Tag Archives: minibeasts

Let’s Meet Alison McLennan and her Hotel for Bees – #readilearn

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Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to Australian author Alison McLennan and her beautiful picture book Hotel for Bees.

About Alison McLennan

Alison McLennan has written three picture books, Hotel for Bees (State Library of Qld 2020), Growing Pains (EK Books 2021) and Great and Small (Storytorch Press, coming October 2022). Her graphic novel, A Flood in the Village, was published by Library For All as part of their natural disaster education series. Her short stories have appeared in the School Magazine and the Spooktakular Stories Anthology. She is a proud member of SCBWI and Qld Writelinks, a mother of two teenagers and a fur baby. She is also a singer and voiceover artist.

About Hotel for Bees

Continue reading: Let’s Meet Alison McLennan and her Hotel for Bees – readilearn

A Butterfly Promise #flashfiction

A Butterfly Promise #flashfiction

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This week at the Carrot Ranch, Charli Mills challenged writers to In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the contrasting prompts butterfly and stones. The two can be used in any way in your story. Go where the prompt leads!

Charli is a collector of stones and I love butterflies. I don’t collect them, but I welcome them into my garden, and one of my favourite things of the year while teaching was having a butterfly house in the classroom.

We would acquire some butterfly eggs or just-hatched caterpillars, watch them grow and pupate, wait while they metamorphosed, and gaze in wonder as they emerged and prepared for flight.

The children and I enjoyed the experience so much, I gave my granddaughter a butterfly house for her birthday one year and re-filled it for her on successive years. It was enjoyed by all the family.

I have written about our classroom butterfly experience many times, both here and at readilearn where minibeasts (including butterflies) are star attractions. Some of those posts include:

I Spy Butterflies

Classroom Minibeasts

Who’s on the Move? (includes FF but not butterfly-related)

Bug Me, Please (includes FF but not butterfly-related)

Learning about minibeasts at home or at school

I have also written other butterfly-themed flash fiction in response to Charli’s previous prompts, including:

First Flight

Once upon a time … the power of story

Which brings me to this week’s story linking butterflies and stones. I hope you enjoy it.

A Butterfly Promise

Jack scrambled over the rocks to their favourite place for discussing the wonders of the universe and the meaning of life. And death. He took Grandma’s special stone from his pocket, turned it this way and that in the sunlight, and admired its iridescence. ‘Like butterfly wings. Like life.’ Grandma said she’d come back as a butterfly, if she could.

‘You shouldn’t have left me, Grandma!’ Jack didn’t try to stop his tears. He blinked when a beautiful butterfly alighted on the stone, tickled his nose and circled his head before fluttering away. ‘Grandma!’ called Jack. ‘You came back!’

Thank you blog post

Thank you for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts.

learning about minibeasts at home or at school

Learning about minibeasts at home or at school – #readilearn

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Whether learning at home or at school, there is a world of minibeasts for children to explore, inside and outdoors. Regardless of our feelings towards certain species, all are important to our environment and contribute to our lives in different and often unseen ways including pollinating our plants, decomposing waste and providing food for other species. It is fair to say that we need minibeasts more than they need us.

Learning about living things is an important part of the science curriculum for children in their first few years of school. They learn about the features of living things, their needs and their life stages. Studying minibeasts allows for learning in all these areas in a small space over a short amount of time.

At readilearn, we support your teaching and children’s learning about minibeasts with a constantly growing collection of resources. In fact, three new resources were uploaded this week.

Observe and record

An interesting project is to use a magnifying glass to discover the different species of minibeasts that live in and around our classrooms and homes. Much can be learned through observing their behaviour.

The Code for caring explains how to observe while maintaining safety for self as well as the minibeasts.

My Minibeast Diary provides a format and suggestions for recording children’s observations.

Continue reading: Learning about minibeasts at home or at school – readilearn

Meet author Diana Harley and her springtime picture books

Meet author Diana Harley and her springtime picture books – #readilearn

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Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to Diana Harley as we discuss her three beautiful picture books that are perfect for sharing at springtime, or any time.

Here at readilearn, we have quite a fascination with minibeasts, especially butterflies, and have quite a variety of teaching resources that focus on them. Naturally, we are attracted to other resources which encourage children’s interest in minibeasts and the environment.

Diana Harley, Australian picture book author

About Diana

Diana Harley is a writer, author, poet and playwright living and working in the Bega Valley of NSW. Diana has written a number of fiction and non-fiction books for children, has had two adult poetry anthologies published and has won numerous awards for her poems and short stories. Many of her poems and stories have been included in various anthologies.  She has done a few blogs and two of her short plays have been produced and performed in regional NSW. She has run writing workshops for both adults and children and enjoys getting writers writing! She is a chocoholic, loves wedgetail eagles and reading is her favourite hobby.

About the books

Continue reading: Meet author Diana Harley and her springtime picture books – readilearn

teaching and learning about living things in lower primary classrooms

Learning about living things in lower primary classrooms – #readilearn

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Learning about living things is an important part of education for young children. This post suggests ways of teaching biological science in lower primary classrooms with lessons ready-to-teach and activities that make learning memorable and fun.

Concepts include:

  • the needs of living things
  • external features of living things
  • where living things live
  • how living things grow

and relate specifically to insects and other minibeasts.

Continue reading: Learning about living things in lower primary classrooms – readilearn

A new classroom game for junior entomologists

A New Classroom Game for Junior Entomologists – readilearn

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This week I have added a new classroom game for junior entomologists to the collection. The game is a fun way to integrate learning across the curriculum and, while appropriate for use at any time of the year, is particularly so when completing a unit of work about minibeasts.

The game works well as a group activity in science, literacy or maths lessons. It is also great as an activity with buddy classes. It is best if an adult or older buddy is available to explain and oversee the play.

Cross-curricular links

The game involves children in learning and practice of skills across curriculum areas; including:

Science

Biology – focus minibeasts

  • Living things
  • Features of living things
  • Needs of living things
  • Life stages of living things

Literacy

Reading:

  • For information
  • To follow instructions

Research skills – finding the answers to questions

Maths

  • Subitisation – spots on the dice
  • Counting one for one correspondence – moving spaces around the board
  • Tallies – recording points
  • Adding – totalling points
  • Comparing numbers – establishing the winner

Social-Emotional Skills

Games are an excellent way of teaching children the essential skills of getting along, including:

  • Taking turns
  • Being honest
  • Accepting decisions
  • Accepting that winning is not always possible nor the most important part of the game
  • Winning and losing gracefully

Contents of the Junior Entomologist Game package

a new classroom game for junior entomologists

All components of the game are downloadable and printable. Laminating is recommended for durability.

The package includes:

Continue reading: A New Classroom Game for Junior Entomologists – readilearn

Teaching critical thinking in early childhood classrooms with The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Readilearn

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teaching critical thinking

Teaching critical thinking in early childhood classrooms is important. Discussions about The Very Hungry Caterpillar can help develop critical thinking

Continue reading: Teaching critical thinking in early childhood classrooms with The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Readilearn

I spy butterflies – Readilearn

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I spy butterflies

Learning about butterflies in the classroom, especially when observations of the life stages with a live learning kit are possible, is almost magic for children. The growth of the caterpillars is obvious and children can watch as they moult and pass through each instar. The voracious appetite of the caterpillars means that plants are quickly stripped of their leaves and, if children listen carefully, the munching of the mandibles can be heard.

Many resources to support an early childhood science biology unit about butterflies in particular, or minibeasts in general, already exist in the readilearn collection; including:

Butterfly diary

Minibeast project

My minibeast ABC

Code for Caring

I included suggestions for teaching about minibeasts, including butterflies, in a previous post Classroom minibeasts. While there are many minibeasts suitable to study in the classroom, butterflies are my favourite. This week the readilearn collection has grown with some new resources to support learning about butterflies; including:

butterfly word cards

Butterfly word cards

Butterfly word cards is a collection of forty butterfly-relevant words which may be printed and displayed on a word wall or used to label a butterfly display. The words are presented in three different formats for printing choice.

The words include some fascinating scientific terms; such as:

  • instar
  • frass
  • chrysalis
  • prolegs

Continue reading: I spy butterflies – Readilearn

The Battle of Bug World – Book launch, Blog tour & Prizes!

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Karen Tyrrell announces the second in her Song Bird Superhero series, The Battle of Bug World, a children’s fun-filled eco fantasy.

Can Song Bird STOP the bully, save her sister, the bees and the environment?Karen is an award-winning author who writes books to empower kids (and adults) and help them live strong and be resilient.  After many years of classroom teaching experience, she continues to educate through sharing her own story of resilience as a survivor of bullying, through her words on the page, and through her workshops for adults that deal with writing, marketing, and funding, in addition to empowerment.

Karen presents workshops for children in schools, libraries, and other creative spaces. With her flair for costuming and performance, she conducts entertaining sessions with a splash of fun staring in her own scripted pantomimes. As I was lucky enough to attend the launch of her latest book The Battle of Bug World on Saturday, I can testify to the enjoyment that was shared by all attendees.

The Battle of Bug World is a fast-paced and action-packed story that children won’t want to put down until they find out if, and how, Song Bird can save her sister, her friends, and the environment from her evil neighbour Frank Furter.

I previously had the pleasure of interviewing Karen on readilearn about her first book in the series Song Bird Superhero, and am delighted to be a part of Karen’s blog tour celebrating the launch of this sequel, which even surpasses the first.

Please pop over to readilearn on Friday to read my post in the blog tour. Read other posts in the tour by following the links below. Leave a comment on any post for a chance to win great prizes including signed books, signed artwork, and a book critique (Comment on more posts for more chances to win!)


The Battle of Bug World – Song Bird 2 Blog Tour!

Look what’s happening to celebrate the Amazon release of The Battle of Bug World.

BLOG TOUR!

From Mon June 26 AMAZON LAUNCH KarenTyrrell.com

From Tues June 27 CURLY Q’S Kids Book Review

From Tues June 27 REVIEW Just Write For Kids

From Wed June 28 REVIEW Georgina Ballantine

From Thurs June 29 Writing Junior Novels Megan Higginson’s Blog

From Fri June 30 REVIEW & interview readilearn blog

BOOK GIVEWAYS!

Just leave a comment on any of the posts in the blog tour, to win a copy of The Battle of Bug World (Song Bird 2). Add initials SB2

FREE Children’s Book Assessment!

Win a free children’s book assessment (up to 10 pages) by the author Karen Tyrrell. Just comment on any of the posts in the blog tour and add the initials CBA

FREE Artwork!

Win signed artwork by illustrator Trevor Salter. Add initials AW

Remember the more you comment, the more chances you have to win prizes for The Battle of Bug World Blog Tour. Good luck 😊

 

 

 

Classroom minibeasts – Readilearn

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Learning about minibeasts in the classroom is a great way of engaging children with science knowledge, appreciation of nature, the interrelationships between people and the environment, sustainability, and caring for our planet. It fits beautifully into the science curriculum in an early childhood classroom when children are learning about living things, their needs, their external features, and their life stages.

With live minibeasts in the classroom, it is possible for children to observe all these aspects of a tiny creature. They can use their observations to consider how the life stages of minibeasts compare to those of others, including themselves.

My personal favourite minibeasts for the classroom are butterflies, but there are many others equally suitable; such as:

  • Silkworms
  • Meal worms
  • Stick insects
  • Cockroaches
  • Spiders

The timing and choice may depend upon your location.

For Australians, Minibeast Wildlife is a great resource.

This week I have uploaded some new resources to support a unit of work about minibeasts in an early childhood classroom. These are resources I used for many years in my own classroom. I hope you find them useful too.

Butterfly diary is a free printable resource for recording observations of butterflies in the classroom. Observing the stages in these brief lives helps develop an appreciation for all life. Recording observations integrates science learning with other subject areas

Continue reading: Classroom minibeasts – Readilearn