The Yellow Butterfly

R.Anitha

Appreciate nature and the colours around us                             CBSE, English, Class – III, Unit - V            

Theme of the unit: Appreciation of natural beauty – sky, colors, insects etc.
Major Concepts: Kindness towards all creatures; grammar - past tense, describing words
Learning Resources: Poster of a garden, activity sheets, worksheets, audio-visual aids

Expected Learning Outcomes:
• Listening: Go for nature walks and appreciate the nature and the little creatures around us. To listen to the story and audio visuals. Listen to the questions asked in each stage using picture cards.
• Speaking: Speak about the things seen in the sky and the describe creatures around them in simple sentences. Discuss how they make models. Dramatize the story
• Reading: Read the prose, new words and identify the describing words. Read the given sentences and sequence them. Read the instructions ot make a paper buetrtfly.
• Writing: Frame sentences using new words. Carry out substitution writing. Write new words from the given words.

ENGAGE

Activity 1: Nature walk – The teacher takes the children on a nature walk and asks them to observe their surroundings. She asks them to name the objects and their colors.Students also fill an activity sheet after this.
Questions for children:
1. Name some things that can fly in the sky?
2. Do people fly? How do people move to other countries?
3. What do butterflies get from the flowers?
4. Do you like to fly kites?

Activity 2: Making butterflies – The teacher gives students an outline of a butterfly and asks them to make designs using buttons, sequins colour papers etc. She can use  questions on Pg 49 of the textbook for discussion.

EXPLORE

Activity 1: Action words
• The teacher divides the students into groups to do a set of actions. They are given an activity sheet where they choose the right action verb against the picture and match the past tense
with the present tense.
• The teacher asks them to read the sentences using both present and past verbs and guides them to match the verbs like hold-held, sit-sat, and try-tried.
As the students are familiar with the past tense of words like look-looked, they can match the present tense with the past tense with ease. Wherever they struggle, the teacher can help them match the words. Using the verbs given in the activity sheet, children form simple sentences like the one below.
E.g.                  

The boy climbs the tree.
The boy climbed the tree.
Activity 2: Picture reading – The teacher displays a picture of a garden and asks children to discuss the various things they see in the picture. Question cards are given to each group and they are asked to answer them using the picture.
1. What is this place?
2. What are the things you can see in the garden?
3. Name the flower that is yellow in colour that you have read in Magic Garden lesson.
4. What is the water source shown in picture?
5. Name the flower seen in the pond and what is the colour?
6. What is the insect that can be seen mostly in the garden?
7. Name the insect shown here?
8. What is the color of the peach flower?
9. How many legs does a spider have?
10. How does a spider move?

Activity 3: Model Making
Divide the children into groups and ask each group to make one of the following things: A paper butterfly, model of a pond, paper tree or a spider’s web. The teacher helps the groups with materials required to construct the things. Students are also shown videos on making these models
( https://w w w.youtube.com/watch?v=6mDGfQpl4Qk  and https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=Ol6kml6t6Wk )
They present their work to the entire class and explain how they made these things during “Showcase” time.
Activity 4: Framing a story – The teacher presents the poster to the class and ask them to frame a story based on the poster. The teacher asks probing questions using the poster to help students develop the story.

EXPLAIN

Activity 1: Story reading – The teacher reads the story, with the children repeating after her.
Activity 2: Vocabulary building – The teacher acts out the meaning of the new words, points out to new words using the poster and checks if children have understood what it means. Students are given an activity sheet for writing.
Students watch the action, find the corresponding words, read and understand the meaning. They form simple sentences using the words and fill in the blanks by writing the appropriate words for the given sentences.
Activity 3: Sequencing the sentences – The teacher gives six sentence strips to each group and asks them to read and sequence the sentences.

ELABORATE

Activity 1: Writing about insects - Teacher asks the students to draw a garden in the given activity sheet with insects flying around. Students draw and identify the insects in the garden. Eg. There is a green grasshopper. It has long hind limbs (legs)

Activity 2: Video Screening - The teacher plays the video on Florence Nightingale. ( h t t p s : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=6JpToD-xAgE or https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=1ugQ8fd2L9U ).
Students share their experiences where they have shown kindness towards other creatures.

Questions for children:
1. How will you behave towards other creatures?
2. If you see an injured dog, what will you do?               

3. How will you take care of the animals
around your house?
4. Have you ever fed an animal?
5. Is it right to keep parrots or birds in a
cage?

EVALUATE

Activity 1 -Teacher gives a worksheet for reading comprehension. Students are required to find the describing words and colour them in y ellow.
Activity 2 - Students are asked to sequence the sentences given on Pg. 50 of the textbook. They also work on the exercise on word building on Pg. 51
Activity 3 - The children are asked to dramatize the prose “The Yellow Butterfly” using the maetrials made in the explore stage Reflection:

When taken for a nature walk, the children really enjoy the sense of freedom. Experiential learning happens and children learn through all the senses. Art activities encourage their imagination and develop their concentration
skills. Group activities encourage peer learning. During these activities, the teacher can assess their interest, involvement and participatory skills. A comprehensive poster helps in covering all aspects of language learning. Audio visual aids help ine inrforcing their learning.