Hunting for caterpillars

Journal Entry #1

2008-01-10T20:01:00.001-08:00

Journal Entry #1

I have just finished making presentations in 6 different classrooms, inviting over 200 students to see "The Wonders of the Rainforest." I used role play to introduce the words host and gracious and continued with a video/slide show.
I showed the kids some incredible footage and talked about a host tree, a gracious plant and the many kinds of "trunks". And of course we saw the monarchs, the viceroys and some clear winged butterflies.
They are so excited that they are going to see their teacher "live from the field." I explained that sometime on Monday they will see my face on that smartboard, instead of a howler monkey's!

Students- Read this blog with your teachers in homeroom everyday. At approximately 9:00 am, I will appear via web conferencing and answer all your questions, if I can. If I can't there will be research scientists from Tulane University there to help me out. We will do this in "real time." It will be alot of fun. We will save the written comment section for the last day, when you will work with your classmates to find a solution.

A Special Message to all who teach ELLs

2008-01-10T19:55:00.000-08:00

As second language learners work their way through school they need to develop the vocabulary necessary to understand and process information. This vocabulary is not limited solely to the study of English. The student needs to comprehend the words used in the content areas as well. How else will he or she be able to fully participate in the total educational process?

As a Dodge fellow and recipient of this grant, I would like to provide these students with the same opportunities every student is afforded in this country. The studies presented at last year’s OELA Conference (Office of English Language Acquisition, a subdivision of the United States Department of Education) stated that vocabulary is the greatest individual indicator of success in learning a second language. Our ELL students need to develop that vocabulary.

The Forest Caterpillar Project will serve as the context through which that vocabulary can be taught to ELLs. (English Language Learners). Students will learn the words, evaluate the way the word changes in context, form and structure and apply this new knowledge to their understanding of how words define meaning in social English and the English of Science, Math and Social Studies.

As an elementary school ESL teacher my focus will be on students in grades one through five. Since I work in a school where almost 33% of the students speak a language other than English at home, my lessons will teach the language they will need to learn about life in the rainforest and the how each of the species there maintains biodiversity.

The activities will reflect the role language plays in the content areas, the role the content area plays in language, and the symbiotic relationship between them. I have carefully reviewed the case study and other resource materials and have created a program for both my ELL learners and other students in the school.

TO ESL teachers and others...
This blog will help you understand the value of vocabulary and perhaps help you teach it in different, more effective ways. I have included lesson plans, differentiated activities and other suggestions. Please try them, after reading the following post. Then click on the link to Earthwatch's EdNet Resources Library (below) where you will find the lessons that could help your students make that connection from the English language to the language of science.

Still Time to Teach a Little Vocabulary Before I go

2008-01-10T19:53:00.001-08:00

This is the second week of school. I am teaching my students the following vocabulary words:

1.host

2. gracious

3. bromeliad/ orchid

4. ephiphytes

5. parasites

6. trunk

7.camoflauge

8. predator/prey

9. threat

10. mimicry

Most of these words have many meanings and therefore confuse the ELL who might have learned some of the meanings, but not the one necessary to understand the science curriculum.

Consider the following: “I found the caterpillar on the trunk,” said the scientist. In the mind of a second language learner he is thinking…”Ok, so where is the rest of the elephant?” or, “Why would anyone hide a caterpillar in the trunk of a car?”

To further familiarize the ESL teacher with this approach to language learning, I have included a lesson plan that can be downloaded from the Earthwatch EdNet Resources Library.

After taking a look at the lesson plans,read the stories the ELL students in grades 1-5 wrote, based on this experience. Link to student and teacher files.
or:
Copy and paste this URL....
http://studentandteacherfiles.blogspot.com/

Journal Entry # 2

2008-01-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

All of the participants are here in New Orleans. There are 4 other teachers from all over the United States.
Tomorrow we begin our caterpillar search.
For now, let's look at some of the creatures we might find.

Activity #2
Do you remember the name of the butterfly this caterpillar will turn into? Do you remember the difference between this one and a Viceroy Butterfly? Do you remember the word that means "to copy" or "to behave like another animal in order to protect yourself"?

Journal Entry #3

2008-01-10T19:50:00.001-08:00

It is 7:00 am in the morning here in New Orleans. That means it is 8:00 in the morning at Fernbrook. You are just getting to school and I am getting ready to go to the lab. The lab is a place at Tulane University where the scientists do experiments.
Now they are studying caterpillars and what might have happened to the number of caterpillars after Hurricane Katrina. Did their numbers increase? Decrease? Stay the same? What do you think happened?
You can make a guess about what happened. The word in Spanish is "Una adivinanza"
Scientists use the word hypothesis to mean "a guess, using some information they have"
Today we will work with the scientists in the lab.
We will classify the insects there using different criteria.

Activity: Write the word hypothesis and copy the definition given here. Then make a hypothesis about the following......
1. Will it rain today? What information do you have to support your hypothesis?
2. Will Ms. Drucker become a famous singer and leave her job in Fernbrook? What information do you have to support your hypothesis?
Now....Stay tuned to find out about the hypothesis the scientists are making about the caterpillars. ( and remember caterpillars are not gracious guests to host trees)

Meet the other teachers working with me here in New Orleans, check out their websites and get to know the scientists. Click here

http://www.earthwatch2.org/lff/neworleans07/

Pictures are on the way.......

Journal Entry # 4

2008-01-10T19:49:00.001-08:00

It is Tuesday night and we are exhausted- very, very tired. We spent the entire day working with scientists. Funny, they didn't look anything like the ones I saw Mrs. Eva's class drawing last week.
First we worked with Clark. Clark is an entomologist here at Tulane University. There is a sign on his door that says, "Don't bug me!" Do you know what an entomologist does? The clue is in the last sentence.
Clark is using a special microscope so that he can dissect tiny insects. You can see the image on a computer screen as he does it. What does dissect mean?

Then the scientists put us to work. First,I had to measure nutrients for the plants caterpillars like to eat. Then they sent me to the greenhouse to fill 90 pots with the exact quantity of plant feed that was required. It was very tedious labor, but someone had to do it.

In the afternoon, I measured insects. We measured their length- the long part of their bodies with a ruler. Most of the insects were smaller than an ant. Which unit of measure, in the metric system would you use to measure them?

Activity:
Please define the words in bold print: dissect,entomologist, tedious
Please answer the question at the end.
Please post them by clicking on the comments and I will be able to read them, but no one else will see your answers. Please include your name and class.

I didn't get any answers this time. I will take total responsibility for that. So to make sure you do learn those words, I have created a four column vocabulary lesson.
Teachers, forewarned is forearmed. Click here.
Or copy and paste:
http://www.studentandteacherfiles.blogspot.com/

Journal Entry # 5

2008-01-10T19:48:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow at 9:45 am I will be coming live to you from New Orleans. I will answer your comments and questions at that time.
Today we went caterpillar hunting. It was hot and humid in the swamp. We saw an alligator, but he was under the bridge basking contentedly in the water. We saw lots of birds and a few snakes as well!

Take a look at the bugs I found in the bug room last night.

Activity:
Identify the insects. Talk about them in class. Try using words like predator and prey. Don't worry if you are not sure. Try using the internet for help. "See" you tomorrow at 9:45 with a full cadre of scientists and lab assistants.

Journal Entry #6

2008-01-10T19:47:00.001-08:00

They say every picture tells a story. What story does this picture tell?

Activity;
Write the story the picture tells YOU. You can start your story any way you want as long as you DO NOT begin it with "Once upon a time......."

Journal Entry # 7

2008-01-10T19:44:00.000-08:00

Great talking to you today. Technology is a wonderful thing when it works.
I did not have to go to the caterpillar zoo today. The zoo is where the caterpillars live in little plastic bags. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of them in one little room. Instead I had to feed the caterpillars. They eat an interesting mixture of wheat germ and vitamins, but it looks like tofu. We had to take them from their homes in one plastic cup, separate them into new families of five and feed them. Then we put them away in a special closet that is climate and light controlled. The picture above shows you what they look like. The little brown stuff in there is not sugar. It is frass.

Activity:
Do you remember what frass is? Can you name an instrument( NOT a musical one) I might use to get the caterpillars out and leave the frass? Let me know when we SKYPE tomorrow. If you don't know the exact word in English, draw it and ask a friend to define it.

Journal Entry # 8

2007-10-04T15:56:00.001-07:00

The Caterpillar Hunters in their most impressive gear.
Most wardrobe managers would never approve of these clothes, but the terrain is rough and we need to be ready. We are wearing boots (and the land is dry as there has been a drought)We are wearing long sleeves and pants and it is over 90 degrees. We are carrying machetes, bamboo sticks and white, cloth covered panels. We all have on hats and special tape in a bright color. You can see the tape on Rebecca's hat. (She is the last one on the right.)
I have given you many clues in the paragraph and in the picture. Please try the activity.

Activity
Mission Impossible:
Explain why we wear each of the articles listed.
1. high boots
2. long sleeves and long pants
3. a hat- brightly colored or a piece of orange tape
4. carrying bamboo sticks
5. Carrying white cloth covered panels