CHDV 150 I ntroduction to Curriculum

Small Group Activity Form

Name of Activity:

Fly, Fly, Fly, like a Butterfly

Curriculum Area:

Social Studies

Length of Activity:

15-20 minutes

Learning Objectives:

The child will be able to describe themselves.(SSD1: Identity of Self)
The child will be able discuss the different methods of communication that they use in their everyday
lives. (SSD6:Awareness of Diversity in Self and Others)
The child will be able to talk about what a butterfly needs to be healthy. (SSD12: Shared Use of Space
and Materials)




Material/Equipment Needed:

Internet connection
Map or Globe
CD player for song.
Computer or iPad
Pictures of Monarch Butterflies and monarch caterpillars
The song Going Down to Mexico (The Monarch Butterfly Song)
Lyric Sheet (to memorize the words before hand)
Monarch butterflies 10-12 (toys or props to pass around for the children to see)
For the monarch butterfly (butterfly stencil, black acid free pen, dry white out, cardboard, orange paper,
scissors)
Tape
Developmentally appropriate books on caterpillars




Preparation (What do you need to do beforehand?):


1. I need to make paper monarch butterfly props for the children to examine and tape to a map of the
United States and Mexico.
2. I will need to set aside enough space for the children to gather and make sure it is clear of obstacles for
some dancing and singing in a circle time activity.
3. I will need to convert a YouTube video with the song Going Down to Mexico (The Monarch Butterfly
Song) to an mp3 and then burn it to a CD, then find a CD player or use the computer in the classroom
to play the song for the class to hear. Alternatively, I could bring in an ipad to play the song for the kids.
4. I will need to find a map of the United States and Mexico and blow it up for the children to examine.
5. I will need tape for the children to tape the monarch butterflies to the board.
6. I need to gather information on the migration of the butterflys and translate it into developmentally
appropriate language.
7. Gather pictures of monarchs and monarch caterpillars so the children can examine what the butterfly
eats, what the caterpillars eat, how long they live, how they communicate with other butterflies and how
they have babies.



Procedures (step by step) Be Specific

*Beginning (How will I introduce activity?)

I plan on introducing this activity in a circle time activity.
To begin with, I will gather the children into a group and have them proceed to the circle time area (I
will make sure to wait for the children to settle down before proceeding to the song).
I will explain beforehand that we will be taking a trip with the butterflies down to Mexico and that they
need our help to figure out how to get there.
I will explain the moves of the song and the cues in the lyrics that call for us to demonstrate certain
moves (fly, fly, fly like a butterfly will be represented by crossing our hands and the lyric brr will be
represented by us holding our shoulders and shivering).
I will then boot up the song Going Down to Mexico (The Monarch Butterfly Song) and will then have
the children sing and dance along to the song.
After the song, then the lesson will begin.






*Middle: (How will I support/enhance/scaffold?) The person reading your lesson plan should be able to
identify what you are saying or doing to support your stated learning objectives. THIS IS VERY
IMPORTANT.

After the circle time activity.
I will then direct the childrens attention to the full size version of the United States and ask the children
open ended questions about the geography of the United States such as:
What do you think this is?
What does this map make you think of?
Has anyone here traveled a long distance?
How do people usually travel?
Where do you like to go when it is cold/hot?
After I have got the children thinking about travel I will then introduce the children to the concept of
migration in that just like people travel, butterflies travel to different places just like they do.
I will then explain via diagram and volunteer small groups to go up to the white board/ map to pin the
butterflies that I created to different parts of the United States and explain to them that this is where they
are born as caterpillars.
For the children that cannot reach the map, I will allow them to use a globe to pin the butterflies to with
tape.
After they have pinned the butterflies to the respective areas on the map I will move onto a different area
of discussion talking about the climate and different seasons through open ended questions like:
When it gets cold what do we do?
How do you keep warm?
Do butterflies get cold just like you do?
After encouraging discussion on cold and different ways to keep warm, I will explain that butterflies do
not like the cold and since they cannot keep warm on their own, they travel far away to keep warm.
I will then bring up the map of Mexico and ask the children if they know what this is, and is it the same
area that we are in right now?
Then I will explain that the country is called Mexico and that when it gets cold the mariposas
(butterflies) like to travel here so they can keep warm.
Then I will ask the children to again, while in small groups, to take the butterflies from the board and
move them from the United States to Mexico.
I will then go over different areas that the butterflies like to inhabit as well as why the butterflies do this
each year and some of the details that might surprise them such as the lineages associated with
butterflies showing up there and other fun info.
We will also discuss how butterflies communicate with one another and how their methods of talking
to one another differ from our own.
I will encourage discussion by providing them with open ended questions and some examples of how
butterflies communicate this concept of migration to each other.
I will ask them questions like:
How do we usually talk to each other?
Do we talk to other people with special languages too?
What do you think about talking through colors?
What do you usually do to get someones attention?



*End: (How will I bring this activity to a conclusion and transition to the next activity? Be very specific
in how you will transition the children.)

While the children examine the map, I will have the next area prepared in advance while they watch a
video on the spectacular recorded footage of the butterflies arrival in Mexico.
I will then tell them before I start the video that we will be moving to a different activity, I was thinking
an art project, and that it will be time soon to clean up.
Then once the set up of the next activity is finished I will then have the transition song in place to get
them to move on to the art area by singing the song Caterpillar Caterpillar and having them reenact the
songs lyrics by crawling (though it will really be slow walking) all around and on the ground to the
art area and have them move at a caterpillar pace to get ready for the next activity.
For the children that are more cognitively advanced or are more disinterested in the video activity, I will
ask for them to be my helpers and have them assist me in setting up the area for the next activity,
providing scaffolding assistance whenever needed.
After they are finished with the video and proceed to the next area I will ask them if they are ready for
the next activity and if they are ready to learn more about butterflies.
Then once I gauge their interests, I will be ready to explain the details of our activity.
If their interests move to a different area of study than what I had intended I will adjust my plans as
needed.
For example, if a student sparks a conversation on cocoons or what does it mean to migrate or do people
migrate, I will make sure to answer him/her and provide them with all the information I can, then ask
them open ended questions about it such as:
Well, where do you think that they travel?
Do you travel anywhere special when it gets cold?
How do you usually travel to different places?














Throughout the day/week, what opportunities will the children have to reflect back on this activity?

As we continue to study the caterpillars and butterflies through readings, videos, books and a live
caterpillar for each child, we will continually reflect on what is happening to the caterpillars currently.
I will encourage the children to examine the caterpillars as they progress in their metamorphosis to
butterflies by asking them critical thinking questions like:
Where do you think the caterpillars will go when they become butterflies?
When do you think these caterpillars will change into butterflies?
Do you think we will see our butterflies come back home again next year?
These questions will encourage them to reflect on what will happen when the butterflies change and
will remind them that when the weather changes these butterflies will leave to Mexico for the winter.
As we read stories about butterflies, design butterflies with different materials, study the lifecycle of the
butterfly and eventually take a field trip to the Los Angeles Museum, I hope to convey the lessons of
migration back to them by reminding them along the way of the butterflies journey is very much like our
own journey through the thematic unit.
I will be relating the butterflies attributes back to them by explaining what the butterflies need in order
to thrive in the world and compare it to what we (people) need in order to thrive in our environment.
This will remind the children much like themselves, butterflies have special needs that must be met in
the places they live in order to be healthy.
I will also bring up the word migration to associate it with travel throughout the room and when the
children leave to go home.
I will remind them that like the butterflies, they too migrate great distances to find comfortable homes to
live in.