Today's Date and Date of Implementation
Date lesson plan is turned in- March 10, 2013
Date lesson plan will be implemented- March 12, 2013
Title of Lesson
Metamorphosis of the Butterfly
Age Level and Number
Ages of the children are between 4.3 years and 5.4 years.
There are twenty children in the class. There will be up to ten children during the lesson.
Curriculum Areas
Primary- Science – The metamorphosis of a butterfly
Secondary- Music Dance Art – Dancing to music to imitate the movement of a butterfly
Tertiary- Math – Describing the position of cards using ordinal numbers
PA PreK Standards
Children will be able to organize the life cycle of a butterfly.
Work Sampling Assessment
Primary- IV Scientific Thinking
· A. Inquiry
1. Makes comparisons among projects.
Secondary- VI The Arts
· A. Expression and Representation
1. Participates in group music experience.
2. Participates in creative movement, dance, and drama.
3. Uses a variety of art materials for tactile experience and exploration.
Tertiary- III Mathematical Thinking
· E. Measurement
1. Orders, compares, and describes objects according to a single attribute.
Behavioral Objectives
Materials
Anticipatory Set
Butterfly Dance
Motivation/Anticipatory Set
Anticipatory Set- I will activate children's prior learning/experience by asking if they have ever seen a butterfly or caterpillar before. Then I will follow the question by asking what they look like.
Motivation- The children’s attention will be gained by reading Eric Carle’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Procedures
1. Anticipatory set
Reflection
I gave my first lesson on March 12, 2013 with my partner Alicia. We split the class into two groups of ten students. While we gave our thirty-minute lesson to half the class, the other half was in the Discovery Room. Our lesson title was “Metamorphosis of the Butterfly.”
For our anticipatory set we asked the children questions and then read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. We had the questions written on a large tablet and we wrote down the children’s answers. After looking back, we should have written their answers larger on the tablet. Most of the children cannot read yet, but seeing what they wrote could encourage reading and writing. Writing the children’s answers also seemed to promote class participation. As soon as the first answer was written, a lot of hands shot into the air. I think children have a sense of pride when they see their answers are important enough to be written down.
I was the one who read the story to the students. I realize now I should have slowed down my pace and made the book interactive. There is a repeated line, “But he was still hungry.” That would have been very easy for children join in, making the story more interesting. After reading as a group we discussed and ordered the four life stages of a butterfly. The first group there was one child who was very enthusiastic about butterflies and the other children fed off of his enthusiasm. The reading and review was very successful in this group. In the second group all the children were very antsy and not very focused. I think this is due to just running and playing in the discovery room.
For our creative movement portion of the lesson we played La Mariposa by Colibri. While the music was playing the children used scarfs to dance around like butterflies. While the music was off the children had to lay on the floor like caterpillars. This was our play-based activity; it allowed the children to enjoy using their creativity. During our instructions we used the word “dance” like butterflies. It would have been better for us to use the word “float” like butterflies. “Float” gives the children a better description on how they were supposed to dance. Both groups of children really enjoyed this activity. The first group of children danced very light and floated like butterflies. The second group, feeding off the energy of one student, became a little too rough. Instead of floating they were jumping roughly.
The second group also had a child who would not participate because she did not get the scarf she wanted. I tried to console her, promising she can use the scarf after the activity, but she still would not participate. I was not sure how else to accommodate her, so I let her not participate. Overall I think the creative movement portion of this lesson was very successful. The only thing we struggled with was passing out the scarfs. My partner and I did not know how to do this successfully. Our teacher advised us that we should have let each student individually pick out the scarf. Even though this takes a long time, it would have been more successful.
For our final portion of the lesson the children had the option to participate in an art project. For the art project the children were to create faux butterfly stained glass using paper products. We positioned butterfly cutouts on contact paper and the children stuck tissue paper to the contact paper. If I were to do this again I would have more instruction on what they were doing before I allowed them to go to the art table. Many were confused and a little inpatient as Alicia and I tried to assist them. It was interesting to see the each child use the tissue paper differently. Some used the tissue paper as expected; others crumpled up balls of tissue paper and attached it. I made sure to never correct a child on their use of tissue paper. Art is form of creativity and expression and it is negative energy to tell a child they are doing their art wrong. Each student is successful when it comes to art.
Overall the lesson was successful and went as planned. We had three behavioral objectives: 1. Students will participate in an expressive dance intended to represent the motion of butterflies; 2. Students will use fine motor skills and motor coordination to use construction paper, contact paper, and tissue paper to represent butterflies; 3. Students will participate in ordering labeled cards of the metamorphosis. In my opinion the first behavioral objective was met partially. Even though all but one of the children participated in the creative movement exercise, not all children represented butterflies. The second group was very rough and had high energy. The first group was more successful. I believe the second behavioral object was met completely; all students used coordination to construct their butterflies. I also believe the third behavioral objective was completely met. As a class the children were successful in identifying the four life stages of a butterfly.
There is two ways we could accommodate the children’s different developmental levels. First, we could have read the story to a smaller group of children. Smaller groups would assist children who struggle with focusing and allows for more one on one conversation with each student.
Date lesson plan is turned in- March 10, 2013
Date lesson plan will be implemented- March 12, 2013
Title of Lesson
Metamorphosis of the Butterfly
Age Level and Number
Ages of the children are between 4.3 years and 5.4 years.
There are twenty children in the class. There will be up to ten children during the lesson.
Curriculum Areas
Primary- Science – The metamorphosis of a butterfly
Secondary- Music Dance Art – Dancing to music to imitate the movement of a butterfly
Tertiary- Math – Describing the position of cards using ordinal numbers
PA PreK Standards
- 1.3.3 Literary Elements- Respond to questions about main characters, setting and events during a read aloud
- 2.1.3 Concepts of Numbers and Relationships- Use ordinal number words to describe the position of objects (first, second, last)
- 9.1a.1 Aesthetic Response- Respond to different forms of music and dance through participation and discussion / participate in teacher-guided music and movement activities
- 9.1c.2 Construction- Combine a variety of materials to create new products
Children will be able to organize the life cycle of a butterfly.
Work Sampling Assessment
Primary- IV Scientific Thinking
· A. Inquiry
1. Makes comparisons among projects.
Secondary- VI The Arts
· A. Expression and Representation
1. Participates in group music experience.
2. Participates in creative movement, dance, and drama.
3. Uses a variety of art materials for tactile experience and exploration.
Tertiary- III Mathematical Thinking
· E. Measurement
1. Orders, compares, and describes objects according to a single attribute.
Behavioral Objectives
- Primary- Children will participate in an expressive dance intended to represent each child’s understanding and expression of the motion of butterflies.
- Secondary- Children will use fine motor skills and motor coordination to use construction paper, contact paper, and tissue paper to represent a butterfly.
- Tertiary- Children will participate in ordering labeled cards of the metamorphosis of a butterfly within 75% accuracy.
Materials
Anticipatory Set
- 1 - Large Paper Tablet and Marker
- 1 - The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
- ISBN- 978-0-399-24745-3
- Reference- Carle, Eric. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. [New York]: Philomel, 1987. Print.
- 1 - Set of metamorphosis cards
Butterfly Dance
- 1 – La Mariposa (The Butterfly) by Colibri
- 10 - Scarfs
- 1 - CD player
- 30 - Butterfly cut outs on construction paper
- 1 roll - Contact Paper
- 1 pack - Colorful Tissue Paper (pre cut)
- 1 pack - Markers
Motivation/Anticipatory Set
Anticipatory Set- I will activate children's prior learning/experience by asking if they have ever seen a butterfly or caterpillar before. Then I will follow the question by asking what they look like.
Motivation- The children’s attention will be gained by reading Eric Carle’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Procedures
1. Anticipatory set
- Before the lesson I will write questions regarding children’s prior knowledge of butterfly’s and caterpillars on the large tablet.
- What does a caterpillar look like?
- What does a caterpillar turn into?
- What does a butterfly look like?
- At the beginning of the lesson I will have the students sit in a circle on the carpet where I will ask them if they have ever seen a butterfly and/or a caterpillar before.
- Then I will ask the children the questions written on the tablet while recording their answers.
- Then I will take out the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar written by Eric Carle. I will tell the students the title of the book and the author’s name. I will ask the students what they think the book is going to be about.
- I will then read the book to the students while stopping at each of the four stages of metamorphosis to discuss what specifically is happening to the caterpillar/butterfly.
- After reading the book I will review the four stages of metamorphosis by asking the students what the caterpillar/butterfly was at first, second, third and fourth. As they state what each stage is I will hold up the corresponding picture card, to show them a visual of what the caterpillar/butterfly looks like in that stage.
- After our discussion we will transition into a dance and music activity.
- For this activity we will first tell the students that mariposa means butterfly in Spanish.
- I will then explain the activity we are going to be doing while listening to a song named Mariposa. The children are going to use the scarfs to dance like butterflies. Whenever the music is playing they will dance around the room, flapping their wings (scarfs). Whenever the music is not playing, they will lay on the floor like a caterpillar.
- We will do this activity until the song is over.
- Once we finish the music/dance activity the children will have the choice to participate in an art activity or to play in their chosen centers.
- For the art activity the students will be creating butterfly’s that have wings that look like stain glass when finished.
- The children will be supplied with construction paper cut outs of a butterfly attached to a sheet of contact paper.
- The children will take precut pieces of colored tissue paper and be shown two different techniques of attaching the tissue paper. They can either bunch the paper in balls and stick to the contact paper OR the students can rip the tissue paper into smaller pieces and stick it to the contact paper.
- The students will also be provided with markers to decorate the butterflies.
- Metamorphosis- The different life stages of a butterfly
- Caterpillar- The second stage of the life cycle of a butterfly
- Butterfly- The fourth and final stage of the life cycle of a butterfly
Reflection
I gave my first lesson on March 12, 2013 with my partner Alicia. We split the class into two groups of ten students. While we gave our thirty-minute lesson to half the class, the other half was in the Discovery Room. Our lesson title was “Metamorphosis of the Butterfly.”
For our anticipatory set we asked the children questions and then read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. We had the questions written on a large tablet and we wrote down the children’s answers. After looking back, we should have written their answers larger on the tablet. Most of the children cannot read yet, but seeing what they wrote could encourage reading and writing. Writing the children’s answers also seemed to promote class participation. As soon as the first answer was written, a lot of hands shot into the air. I think children have a sense of pride when they see their answers are important enough to be written down.
I was the one who read the story to the students. I realize now I should have slowed down my pace and made the book interactive. There is a repeated line, “But he was still hungry.” That would have been very easy for children join in, making the story more interesting. After reading as a group we discussed and ordered the four life stages of a butterfly. The first group there was one child who was very enthusiastic about butterflies and the other children fed off of his enthusiasm. The reading and review was very successful in this group. In the second group all the children were very antsy and not very focused. I think this is due to just running and playing in the discovery room.
For our creative movement portion of the lesson we played La Mariposa by Colibri. While the music was playing the children used scarfs to dance around like butterflies. While the music was off the children had to lay on the floor like caterpillars. This was our play-based activity; it allowed the children to enjoy using their creativity. During our instructions we used the word “dance” like butterflies. It would have been better for us to use the word “float” like butterflies. “Float” gives the children a better description on how they were supposed to dance. Both groups of children really enjoyed this activity. The first group of children danced very light and floated like butterflies. The second group, feeding off the energy of one student, became a little too rough. Instead of floating they were jumping roughly.
The second group also had a child who would not participate because she did not get the scarf she wanted. I tried to console her, promising she can use the scarf after the activity, but she still would not participate. I was not sure how else to accommodate her, so I let her not participate. Overall I think the creative movement portion of this lesson was very successful. The only thing we struggled with was passing out the scarfs. My partner and I did not know how to do this successfully. Our teacher advised us that we should have let each student individually pick out the scarf. Even though this takes a long time, it would have been more successful.
For our final portion of the lesson the children had the option to participate in an art project. For the art project the children were to create faux butterfly stained glass using paper products. We positioned butterfly cutouts on contact paper and the children stuck tissue paper to the contact paper. If I were to do this again I would have more instruction on what they were doing before I allowed them to go to the art table. Many were confused and a little inpatient as Alicia and I tried to assist them. It was interesting to see the each child use the tissue paper differently. Some used the tissue paper as expected; others crumpled up balls of tissue paper and attached it. I made sure to never correct a child on their use of tissue paper. Art is form of creativity and expression and it is negative energy to tell a child they are doing their art wrong. Each student is successful when it comes to art.
Overall the lesson was successful and went as planned. We had three behavioral objectives: 1. Students will participate in an expressive dance intended to represent the motion of butterflies; 2. Students will use fine motor skills and motor coordination to use construction paper, contact paper, and tissue paper to represent butterflies; 3. Students will participate in ordering labeled cards of the metamorphosis. In my opinion the first behavioral objective was met partially. Even though all but one of the children participated in the creative movement exercise, not all children represented butterflies. The second group was very rough and had high energy. The first group was more successful. I believe the second behavioral object was met completely; all students used coordination to construct their butterflies. I also believe the third behavioral objective was completely met. As a class the children were successful in identifying the four life stages of a butterfly.
There is two ways we could accommodate the children’s different developmental levels. First, we could have read the story to a smaller group of children. Smaller groups would assist children who struggle with focusing and allows for more one on one conversation with each student.