Butterfly Life Cycle Kindergarten Andrea Spindler ED 353 Domain: Science, Language Arts Activity Name: What stage am I in? Goal: Wisconsin Model Academic Standards: - F.4.3 Illustrate* the different ways that organisms grow through life stages and survive to produce new members of their type. - C.4.2 Use the science content being learned to ask questions, plan investigations, make observations, make predictions, and offer explanations Objectives: Students will be able to: - Put the butterfly stages in the correct sequence. - Answer questions to expand their learning. Content: - Butterfly s life cycle: stage 1 egg, stage 2 larva (caterpillar), stage 3 pupa (chrysalis), stage 4 butterfly. - Butterflies are insects. - All bugs aren t insects. - Characteristics of insects: o Arthropod o Adult stage: three pairs of legs, head, thorax, and abdomen, two pairs of wings, two antennae Materials: - The Very Hungry Caterpillar By Eric Carle - Butterfly Life Cycle worksheet - Butterfly cut outs - Glue sticks - Markers - Pencil - Butterfly Life Cycle Stages figurines - Butterfly Song
Caterpillar and Butterfly Hand Motion Song By Megan Sheakoski (Sung to the tune of Are You Sleeping?) Caterpillar, caterpillar, In my hand, in my hand, Soon you ll be a butterfly. Soon you ll be a butterfly. And fly away. Fly away. The kids cup their hands and swing them gently back and forth in front of their bodies while singing about the caterpillar. They hook their thumbs and flutter their fingers like wings during the third and fourth line and then move their butterfly fingers up into the air for the last line. Instructional Strategies: - Scaffolding, Environmental Cues, Modeling, Questioning, and Effective Praise. Procedures: (Time: 40 min) - Have the students sit at the carpet. - You have been learning about lady bugs. Did you know that butterflies have a similar life cycle as the ladybug? (egg, larva, pupa and adult) - What other insects have you seen outside? - Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar By Eric Carle - Read story, stop when you come to a different stage and explain (hold up figurine for each stage). - As you read, emphasize the time each stage takes. - At the end of the story say This butterfly will go and have an egg and that egg will go through these same stages to become a butterfly too. - Can someone raise their hand and tell me one of the stages? (cover all stages) - Go through the book again quickly to recap the stages. - Do all bugs go through these four stages? What about spiders? (They are not an insect.) - Talk about the different characteristics of insects. (Adult stage: three pairs of legs, head, thorax, and abdomen, two pairs of wings, two antennae.) - Do butterfly song with hand motions.
- Model the activity. (cut out the four stages pictures and glue them on the worksheet) - Send the students back to their table spots with the worksheet and cut out page, scissors and glue. - Go around and ask questions about the lesson as they work. Ex: How did you know what stage is first? How is the butterfly like the ladybug you have been learning about? Are all bugs insects? Why not? etc. Adaptations: - For the students who are struggling, relate back to the book and show them the figurines. Ask guiding questions. - For the students who made need an extra challenge, have them compare the stages of the butterfly to what they have been learning about the ladybug. Student Assessment: - During this lesson I will be observing the students and will be looking for participation and understanding. The worksheets will also be a form of assessment. I will also use their questions and answers as assessment. Resources: http://primary-school-lessonplans.suite101.com/article.cfm/kindergarten_caterpillar_and_butterfly_songs http://www.thebutterflysite.com/22-butterfly-coloring-pages.html Rationale Lesson 4 Butterfly Lifecycle The students in my field classroom are currently learning about ladybugs. They have briefly discussed the life cycle and will be learning more about what insects are. I decided to do a lesson on the butterfly life cycle because it goes with what they are learning and will help to lead into the next lesson. The book I picked was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This is a story that they have read before so we will be able to concentrate on the details of the stages. It is a popup book so it will keep them engaged. I wanted to do an interactive lesson so I decided to have them cut out the pictures of the stages and place them in order. During the
lesson, I have planned to ask many questions to get them thinking and to assess their understanding. ED 338 Self Assessment for DDP Lesson Using the table on page 46, Types of Questions and Examples, of your text, identify at least two goals for student learning and the specific questions you asked to target each goal. The goals of this lesson were: F.4.3 Illustrate* the different ways that organisms grow through life stages and survive to produce new members of their type. C.4.2 Use the science content being learned to ask questions, plan investigations, make observations, make predictions, and offer explanations. My objectives to go along with these goals were: Students will be able to: - Put the butterfly stages in the correct sequence. - Answer questions to expand their learning. Some of the questions I asked were: What do you remember about the ladybug life cycle? (Reconstruct previous experiences) What insects do you see when you play outside? (Observe) Is a spider and insect? (No) Why not? (Utilize factual knowledge) Do all bugs go through these stages? (Generalize) What are the stages of a butterfly? (Utilize factual knowledge) How did you know? What helped you decide? (Evaluate, Become aware of the thinking process) How can you help others at your table? (Apply, Communicate)
What will happen next? (Predict) What stage of the life cycle is the butterfly a caterpillar? (Utilize factual knowledge) What stage of the life cycle is the butterfly an egg? (Utilize factual knowledge) What stage of the life cycle is the butterfly pupa (in cacoon)? (Utilize factual knowledge) How many stages are there? (Quantify) How are the butterfly stages like the ladybug stages? (Compare) Asking these questions in my lesson demonstrates the Wisconsin Teacher Standard #8: The teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the pupil. The questioning strategy is a great form of informal assessment. This way I am able to see the students understanding of where they are with the content and it will help me in my instruction to take them where I want them to be