MONARCH BUTTERFLY LESSON PLAN

Name: Amelia Jennings Content/Grade: Informational Literacy/Grade 5

Date: 11/2/15
Preparation to Teach
State Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.9
Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or
speak about the subject knowledgeably.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.5.2
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary
of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups,
and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on
others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Lesson Objective: The student will be able to:
-Read and summarize informational texts.
-Discuss research findings (such as factors and causes of migration) in groups.
-Explain why Monarch Butterflies migrate.
Materials: Dry erase markers, slides with questions, word cloud generator, Monarch Butterfly
research links/print outs and books, research outline worksheets, pencils, various
colored pencils/markers/pens, index cards

Notes:
 Scale for Meeting Lesson Objectives

4.0 In addition to Level 3 understanding, the student understands:

-How monarch butterfly migration is similar to and different from the migration of other insects
or animals.

The student is able to:

-Read through multiple different informational texts and compare and contrast their content
together.
-Synthesize group research, helping other students summarize and share.
-Evaluate which pieces of information constitute the arguments and which support it.
3.0 The student understands:
-The primary reasons why monarch butterflies migrate.
-How different factors interact in causing migration.
-How butterflies know when to migrate.

The student is able to:

-Read through multiple different informational texts, writing notes on significant points.
-Compare notes with students in the group, sharing research, building on other students
research, and summarizing or rewording other students research.
-Identify which pieces of information constitute the arguments in the texts.
2.0 The student understands:
-The main reasons that monarch butterflies migrate.
-That migration takes place under the influence of factors which work together.

The student is able to:

-Read through several informational texts, writing notes about possible causes for migration.
-Share findings with students in the group and summarize the strongest points.
1.0 With help, the student understands:
-That monarch butterflies migrate because of seasons, like other animals.
-That there are other reasons that monarch butterflies migrate as well.

With help/prompting, the student is able to:

-Read through informational texts
-Recall some points about migration from the texts.
0.0 With help, the student understands:
-That monarch butterflies migrate.

With help/prompting, the student is still not able to read through material or recall information
from it.
 Instructional Sequence

Anticipatory Set: 5 minutes

Instructional Strategy/Student Activity Rationale: (Class Learning Preferences/Skills or

Ask the following questions to start a Know Knowledge)
Hypothesize Learn (KHL) Chart: Giving students a couple minutes to brainstorm
Start with a quick-think write on note cards: and jot down what they remember gives students
What do we know about Monarch Butterflies? time to organize their thoughts, giving quieter
(write key words or draw quick sketches) students confidence that they had something to
Ask for students to volunteer knows (Zero in say and eager students time to select their best
on or supply a comment about migration). answer.
What do you hypothesize about why monarch
butterflies migrate?
One article stated: by instinct alone, they
migrate to mountain sanctuaries in Mexico
where they've never been before. How does
this fit with the idea that God is control of
creation? Do Monarch Butterflies demonstrate
Gods design in creation ?
Introduce the research process:
After scientists have some knowledge about a
subject, they make an informed guess about
what they expect to find. Thats what we just
did, right?
Instead of starting from scratch and observing
butterflies for several months, we are going to
investigate what others have learned about
monarch butterflies and why they migrate.
Identify Adaptations (Student Needs)
504
Students will hear and see other students answers
on the board and can have the teacher review
what is writing, so reading support is in place.

Formative Monitoring/Assessment Rationale:

Monitor student engagement and collect quick- If students are participating in the recall/predict
writes to monitor memory/brainstorming fluency. stage, they are better prepared to build to new
Identify Adaptations (Student Needs) information.
Participation can be verbal or written.
504
Sketches give a word-free option for memory
recall if writing is a challenge.
Monitoring may also include watching to see if
they do not repeat answers that are written or ask
what is written.
 Instructional Input: 5 minutes

Instructional Strategy/Student Activity Rationale: (Class Learning Preferences/Skills or

Explain the research process: Knowledge)
When we pick up a book to do research, we Identifying text features helps students orient
have to ask ourselves questions about what themselves to navigate informational texts. Rather
we want to know and record the answers. than approaching a sea of jumbled information,
We want to know about why butterflies they have land marks to aim for and look around
migrate (point out questions from the KHL to find specific answers and facts.
Chart), so when we look at a text, we look for
clues about whether it answers the question.
Point out text feature clues like the index
(using the Selsam book, the Barrons book, and
the Scholastic book), headings, pictures, and
bold terms, asking what information they
convey and how.
Explain the selection/recording process:
How do you know what to write down? Solicit
a few answers, then assert: pick facts that
seem important or just plain interesting.
When we record research, we want to be able
to say it in our own words. For one thing, that
helps us remember it better, and for another
thing, sometimes our own words say an idea
more clearly or quickly than a book.
Using key words instead of full sentences, we
can summarize the ideas that we want to
remember and use.
Identify Adaptations (Student Needs)

504
By flipping though a book like Seslam, looking for
the butterfly pictures, the teacher gives tools for
bellow level readers to use to find the right spots
in the information.

Formative Monitoring/Assessment Rationale

Monitor student reactions to instruction: do they
seem lost? Can they answer questions along the
way? Are they tracking with the instruction?
Identify Adaptations (Student Needs)
504
None
Asking questions about things in the instruction
shows the teacher what knowledge the students
do or do not have to scaffold on.
Watching for confusion or distraction helps
identify student engagement they should be able
to recall and contribute at this level, where the
instruction is taking some prior concepts and
applying them to the task at hand.
 Guided Practice: 10 minutes

Instructional Strategy/Student Activity Rationale: (Class Learning Preferences/Skills or

Modeling the research process: Knowledge)
Choose a book, use text features to identify Teacher modeled thinking gives the students a
where to look, and start reading out loud, framework for approaching informational texts.
dictating the thought process along the way. What questions should I ask? How do I use hints in
To guide the research, narrow it down: why do the text to find the information I want? How do I
they migrate? What factors cause migration? pick key words?
How do they know when to migrate?
Choose a fact to record and remind students
of key wording requirement, supply one key
word and ask for others. Repeat for four facts.
(students add this to the Source #1 sheets)
Modeling the fusing process:
Produce pre-filled second source outline and
begin to compare, asking to see if any facts
match closely. Determine how to add key
words to combine from both sources.
Read through the two outlines alternately,
asking which unique facts seem most
important. Copy those to the fused outline.
Identify Adaptations (Student Needs)
Even if they cannot read the informational text as
504 quickly as you do, they will be less likely to give up
Sitting/standing close to the students, ensure trying to track within the text. By modeling
struggling readers are positioned so they can see thinking about the text before summarizing it in
the teacher and book. Point and follow along the key words, the instruction already seeks to support
text so direct attention to where we are. comprehension.

Formative Monitoring/Assessment Rationale: (Class Learning Preferences/Skills or

Assess student summarizing skills and Knowledge)
understanding based on what key words (if any) While there are a host of good answers, there are
they offer. Do they encompass the main ideas? If some wrong answers when it comes to key-
not, ask questions about the word to check for wording. Not only does asking for volunteers start
content understanding. If they can explain the fact, to transition to independent learning, but it forces
their weakness is really in selecting a key word. students to practice and justify answering.
Identify Adaptations (Student Needs)
504
In order to summarize, the students will have to
In addition to summary/understanding
have a grasp on the content. This shows the
assessment, assess for comprehension using the
strength of that grasp.
same questioning process. Ask for why they pick
certain words, looking for justification from the
text meaning in context.
 Independent Practice: 10 minutes
Instructional Strategy/Student Activity
Research
Group students into 2-5 students and point
out to students how the different sources are
marked according to their level of information.
Students will not only fuse their source
outlines individually, but also the groups
research as a whole.
Remind students that they will read from two
different texts, starting by listing the
biographical information.
Sharing/Whole Group Fusing
Students will share their findings with the
group, each one student telling one fact at a
time and writing key words on the fused
outline with a different color per person.
After each student has shared a different fact,
the group should then see if others found that
same fact (like Scategories). Students can
build on duplicate facts, adding information or
significance, adding key words to the right
spots on the fused outline.
Identify Adaptations (Student Needs)
504
Struggling readers will be paired with strong
readers (or at least in their group).
Reading material is varied in difficulty/information
richness.
Formative Monitoring/Assessment
Monitor groups to see how discussions are going
are students contributing reasons for migration?
Are they adding key words to their fused outline?
Assess key word choices for success at answering
questions about migration whys.
Identify Adaptations (Student Needs)
504
Monitor for engagement in groups and
appropriate text selection. Are they figuring out
the why? Are they asking their peers for help
when they get stuck?
Rationale: (Class Learning Preferences/Skills or
Knowledge)
Collaboration gives students a chance to gradually
gain independent learning.
Students, especially ELLs, are more willing to ask
peers for help than the teacher, so they can turn
to each other for support employing the instructed
method of research.
The additional motivation of working in a group
gives some students the desire to impress or
support their group-mates by coming up with neat
facts.
Classroom procedures for work groups dictate that
students as themselves, then group members for
help before asking the teacher, so having a mix of
students provides built-in mentoring
opportunities.
Rationale: (Class Learning Preferences/Skills or
Knowledge)
If students are succeeding in gathering
information, they will be ready to engage in
sharing! If they have learned why monarch
butterflies migrate based on the research, they
can demonstrate this on an outline. Mixed groups
empower less articulate students to build off
modeled verbalization.
Students do what they can, but they can do more
in groups. Working with peers can increase
engagement and provide tutoring relationships.
 Closure: 5 minutes
Instructional Strategy/Student Activity
K H L (Learned cards):
Rather than doing what did we learn as a
group on the board, were going to do a short
reflection/summary.
Dont use your outlines we will be using those
for another project. The best thoughts are the
ones you collect up from inside your brain and
have to pull out, not from a paper. Search in
your brains what connections did you make?
On a note card at your desk, please write a few
sentences about what you learned. Summarize
your findings and self assess did I figure out
why they migrate? Was my hypothesis
correct? How did I do with the
outline/recording process? Did I see any of
Gods design in this?
After you finish, you can leave them with me.
Identify Adaptations (Student Needs)
504
Removing the outlines as a source also removes
anxiety about reading the outlines and figuring
out/recalling what they wrote.
As students write, the teacher can check in on
struggling readers to ensure they know what to
write and remind them of the guiding questions.
Formative Monitoring/Assessment
Assess: do they know why Monarch Butterflies
migrate? Can they articulate those reasons?
Read through the reflections to see how students
self-assess their understanding.
Identify Adaptations (Student Needs)
504
Assess same learning outcomes and evaluate
whether the provided texts were appropriate. Did
they pick the appropriate texts or use strategies to
understand?
Rationale: (Class Learning Preferences/Skills or
Knowledge)
Limited space on a note card forces verbose
students to summarize and evaluate what points
are most important to include.
It also encourages students who are intimidated
by writing because they only need to write a few
things.
By withholding the note cards and encouraging
brain-only information harvesting, the teacher is
pointing students toward met cognitive
development and memory building: search the
paths, go back down them, because that will
produce better reflections than reading your notes
another time. We have to do something with
information to get it to stick.
They may not be reading the questions from the
board, and if they do not remember them, they no
longer have any peers to get help from. The point
of the closing piece is to see what about the lesson
they understand, not whether they can remember
the prompt on the board.
Rationale: (Class Learning Preferences/Skills or
Knowledge)
Ultimately, this lesson is part of a unit where they
will present their findings creatively, so not only
does the teacher need to know that students have
reached an understating of the content, but the
students need to have confidence in their own
knowledge as well.
 Reflection

Success: Students shared well with partners the collaboration seemed to tease out different
pieces of information from each student, and they respected the responsibility to
have both peoples research represented on their fused outline.
The post-reflection seemed really effective student reflection cards showed me a
good level of basic and detailed understanding.
Struggles: This was too much to try to do in one lesson students need to learn how to read and
do key word outlining as a separate lesson where the content itself is easy to
understand and not as important. The modeling would have been more effective, but
it was too much to tackle in one lesson.
Students needed more time with the resources.
The anticipatory set was effective for stirring up what students already know, but not
for generating interest or excitement.
Future Ideas: Make key-wording part of the pre-knowledge for the lesson.
Possibly break the lesson over two days so students have time to learn what
information is important, read in class, and do a little more reading on their own as
homework before coming together in pairs or groups to share and fuse outlines.