Submitted by Jaime Miller

Objectives:

Content:
Students will...

• display an understanding of the concept of a life cycle and the stages that constitute it.
• show an understanding of each stage of a butterfly's life cycle by writing a description and drawing.
• display an understanding of the activities of the butterfly in each stage of its cycle.
• demonstrate an understanding of the process of a butterfly's metamorphosis and its states.

Cultural:

Language: Content Obligatory
Students will...

• use nouns to describe the stages of the butterfly's life cycle with words and phrases such as un cycle de vie, un oeuf, une chenille, une chrysalide, un cocon, un papillon.
• use verbs in present tense to explain the activities of the butterfly in its different stages with words such as pondre (il/elle pond), sortir (il/elle sort), se nourir (il/elle se nourrit), grandir (il/elle grandit), se transformer (il/elle se transforme), devenir (il/elle devient), fabriquer (il/elle fabrique), muer (il/elle mue).
• use adverbs to sequence the changes in the butterfly's life cycle with words such as d'abord, puis, ensuite, enfin.

Language: Content Compatible
Students will...

• use verbs in present tense to express inferences about the meaning of "life cycle," and about the order of the stages, with words such as "Je pense que..." (I think that), "Je crois que..." (I believe that)  
• use modal auxiliaries to talk about what might be happening in the story with words such as pourrait or peut.
• use possessive adjectives to indicate whose turn it is when reading the story in pairs with words such as: mon, ton , son, ma, ta, sa, mes, tes, ses, notre, votre, leur, nos, vos, leurs

Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Students will...

• activate their background knowledge about other life cycles (plants, humans) to help them infer the stages of a butterfly's life cycle.
• use imagery to represent the stages of the butterfly's life cycle to enhance their understanding.
• make inferences to predict what happens during a butterfly's life cycle based on their previous knowledge of other life cycles.
• use mime to represent key words to aid comprehension of meaning.
• use selective attention to focus on key words in the story.
• monitor their own progress through the activities on the internet by using a checklist.

Time Frame:

Total time estimated at 3 hours (2 45-minute periods.

Materials Needed:

• Computer hooked to big screen T.V.
• Life Cycle Power Point Presentation (on insect web site, see also attachments below)
• Books:

La Chenille Affamée by Eric Carle,
Camille La Chenille by Antoon Krings
C'est moi la chenille by Jean Marzollo.

• note cards
• construction paper
• Insect workbook (page 14-16)

Description of Assessment (Performance Project):

Preview:

1. Discuss vocabulary words "life cycle"

• Ask students what they think "life cycle" means and what each word means separately. Note their answers on the board.
• Ask students to look up the word "cycle" in the dictionary. Ask for a volunteer to read the definition aloud and then put it with the word life and see if it makes sense.
• Refer back to student guesses to see if they were right.

2. Explain the theme of this lesson

• "We will now study the life cycle of the butterfly. Keep the idea of a life cycle in mind."

3. Power Point "Life Cycle" presentation

• Show the human life cycle presentation, naming the stages as you go. Write the stages on the board. Answer any questions regarding content or language.
• Show the presentation again, this time students read the stages chorally aloud.
• Show the plant life cycle presentation, naming the stages as you go. Write the stages on the board. Answer any questions regarding content or language.
• Show the presentation again, this time students read chorally aloud.

4. Stories: La Chenille Affamé, Camille la Chenille

• Pre-teach specific vocabulary related to the butterfly life cycle (see content-obligatory language section) and any other vocabulary you deem unknown or difficult (depends on your students). Choose 4-5 words and write each on the board. Explain what each word means, draw a small picture to illustrate meaning and have students create an accompanying gesture.
• During the story, each time one of these words is heard students must do the accompanying gesture. Read aloud each story, emphasizing vocally the stages of the life cycle.

5. The four stages of the butterfly life cycle
(also serves, in part, as a story review/summary)

• Students determine the order of the four different stages of the life cycle. Accept and write on the board (using adverbs to mark which one comes first, etc.) the correct stages.
• Students then read chorally each stage. Ask different volunteers to draw pictures that represent each stage.
• Student volunteers then read, while pointing to the drawing, the description of each stage.

Focused Learning:

1. Partner reading lesson: Moi, la chenille.

• Pre-reading activities
  a) Pre-teach life cycle related difficult or unknown vocabulary (see Content-Obligatory Language section).
  b) Students, in pairs, do a picture walk through the story, talking about what they see and what might be happening (covering up the text with note cards).

• During-reading
  a) The entire group reads the story together aloud.
  b) Students, in pairs, read alternating pages aloud.
• Post-reading

a) Students write in insect workbook, pages 14 and 16, (instructions on p. 14) life cycle descriptive sentences and draw accompanying pictures in the correct order.
b) The teacher walks around to verify the correct order, and then students may color the drawings. Afterwards, each student has a turn to read out loud (in pairs),

Expansion:

Students, in small groups, write and perform a short play that shows and explains each stage of this process.

Extension Ideas:

1. Watching and journaling the growth of caterpillars.

2. Students visit the insect web site, the "la chenille et le papillon" page for online activities. http://www.edina.k12.mn.us/normandale/curriculum/insectes/chepap.htm

• Has a checklist, the powerpoint, and a number of online activities to work with this content.
• Students should NOT yet do the KidPix/PowerPoint presentation that is the last link on the page.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed through their sentences describing the stages of the butterfly's life cycle and the pictures that they draw about the stages. The instructor circulates around the classroom checking the pictures before they are colored.

 

References and Resources:

Books:
1. Carle, Eric La Chenille Affamee  Philomel Books; New York, New York
2. Krings, Antoons (1994) Camille La Chenille. Editions Gallimard; France
3. Marzollo, Jean & Moffat, Judith (1997) Moi la Chenille. Les Editions Scholastic; Ontario, Canada

Website: http://www.edina.k12.mn.us/normandale/curriculum/insectes/chepap.htm

Attachments:

NOTE: some attachments are in PDF form (get Acrobat Reader)

Power point - about life cycles

For Expansion website activities:
checklist  for list of activities completion

A Lesson from the CoBaLTT Project
/cobaltt
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
University of Minnesota