Kindergarten Butterfly Life Cycle

Teaching Critical Thinking Strategies in the Classroom through Aesthetic Experiences:

Learning the Butterfly Life Cycle through Literature, Drama, and Visual Art

By:

Whitney Zanios

Purpose

Focusing on Eric Carle’s book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar to learn about the butterfly life cycle through the use of visual art and drama.

Student Objectives

Learn the butterfly life cycle

Plan and prepare a skit to act out the butterfly life cycle

Create paper with various patterns, textures, and colors inspired by Eric Carle and using a similar technique

Create a butterfly, egg, caterpillar, and chrysalis as a team of four students

Use knowledge of letters/sounds to write words phonemically

Discuss and study artwork from The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and paintings by various artists using ArtsConnectED

Day 1

• Read and discuss The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

•Watch the ArtsConnectEd Slideshow and discuss/answer questions

•Compare and contrast the artwork from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and the slideshow

Arts ConnectEd

Students will view the slideshow, answer questions, and compare the slideshow to the art created by Eric Carle.Link: http://www.artsconnected.org/resource/102639/butterflies-and-caterpillars-collection

Day 2

Review the butterfly life cycle

Watch The Very Hungry Caterpillar Book Trailer

Explore The Children’s Butterfly Site in computer lab

Read The Life Cycle of a Butterfly by Bobbie Kalman

Look at pictures of butterflies

Day 3

• Watch The Very Hungry Caterpillar video. Compare and contrast the book and the video and make a Venn Diagram as a class.•Explore the Official Eric Carle Website. •Put students into groups of four.•Explain to students what they will be expected to do for the art portion of the project. Show students the example butterflies.•Have student groups plan out what different colors of papers they will need to create for their project. Each group will make 8 sheets.

Examples of Eric Carle Inspired Butterflies

These butterflies were created by students of a similar age group as my students. They are meant to be an example of how my students eggs, caterpillars, butterflies, and chrysalises will look using this technique.

More Example Butterflies

Pictures Retrieved from: http://deepspacesparkle.blogspot.com/2009/03/eric-carle-inspired-butterflies.html

I will show these examples to my students and we will discuss how we think the lines and textures were created and will brainstorm about the tools we will need to create our projects.

Day 4: Art Creation Techniqueinspired by Eric Carle

Materials needed: colored tissue paper, white construction paper, glue, paint brushes, spoons, forks, sponges, q tips, clear liquid glue

Procedure:1. Teacher should paint some papers to give the students ideas of

how to make different textures, colors, lines, and patterns using the tools provided or by using the paint brushes.

2. Paint glue onto tissue paper and glue onto a piece of white construction paper. Let dry.

3. Paint different textures and colors onto each tissue paper using the tools provided. Let dry between each different color/texture.

Day 5

Show students how to create each of the four necessary stages of the life cycle using the paper created on Day 4. Teacher will demonstrate how to cut paper for different parts of each item. Students will come up with a plan as a team on what each of them will work on.Students will start working on their projects.

Day 6 and 7Day 6- • Continue/complete art creations•Discuss their pieces and explain why they made those choices

Day 7-•Individually write lists of five things their caterpillar ate through•As a group, students will plan and prepare life cycle skits and make sure to include what their caterpillar ate through in their skit.

Day 8 and 9

Day 8-•Practice skits•Put on skits for class.

Day 9-•Wrap up•Discuss project and students’ feelings about it•Display artwork in the hallway with an explanation about it.

DESIGNER TOPIC 2

Below Expectations

1

Developing Skills

2

Meeting Expectations

3

Exceeds Expectations

4

Participates in Class Discussions

Creates appropriate art project

Performance of Life Cycle Skit

Writing a list with five food items

Demonstrating Teamwork

Assessment Rubric

Grading Scale

Below Expectations (5-7 Points) - Failure to complete tasks appropriately

Developing Skills (8-12 Points) - Students may have only completed some of the required tasks, met some of the expectations, or failed to participate consistently.

Meeting Expectations (13-17 Points) - Students are meeting the teacher’s expectations for class work, performance, teamwork, and participation

Exceeds Expectations (17-20 Points ) - Student has met and exceeded the teachers’ expectations for participation, performance, teamwork, and art work.