I Wish I Were a Butterfly Lesson Plan

My grade level partners and I use I Wish I Were a Butterfly during the first week of school. We use it to teach students acceptance and to appreciate each other’s uniqueness.

OBJECTIVE
Students will develop a better understanding of the differences among peers in the classroom, identify ways each student is unique, and design/decorate a classroom banner that exhibits the uniqueness of each individual student.

MATERIALS

I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe
One large banner (I usually make this using bulletin board paper.)
Sentence strips for each student
Copies of the circle pattern reproducible

SET UP AND PREPARE
Before reading the book, I tell my students that I am going to read them a story about a little cricket. I ask them to pay attention to how the cricket feels in the story.

REPRODUCIBLES

Circle Pattern
(PDF)

DIRECTIONS
After reading the book, we have a discussion about how the cricket feels. Usually the students can relate to the cricket feeling different and wanting to be something he is not. I then ask the students if they have ever felt like the cricket. Some students might be shy to share their stories, so I usually tell them about a time when I was young and felt like I wanted to be someone else. This usually sparks conversation.

Next, I discuss with the students the word “uniqueness” and ask the students to tell me how each animal in the story was unique.
cricket- plays music
spider- spins webs
glow worm- changes into a lightning bug
ladybug- flies and is the color of laughter
dragonfly- covered in jewels

After that, I ask each student to think of ways that they are unique. What can they do that other students may not be able to do? (Some students will feel like the cricket and say their is nothing unique about them. Talk to that student about things they like to do, usually you can find a way they are unique.)

Students are then given a sentence strip to write down the way they are unique. I then have them draw a picture of their face to hang up next to their uniqueness.

While the students are working on their sentence strips and pictures I write, "Mrs. Higgins's class is Unique" in the middle of the banner. After sharing their uniqueness with each other, I have the students glue their picture and sentence strips on the banner. I hang the banner up on the wall for the rest of the year as a reminder that we are all unique in our own special way.

SUPPORTING ALL LEARNERS
After teaching this lesson several times, I find that there will always be students in your class that will think they are like the cricket and feel they are not unique. It is important that these children are treated delicately. I have found just by talking to them about the things they like to do will usually spark an idea.

LESSON EXTENSION
Students can also create an acrostic poem of their names and describe themselves in the poem. This is a great way for students to get to know one another in the beginning of the year.

Scholastic Store

The Scholastic Store

The Essential Spanish Phrase Book for Teachers

by Luisa Perez-Sotelo and Eileen Hogan

Overcome the language barrier with your Spanish-speaking students and their families with this handy guide and its indispensable tools: English-Spanish translation charts, idiomatic expressions, cognates (words in both languages that are very similar in spelling and pronunciation), and vocabulary pertinent to diverse topics that often occur in a school situation. This slender book, tabbed for quick access, is organized around three sections. Inside the Classroom, Inside the School, and Inside Family Communication and covers the typical situations and events in an elementary school day. For use with Grades PreK-6.

$11.19 You save: 20%
books;teaching resources;professional books | Ages 3-12

The Essential Spanish Phrase Book for Teachers

Ages 3-12 $11.19

Scholastic Store

The Scholastic Store

The Complete Year in Reading and Writing Kindergarten

by Pam Allyn

Provides a detailed curricular calendar that's tied to a developmental continuum and the standards so you'll know not only what you should be teaching, but what your students are ready to embrace and what you can reasonably expect of them as successful readers and writers. Additionally, you'll find monthly units of study that integrate reading and writing so both work together to provide maximum support for your students. The units are organized around four essential components, process, genre, strategy, and conventions, so you're reassured you're addressing everything your students need to know about reading and writing. What's more you'll find ready-to-use lessons that offer exemplary teaching and continuous assessment, and a flexible framework that shows you how to frame a year of teaching, a unit, and a lesson and you can easily adapt all to fit the unique needs and interests of your own students.

For use with Grade K.

$20.79 You save: 20%
books;teaching resources;professional books | Ages 4-6

The Complete Year in Reading and Writing Kindergarten

Ages 4-6 $20.79