Life of a Plant

Day 1: Students will watch a BrainPop Jr. Video on the Plant Life Cycle, discuss the different parts of a plant and what it needs to survive, then dance out each part of the plant and what it needs to survive.

Day 2: The teacher will read the book The Story Goes on by Aileen Fisher. The students and teacher will discuss the story, then the teacher will read it again with students dancing it out.

Day 3: The teacher will read the book Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move by Joann Early Macken and discuss the story with the students. The students will dance the story out while the teacher reads through the book again.

Day 4 (focus lesson):  Introductory Statement: “Today I am going to read you a poem about the plant life cycle. After that, you will dance the poem out and then we are going to create a class dance based on the poem.”
The teacher will read the following poem:
 
Life of a Plant by Risa Jordan
 
A plant will grow from a tiny seed,
Some water and sun is all you need.
First the roots grow underground,
They suck up minerals from all around.
Then come stems, some tall, some stout,
And next the branches spread about.
Leaves grow in all shapes and sizes,
Watch this new life as it rises.
Flowers bloom from buds on stems,
They are as pretty as precious gems.
Some plants give us juicy fruit,
Some have vegetables at the root.
New seeds travel to and fro,
By wind and water, on the go.
And the cycle keeps on going,
Soon new stems and leaves are showing.

Have students tell what the poem is about (the plant life cycle). Then tell the students that you will read the poem again and they will dance it out. Remind them that they may use personal or general space and not to forget to include the dance elements of levels, pathways, directions, body shapes, and size.

Read the poem again having students use creative movement to explore ways to dance out the poem.

The teacher will say, “Now we are going to create a class dance that goes with this poem. Raise your hand if you would like to be the seed, roots, and stem.” Assign student parts. “Now raise your hand if you would like to be the water.” Assign parts. “Who would like to be the sun?” Continue assigning parts until the whole class represents a part of the poem.

The teacher will tell students, “Pick a side of the room to make your entrance from. An entrance means that you are coming onto the stage. This is the side you will enter from each time you come on for your part. I am going to read through the poem again. When I get to the part that your role is supposed to come onto the stage, please enter the stage dancing like your role. Don’t forget to use all of the elements we have learned this year to make your dancing more interesting.”

Continue practicing and refining the dance eventually adding music (“Waltz of the Flowers” by Tchaikovsky).

Day 5: 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.

You can use any of the dance elements in this lesson (Body, Energy, Space, Time). The elements refered to above are just the elements these students have used up to this point in the year.

1st Grade Life of a Plant Checklist

Student Name: __________________________________________________

_____ Student uses movements that show understanding of the plant life cycle

_____ Student uses movements that match their role in the class dance