone who can't have live caterpillars in their classoom.

~Hope

Online Puzzle Maker

2006-05-07T06:43:00.000-07:00

A neat alternative for those children who have difficulty with 3d puzzles.

Our first Kidspiration activity...Ever!

2006-05-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! Our project has begun in earnest. Over the next three weeks the children will witness the metamorphosis of painted lady and monarch butterflies in our classroom. We received our painted ladies (in a cup) yesterday. As I do each year, I invited the children to explore the changes taking place. The children usually represent what they are investigating in a variety of ways..... With clay, drawing, keeping a journal, with music and movement etc. THIS year... Thanks to THIS project I purchased Kidspiration. This is what the children created after they saw the “painted lady cup” in the "Super Grouper" menu. They created their caterpillars, the food and the paper at the top of the cup with the “create a symbol tool” .They used the recording option to record their observations. I am SO excited. Children who would never have participated in a drawing/ writing center activity were eager to use the drawing tool and dictate their observations to record their voices. I can not wait to share this experience with other early childhood educators. The marketers of these computer programs should get the word out to those of us who teach the youngest learners!

Our First Project!

2006-05-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the students in Mrs. Dukic's Library Club. They did a wonderful butterfly project. Check it out their web page at http://www.comsewogue.k12.ny.us/~ssilverman/butterflies/dukic/dukic.htm

monarchbutterfly6

2006-05-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

monarchbutterfly6
Originally uploaded by butterflydanceproject.

Hope taught us something very interesting about this butterfly! Click on the photograph to find out!

Zach's Male Monarch

2006-05-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

Zach's Male Monarch
Originally uploaded by Hope8.

I bet his parents were thrilled when they got your e-mail.
~Susan

Monarch emerging

2006-05-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

Monarch emerging
Originally uploaded by Hope8.

Hope,
Thank you for sharing. I wish I could be in your class!
~Susan

Flickr

2006-05-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

We will be posting student projects on our web site, but many of you might want to showcase some learning in action photographs. Please consider joining our Flickr group. If you haven't received an e-mail invitation please let me know. Only invited guests may post pictures and comments so we have a safe environment. If you post student pictures, please do not include names or any other personal information.
This is an opportunity for interaction among us and our students. Under each photograph you can send comments. We're very excited to see how this cutting edge technology works for us. Please feel free to experiment. In addition to having a deeper understanding of UDL, experimenting with these new technologies will give us more ideas to use with our students.

Springfield's Planning Tool

2006-04-27T03:04:00.000-07:00

Please contact Carolynn if you would like her to e-mail you the Kidspiration diagram.
Carolyn Bruton
carolynn@bruton.wcape.school.za

Springfield's Butterfly Blog

2006-04-27T02:50:00.000-07:00

Carolyn Bruton, a participant in our project created here own butterfly blog.
http://buttersadance.blogspot.com/
She is using Kidspiration as a planning tool and is thrilled to have so many of her own staff involved in their butterfly unit. You are welcome to add a comment in their blog.

Kid Pix Activity

2006-04-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

tools and progress

2006-04-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hello, everbody. I'm so anxious to see your projects, I can hardly wait. How are they coming? Any hints as to what you are doing? I was just looking a a new tool, (or maybe just new to me) called Pixie www.tech4learning.com/pixie by Tech4Learning. It's seems easy and maybe something that could be used in this project. If you try it let us know what you think.

Butterfly Blog Field Guide

2006-04-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be cool if we all posted an online Butterfly field guide from all of the areas where we are.

Here is one for our area of North East New Jersey. We'll save it in our favorites folder for reference and I'll also print out a copy of the checklist for the children.
http://www.wildnj.com/ksbchecklist.htm

( I found a cool one for you too ,Dana.. But I thought your kids would enjoy finding it themselves. :))

Audio clips again

2006-04-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Here in Hong Kong is already summer and it's much more pleasant to stay indoor under the aircon. That's why I had plenty of time to experiment with audio clips. I created my first vaw file and converted it to an mp3. It's great. I will show it to my students. Thank you Sarah and Susan for teaching me how to do it.
Dana

Interpretation

2006-04-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

I presented at a conference on Saturday about UDL. I had an interesting comment- isn't universal a concept that should apply for all. I had not thought of it that way. I looked it up in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_design and I see how that could be an interpretation of universal design. How can we make the distinction? I also got the question "how is Universal Design different from differentiated learning?" Tough questions. Wish you guys had been with me to help field these questions :-)

A Dance With the Butterflies

2006-04-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Just checking in. I guess everyone in my neck of the woods must be out enjoying spring.
A little girl in my class pointed out two cabbage white butterflies on Friday. She said "Look at the butterflies dancing!" How apropos! And so it begins..Next week is the NAEYC Week of the Young Child. The theme is "Building Better Futures for All Children"
(This is apropos as well.:))
I did a search for UDL on the NAEYC site and found these two article that I need to share with our Dean:
http://naeychq.naeyc.org/texis/search/?query=UDL&btnG=Search&pr=naeyc

Those audio clips are amazing!I can't wait to try it.
But today is too beautiful to stay inside and do research. I'm off in search of some dancing butterflies.:)

Have a great day!
~Hope

Sarah Inspired Me!

2006-03-25T16:42:00.000-08:00

Here is my audio clip! I uploaded the mp3 file on my web site and linked to it from here.
http://kids-learn.org/susansilverman/mp3/inspired.mp3

Transformational qualities of technology

2006-03-25T15:38:00.000-08:00

How many ways can technology change the way we learn? teach? communicate? collaborate? read? write? publish? This butterfly project illustrates the many ways it is changing even the way we are learning -- and we're the teachers! I posted an audioblog that I learned how to do today. Hope you all are learning new things too. Let us know.

Improved Learning Opportunities - audio clip

2006-03-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

2006-03-18T15:19:00.000-08:00

Here is an idea. Have students search images of the life cycle of a butterfly. Create a simple Excel page. Start with an egg and work backwards: butterfly, chrysalis and caterpillar. Give each stage a value of 1. Create your graph and choose pie graph. Select a section to format data series, select fill effects and then picture. Put the correct picture in each pie section. Here is a sample of the one I made. Cut it out, fasten it to a butterfly cutout with a brad and you have an instant visual the students can manipulate around in a circle to show the continuous cycle. We have a 5th grade class that has a butterfly garden out on the playground. They will be our partners for this project and can help my kindergarten kids find pictures.

UDL and cars

2006-03-16T19:50:00.000-08:00

I just read an article that discussed UDL and the flexibility in cars today. For example we have adjustable seats, cruise control, seatbelt adjustments, radios, CD players, tape deck, signal lights, etc. I suppose you could add the gps navigation systems and voice activated phones that are in some cars these days. The key characteristics are focused on choice and controls. The driver has choices and flexibility. He can adjust controls and ergonomics to suit his individual needs. This exemplifies what we need to be thinking about in designing UDL lessons -- create the flexibility and choices in the curriculum. It is quite a challenge to think about new and multiple ways of offering opportunities for children to learn. Can you think of other examples? How do they translate to the classroom?

UDL Question for Discussion

2006-03-16T04:04:00.000-08:00

I just found an excellent resource on UDL. I added it to our web site.
World Usability Day
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~wud/details/udi.html
There is a link to UDL materials from U Conn that you will find very helpful.
http://www.facultyware.uconn.edu/udi_information.cfm

Here's a question for discussion.
You found a very nice butterfly mobile for your third grade class to make as their culminating project. It displays the life cycle of a butterfly. The mobile comes with step by step directions written on a third grade level along with a pattern . Your objective it to teach sequencing and reinforce the life cycle of butterflies. A printed copy of the directions and pattern are handed out and students are told to work independently.
Is this a UDL activity?

2006-03-08T07:03:00.000-08:00

National Geographic has a new magazine out for grades K-1. I just recieved a sample of the Spring 2006 issue and it is about butterflies. The pictures are great - what you would expect from National Geographic! I am sure you could write and get a sample copy. The website is:
ngschoolpub.org
Nancy

Welcome everybody

2006-03-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

Susan and I are so excited to have this project up and running. We planned it on a cold rainy day in January in anticipation of spring and getting to know new friends interested in trying new things. So we are happy that you are joining us here. We are all experimenting with new things to use with our students - text-to-speech, streaming video and audio, graphics, digital photography, and blogs. Universal design is a quest for how students learn, what interests them, and how we can provide instruction in ways that they can understand and enjoy. We are happy that you are interested in pursuing the quest with us. Everyone brings expertise to the project so the blog is a good place to share ideas and ask questions. We will all learn together and have fun doing it.
Sarah

2006-03-05T12:55:00.000-08:00

The Project Coordinators

A Dance With the Butterflies

2006-02-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our project blog. Feel free to share your ideas, projects, etc. with project participants.
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