Georgia Southwestern State University Lesson Plan

Classroom/Lesson Context
____ Whole Group __X__ Small Group _____ One-on-One
__2__ Students with IEPs/504s _____ ELL Students
__3_ Other (Please specify:1 Gifted, 1 struggling reader, 3 gaps in academic knowledge)
Please specify the number of students: 13 Girls 12 Boys
Learning Central Focus
Lesson Plan Title: Life Cycle of a Butterfly
Grade Level: 2nd
Central Focus:
What is the central focus for the content in the learning segment?
The central focus is that the students will be able to label and explain the life cycle of a butterfly.
The students will label the life cycle by completing a hands-on activity. The hands-on activity will
be completed in a small group. The students who are not in the small group will be working on
the computer or iPads with interactive games about the life cycle of a butterfly. The life cycle will
be explained by the students in a detailed paragraph containing all four stages of the life cycle.
Content Standard:
What standard(s) are most relevant to the learning goals?
S2L1. Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms. a. Determine the
sequence of the life cycle of common animals in your area: a mammal such as a cat or dog or
classroom pet, a bird such as a chicken, an amphibian such as a frog, and an insect such as a
butterfly.
ELACC2W2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and
definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
Student Learning Goal(s)/ Objective(s):
Skills/procedures:
What are the specific learning goal(s) for student in this lesson?
The specific learning goals for students in this lesson is that are showing the life cycle of a
butterfly by working on a hands-on activity and writing an informative text about the life cycle of
a butterfly.
Concepts and reasoning/problem solving/thinking/strategies:
What are the specific learning goal(s) for students in this lesson?
The specific learning goals for students in this lesson are demonstrating the life cycle of a
butterfly. Also, the students will be explaining the life cycle of a butterfly in written form.
Prior Academic Knowledge and Conceptions:
What knowledge, skills, and concepts must students already know to be successful with this
lesson?
I will ask questions to guide the students prior knowledge. Does a caterpillar transform into a
butterfly? Yes, the caterpillar transforms into a butterfly during the life cycle. How does a
caterpillar transform into a butterfly? A caterpillar undergoes four stages to become a butterfly.
Does this process happen over night? No, this process takes time.

What prior knowledge and/or gaps in knowledge do these students have that are necessary to
support the learning of the skills and concepts for this lesson?
The students will understand that a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly.
Common Errors, Developmental Approximations, Misconceptions, Partial
Understandings, or Misunderstandings:
What are common errors or misunderstandings of students related to the central focus of this
lesson?
Many students will not understand how a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. Students may
think a caterpillar and butterfly are two different insects
How will you address them for this group of students?
I will explain to the students that a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. Part of the cycle it is a
caterpillar and the other part it is a butterfly. A caterpillar undergoes a change to become a
butterfly. This is how we get a life cycle of a butterfly.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks
Launch: 7 Minutes
How will you start the lesson to engage and motivate students in learning?
I will begin the lesson by reading a Dr. Seuss book My, Oh My--A Butterfly!: All About
Butterflies by Tish Rabe. As I read, we will discuss the book and the pictures it displays of the
life cycle of the butterfly. I will also engage the students to ask their own questions after I read
the text.
Instruction: 20 Minutes
What will you do to engage students in developing understanding of the lesson objective(s)?
The students will complete an activity on the life cycle of a butterfly. The activity will have the
students involved in making the four stages in the life cycle of a butterfly.
How will you link the new content (skills and concepts) to students prior academic learning and
their personal/cultural and community assets?
I will link the new content to the students by telling them that humans undergo a change in life
too. They started out as babies, then toddlers, and they are now children. They are not done
with their life cycle.
What will you say and do? What questions will you ask?
I will begin by giving each student a paper plate and have them divide it into four sections. What
stage comes first in the life cycle of a butterfly? The first stage is the butterfly lays the eggs. We
will use a black-eyed pea to create our egg. The black-eyed pea will be glued to a leaf on the
plate and we will label this stage egg. Next, we will glue a rotini noodle to a leaf to represent the
caterpillar. This stage will be labeled as caterpillar. We will next glue a small stick and shell
pasta to the plate. This stage will be labeled as pupae. For the last stage, we will glue a bowtie
pasta shell to the plate and draw antae at the top. This stage will be labeled as butterfly.
As we go through the stages, I will ask the students what they think comes next.
How will you engage students to help them understand the concepts?
I will engage the students by letting them tell me the steps and let them complete the hands-on
activity themselves.
What will students do?
The students will complete the hands-on activity.
How will you determine if students are meeting the intended learning objectives?
I will determine if the students are meeting the intended learning objectives by observing them
as they work on this hands-on activity.

Structured Practice and Application: 15 Minutes

How will you give students the opportunity to practice so you can provide feedback?
The students will write an informative text about the life cycle of the butterfly. The students must
begin by introducing the topic. The students will need to use facts and definitions to explain the
life cycle of a butterfly. The students must also provide a concluding statement about the life
cycle of a butterfly.
How will students apply what they have learned?
The students will apply what they have learned by writing an informative text on the life cycle of
a butterfly.
How will you determine if students are meeting the intended learning objectives?
I will determine if the students are meeting the intended learning objectives by reviewing their
writings as they write and afterwards.
Closure: 5 Minutes
How will you end the lesson?
As a class, we will go over the life cycle of a butterfly. I will ask the students what was their
favorite part of the life cycle.
Differentiation/ Planned Support
How will you provide students access to learning based on individual and group needs?
I will provide an example and also demonstrate on another plate as I explain each step one at a
time for those students whose learning needs to be accessed more.
How will you support students with gaps in the prior knowledge that is necessary to be
successful in this lesson?
For the students with gaps ins prior knowledge, I will work with the students individually during
intervention time. We will go over the life cycle hands-on activity.
Student Interactions
How will you structure opportunities for students to work with partners or in groups? What
criteria will you use when forming groups?
I will work in small groups of five with the students. The groups will not be ability based for this
lesson.
What Ifs
What might not go as planned and how can you be ready to make adjustment?
The time might get cut short or take too much time. I will allow the ones who do not finish on
time or do not have the time to work with a different group and finish the next day.
Theoretical Principles and/or Research Based Best Practices
Why are the learning tasks for this lesson appropriate for your students?
John Dewey a constructivist and believed students learn by doing. Learning is an active
process in which the learner uses sensory input and constructs meaning out of it. The more
traditional formulation of this idea involves the terminology of the active learner stressing that
the learner needs to do something; that learning is not the passive acceptance of knowledge
which exists "out there" but that learning involves the learner s engaging with the world.
Materials
Teacher: Paper plates*, Black-eyed pea*, Noodles (shell, rotini, and bowtie)*, Butterfly life cycle
worksheet*, My, Oh My--A Butterfly!: All About Butterflies by Tish Rabe.
*One for each student

Students: Glue, black crayon, and a pencil

Academic Language Demand(s)
Language Demand
The students will be demonstrating the life cycle of a butterfly by completing a hands-on activity
the life cycle on a paper plate.
Language Function
What language function do you want students to develop in this lesson? What must students
understand in order to be intellectually engaged in the lesson?
The students must be able to label the part of the life cycle of a butterfly. To do this, the
students must understand the process a caterpillar undergoes.
The students will explain and demonstrate the life cycle of a butterfly by creating and writing the
life cycle of a butterfly.
Vocabulary (Teacher Scholastic)
caterpillar: the larval stage of a butterfly
chrysalis: the hard shell covering the pupa
larva: an insect is wormlike and has new wings
pupa: caterpillar is encased by a chrysalis
metamorphosis: a series of developmental stages often marked by body changes
Language Discourse
How will the students of the content area speak, write, and participate? What is the structure of
the written or oral language?
The students will discuss the life cycle in a small group discussion.
Language Syntax
What are the organizing symbols, words, and/or phrases in the written and oral language
structures?
The students will write the stages of a butterfly in an explanatory text. The informative text must
consist of all steps and have a opening and closing statement.
Students' Use of Language
What specific way(s) will students need to use language (reading, writing, listening and/or
speaking) to participate in learning tasks and demonstrate their learning for this lesson?
The students will be writing, listening, and speaking during the lesson. The students will be
writing an informative text on the life cycle of a butterfly. The students will be listening while I
read the book. The students will be speaking while they ask questions concerning the life cycle
of a butterfly.
Students' Abilities
What are your students abilities with regard to the oral and written language associated with
this lesson?
The students have already learned how to create an informative text with the opening and
closing sentence. Students know that the main information goes in between the opening and
closing sentence.

Support
How will you support students so they can understand and use the language associated with
the language function and other demands in meeting the learning objectives of the lesson?
I will engage the students in talking and speaking while they are working through the process of
the life cycle of a butterfly.
Assessments
Describe the tools/procedures that will be used in this lesson to monitor students learning of the
lesson objective(s). Attach a copy of the assessment and the evaluation criteria/rubric in the
resources section at the end of the lesson plan.
This assessment help the
Plate life cycle of a The students will work in a
Informal
teacher know the students
butterfly
small group.
can follow directions.

Informal

Writing an
informative text on
the life cycle of a
butterfly.

They may use their plate

life cycle to help guide
their writing.

This assessment helps the

teacher know that the
students understand the life
cycle of a butterfly and are
able to write it out in
paragraph form.

Analyzing Teaching
Worked/Didn't Worked
What worked?
The hands-on activity was great. Reading the book before the lesson helped the students grasp
all the stages of the life cycle. The students were very engaged throughout the whole hands-on
activity.
What didnt?
The informative writing did not work for some students. Some students did not understand that
while writing the informative text they must use complete sentences.
For whom?
The students who had difficulty writing the informative text were those students that have had
difficulty writing informative texts in the past.
Adjustments
What instructional changes do you need to make as you prepare for the lesson tomorrow?
I will need to attach a video to my lesson and add a life cycle of a butterfly worksheet for
students to work on as they finish their informative text.
Proposed Changes
If you could teach this lesson again to this group of students what changes would you make to
your instruction?
Whole group: I would have a video to explain the life cycle of a butterfly after the lesson is
completed. This video would help wrap us the lesson.
Group of Students: I would work at a table instead of on the floor. I had a lot of trouble with
students wanting to lie down instead of sitting up.

Justification
Why will these changes improve student learning? The video will help improve student learning
by giving a extra learning tool.
What research/ theory supports these changes?
Resources
Demand

Excellent(10)

Good(7)

Needs
Improvement(4)

The student was able

to complete the
hands-on activity.
The student was able
to write the life cycle
of a butterfly in an
informative text.
The student was
able to work without
distracting others.
The student was
able to clean the
area in which they
worked.
The student was well
engaged thought the
lesson.

"Study Life Cycles with Butterflies." Study Life Cycles with Butterflies. Scholastic, n.d. Web. 17
Feb. 2015.
Computer game: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/scienceforkids/life_cycle/butterfly_lifecycle.htm
iPad Apps: Life of a Monarch Butterfly By Edward Gonzalez, Live Butterfly Garden, and A Life Cycle App
By Nth Fusion LLC

Name:
Date:
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Life Cycle of a Butterfly
Directions: Write the life cycle of a butterfly in a paragraph. Remember to have a
great opening and closing sentence. Use complete sentences with the correct
punctuation.
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