A Buggy Bunch

Lesson Author: Betty Floyd

Subject: Language Arts

Grade Level: 1

Time Required: 2-3 days

Overview: This lesson on "Bugs" integrates listening skills, oral reading, descriptive writing, and art through student participation in text reading and a hands-on art project.

Learning Objectives:
The learner will:

• use prior knowledge of bugs to orally read text
• use descriptive words to write a story
• create bugs by cutting out a symmetrical form of their first name
• make "Doodlebugs" from recipe.

• The Horrible Big Black Bug big book by Toni Jacquier (or similar book)
• individual student books
• crayons
• pencils
• chart paper
• markers
• dry erase board
• ingredients for "doodlebugs" recipe (sugar cookies, gumdrops, licorice)

Pre-Activity

Read the big book The Horrible Big Black Bug to the students. Read the story a second time encouraging students to locate and discuss descriptive words. Write the words on chart paper.

Activities

The students will help the teacher create a bubble map using descriptive words located in the story.

The group will take a nature walk around the school looking for places where bugs might be living.

The students will use descriptive words from the story to write stories about bugs.

The students will create bugs by folding an 8.5x11 sheet of white construction paper in half horizontally.

Have the students print their names (use the length of the paper). The teacher should draw a cutting line around each child's name.

Have students cut out their name shape leaving the fold intact.

The students will open their "bugs" and decorate with crayons, markers and finger paints.

The students will make antennae with pipe stems.

The students will make "Doodlebugs" by decorating a sugar cookie with icing using gumdrops to form the head and licorice for the legs and spots.

• Teacher observation
• Monitoring student writing
• Oral responses during discussion
• Assessment of completed art project

• http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/insects.htm
• http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/ythfacts/entyough.htm