Book of the Week: A Place for Butterflies

Educators often ask me which of my books would work best in their classroom. So this year, I’ve decided to feature a book each week and highlight related teaching materials and strategies.

A Place for Butterflies was originally published in 2006, but was revised and updated in 2014, so it has the latest information about the challenges butterflies face and how we can do simple things to help them survive.

You could share one or two spreads to support NGSS PE K-ESS3-3 or read the whole book as part of a lesson that addresses NGSS PE 5-ESS3-1.

I have also created a Teacher’s Guide that makes connections to a wide variety of NGSS and Common Core standards. You can find additional activities, including a life cycle song, here.

This book is great for Reading Buddies programs. For more information, read this article and look at the materials on my CCSS ELA RIT #1 & 2: Reading Buddies pinterest board. I also have a pinterest board devoted to A Place for Butterflies.

The main text of A Place for Butterfliess has both a cause & effect text structure and a problem-solution text structure, while many of the sibdebars compare past human activities that hurt butterflies to current more butterfly-friendly activities. That makes it a great mentor text for students learning about nonfiction text structures.