Students will understand, be able to explain and demonstrate through movement the life cycle of a butterfly.
Materials
Pictures and vocabulary of the butterfly life cycle
Music
Open space for movement
Video clip of emerging butterfly
Activities
1. The teacher has prepared images and vocabulary that represent the life cycle of a butterfly.
2. As a class (or in small groups), students work together to use their prior knowledge to sort the vocabulary and images in a sequence.
3. Students then view a quick clip of the life cycle of a butterfly. As students are watching the clip, encourage them to look for any similarities or differences from what the video shows to what they did.
4. After viewing the clip, students correct any errors they made in their life cycle sequence.
5. Students then form a circle as a class-
a. Touch your wings to the ceiling
b. Touch your wings to the floor
c. Roll your atenna around (head)
d. Fold your wings in half, roll them in circles.
e. Extend your wings
f. Circle your wings backwards
g. Flap your wings
h. Move your abdomen from side to side
6. Ask students to move to a space in the room.
a. Students then make shapes representing each part of the life cycle of a butterfly and travel in their shapes, changing shapes as they walk.
i. Eggs, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly
7. Number students or pre-determine groups of 3 or 4.
8. Have the following poem visible to students in some fashion:
Watch me wiggle from my egg
leg, by leg, by leg, by leg
Watch me munch leaves high and low
and grow, and grow, and grow, and grow
Watch the chrysalis I create
and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait.
Watch me spread new wings to dry
and fly, and fly, and fly….goodbye!
1. Assign one stanza per group (each group should have a tangible copy). Have each group create movement to represent each stanza (about 10 minutes). Two groups will have the same stanzas.
a. Students should prepare a beginning shape and an ending shape for their stanza. When their performing, they hold their beginning shape until their stanza is read, and then hold their ending shape while the following stanzas are performed.
2. As the students are rehearsing, play the music that will be played during their performance time.
3. All students that are part of group a will take the performance floor, while group b is the audience.
4. Sort students in the order of the stanzas to begin their performances.
Differentiation Approaches
1. Images & vocabulary, not just one or the other.
2. Kinesthetic- Incorporating movement to solidify ideas.
3. Interpersonal- Collaboration with peers.
4. Visuals- images of the life cycle, video clip, poem
5. Auditory- spoken guidance during student exploration
6. Intrapersonal- Student exploration to make their own shapes representing the life cycle
Assessment
Literacy aspect- Read a book or poem that tells the life cycle. Identify beginning movements, middle movements, and ending movements for important vocabulary words. As the story/poem is read aloud, students make their movements.
Follow Up and Extension Ideas
Literacy aspect- Read a book or poem that tells the life cycle. Identify beginning movements, middle movements, and ending movements for important vocabulary words. As the story/poem is read aloud, students make their movements.
