Makanani Keomaka

EDU
Lesson Plan
Name of Lesson: A Bugs Life
Grade Level Appropriateness: 2nd or 3rd Grade
Technology Content Standard Addressed: 1.A.2.1 Use digital tools to
brainstorm and organize new ideas
Other Content Standards: Reading and writing
Objective: The Student will be able to gather information from a number of
informational books and create their own book with the new materials learned.
They will make a rough draft and they will create their final draft using the class
computers. They will be able to use the drawing tools and the word processing
tools in the computers.
Materials needed:
- At least 4 short stories of each of the following topics: ladybugs,
caterpillars/butterflies, ants, dragonflies, and bees.
- Computer
o Program: any type of drawing program and Microsoft Word
- Paper and pencil (for draft)
- Worksheet that includes 3 large boxes. One box has the label, Physical
Characteristics, another is Behavior and the other is Life Cycle.
- Scissors, glue, tape, color paper, and stapler
Suggested group size: 5 groups of 3 or 4
Procedures:
Lead-In: Read students short story, From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah
Heiligman, to the class. You will then inform the students that they will be creating
their own book to take home and read.
Step 1: Once book is read, you will separate the class into groups of 4
Step 2: Pass out packets to every group, which include 4 short stories that all
talk about one type of bug. For example, in one packet, there will be 4 books
about butterflies, in another one, there will be 4 books about bees, and so on.
Step 3: Explain to the class that in a second, they will reach into their packets
and each person will grab one book and one worksheet.
Step 4: For 7 minutes, you will read that one short story about your groups bug.
Within that 7 minutes, you will also gather some facts about your groups bug and

write them down on the worksheet under the label you think it belongs to. For
example, bees are black and yellow would go under Physical Characteristics
in the box. Once the 7 minutes are up, you will give your book to the person to
the right of you. You will continue to do this until you end up with the first book
you had.
Step 5: Once that part is done, explain to the class that each category
represents a chapter in their book they will create. For example, chapter 1 will be:
Physical Characteristics, chapter 2 will be: Behavior, and so on.
Step 6: Tell the class that they will now grab out a piece of paper and create 3
sentences for each chapter that speaks about the fact they read about their bug.
For example, If a student were to list the following facts: black and yellow, furry,
black legs, their 3 sentences would look something like this: Bees have black and
yellow stripes. Their legs are black and they are furry.
(At this time, you as the teacher will walk around the classroom checking each of
the students sentences as they finish. You will approve each students work by
putting a star next to each.)
Step 7: Once you approve all of the work, the students will go to the computer
lab and use Microsoft Word to type out their stories. Make sure there are gaps
between the chapters so it is easy to cut.
Step 8: When chapters are type out and printed, the students will now draw three
pictures that go along with each chapter in their book using any type of drawing
tool. Once done, they will print it out.
Step 9: This is the last part of the project where they cut and paste their pictures
and chapters into colorful papers creating their own book. And all done!
Assessment:
Most of the grading will be done throughout the lesson. For example, you will be
walking around the classroom and computer lab helping the children and grading
them at the same time. In order for them to move on to the next step, they must
get an approval from you. By the end, all students will pass the grade if the come
to school and finish on time. In the end, each student is eligible to receive extra
credit points by sharing their book with the class.

Student Sample

Chapter 1: Physical Characteristics

Some caterpillars are green with some yellow. They have

antennas and they are fuzzy.

Chapter 2: Behavior

When they are caterpillars, they crawl. When they are

butterflies they fly and float.

Chapter 3: Life Cycle

They start off as eggs then they hatch into a caterpillar. Then they turn into a
cocoon and blossom to a beautiful butterfly.