Butterflies and Money Freebie

I love how first graders can make you feel like a rock star and it doesn't take much. I bought some caterpillars last week and my firsties went nuts! They are so excited to watch them grow and change. A couple of my darlings commented on what a wonderful teacher I am. "Mrs. Peterson, you're the best ever!" Like I said, it doesn't take much even a few caterpillar will do. Seriously, I'm even excited about the caterpillars. When my own kids were young we would go down to the empty fields and find monarch caterpillar. We'd bring them home and watch the magic. I'd always take one to school for my students to enjoy. But then houses went up in the field and we couldn't find any milkweeds. My curriculum also changed and my children grew-up. So I've missed the caterpillar magic. My son saw my caterpillar the day they arrived in the mail and started talking about the memories. I love when that happens. Anyhow, we are anxiously watching and waiting. I bought 'Painted Lady' caterpillars. They only have a life span of 3-4 weeks. Some of the little firsties are having a hard time with the fact that they will die but we are going to set them FREE so they can lay more eggs before they die.
Believe it or not but I got a great deal on the caterpillar on Amazon.com. You can check it out by clicking the picture below.

I got 5 caterpillars and they guarantee that 3 will make it to the butterfly stage. We are having a great time learning all about them. I made a fun butterfly packet and uploaded it to my shops. It has a non-fiction booklet in black and white or color. There is an observation page and a cute poem by Aileen Fisher. There is also a note taking page and butterfly sheet for our reports. You can check it out by clicking on the words- TpT  or Teachers Notebook.

We are working on more money practice this week. So I made a fun little board game. 3AM Teacher had some really cute graphics. Just click on the picture below to download a FREE PFD.

I hope you can use it! I hope everyone has a wonderful week. I know a lot of you are on spring break. Not me :( But ours is next week. So I'm counting the days and minutes. I need a break!