Life of a Plant

Lesson Overview

This lesson is part of an integrated unit that combines dance and the plant life cycle from 1st grade science standards. Students will use their knowledge of the plant life cycle and the dance elements to create a whole class dance based on the poem "Life of a Plant" by Risa Jordan. In the previous lesson, students watched a BrainPop Jr. Video on the Plant Life Cycle, discussed the different parts of a plant and what it needs to survive, then danced out each part of the plant and what it needs to survive. In the next lesson during this unit, the teacher read the book The Story Goes on by Aileen Fisher. The students and teacher discussed the story, then the teacher reads it again with students dancing it out. During the third lesson in the unit, the teacher read the book Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move by Joann Early Macken and discussed the story with the students. The students danced the story out while the teacher read through the book again. The fourth lesson, which is the focus lesson here, is based on the poem “Life of a Plant” by Risa Jordan. In the last lesson, students will create group dances that show the plant life cycle and what it needs to survive. As a culmination of the unit, students will perform their class dance of the poem and their group dances of the plant life cycle in an integration showcase for their parents and the community.  This focus lesson can be a stand-alone lesson or presented as part of this unit.