1st Grade “Life Cycle of a Butterfly” Lesson Plan

Topic: Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Subject: Reading / Science
Grade Level: Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

Academic Goals:
Reading Standards for Information - Grade 1 - #1: Ask and answer questions about key details in
a text.

Reading Standards for Literature - Grade 1 - #2: Retell stories, including key details, and
demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

Objective(s):
The students will be able to identify specific terminology through group discussion and
prompting questions with 90% accuracy.

The students will be able to recall the life cycle of a butterfly through group discussion and
prompting questions with 90% accuracy.

The students will demonstrate their understanding of the life cycle of a butterfly through the
corresponding activity with 90% accuracy.

Materials:
● The book, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, by Eric Carle.
● Tissue paper.
● Miniature clothespins.
● Pompoms.
● Pipe cleaners.
● Paper plates.
● Model Magic clay.
● Drawing utensils i.e. colored pencils, markers, crayons.

Anticipatory Set:
Students will be reminded of previous “Life Cycle” lessons i.e. Life Cycle of a Plant, Ladybug,
Bee, Chicken, etc. Students will then be introduced to the present topic, Life Cycle of a
Butterfly.

Procedure:
1. Introduce: Introduce the children’s book, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, by Eric Carle
to the students. Discuss the topic Life Cycle of a Butterfly. Start with an entertaining
 introductory activity. Pose the question: “Based on previous Life Cycle lessons, what do
you think the Life Cycle of a Butterfly entails?” Students will be asked to practice
Think/Pair/Share.
2. Read: Read the children’s book, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, by Eric Carle.
3. Discuss: Discuss the children’s book utilizing the Think/Pair/Share strategy. Pose a
question to the entire class, then have the students ponder it on their own. Upon the
students' digestion of the question as well as their answer, students can discuss their
thoughts with a classmate sitting beside them. Repeat the aforementioned method for
each question posed to the students.
a. “What was the story about? Describe what happened in the story.”
b. “At the beginning of the story, where did the caterpillar emerge from?”
c. “Can any of you recall the name of the house the caterpillar built around
himself?”
d. “At the end of the story, what emerged from the cocoon?”
4. Lesson: Students will view a PowerPoint on the Life Cycle of a Butterfly. PowerPoint is
the main implementation of technology.
● Life Cycle of a Butterfly PowerPoint
5. Discuss: Through Whole Group Discussion and Prompting Questions, students will
demonstrate their understanding of the Life Cycle of Butterfly. Further, students can pose
questions, comments, concerns, pertaining to the entirety of the lesson.
6. Activity: Students will be required to create their own Life Cycle of a Butterfly Model.
See handout and rubric. The activity is worth 24 points.
● Life Cycle of a Butterfly Activity Handout
● Life Cycle of a Butterfly Activity Rubric

Closure:
Students will be instructed to compare the Life Cycle of a Butterfly to that of previous “Life
Cycle” lessons taught. For example, Life Cycle of a Plant, Ladybug, Bee, Chicken, etc.

Special Needs Accomodation:

Text-To-Speech is an assistive technology available for the students diagnosed with dyslexia.
This assistive technology will be available for students to utilize throughout the “Life Cycle of a
Butterfly” lesson. For example, students can utilize the aforementioned assistive technology
when attempting to read the handout, rubric, etc.

Assessment:
Students will be assessed based on their recall of the children’s book, “The Very Hungry
Caterpillar” by Eric Carle and PowerPoint through the discussions with their peers. Further, the
students will be assessed based on the completion of their activity. A student’s “Life Cycle of a
Butterfly Model” will ONLY be accepted if the student has completed the model. Additionally,
students will be assessed on their “Life Cycle of a Butterfly Model” through the correct
application of all aspects of the rubric. Lastly, the students will be given a mini quiz to assess
their knowledge of the Life Cycle of a Butterfly.

Connections:
Students will be able to make connections to prior “Life Cycle” lessons.