Monarch and milkweed, by Helen Frost and Leonid Gore. New York: Atheneum, 2008.

ISBN: 978-1416900856

Annotation: Clear, poetic prose and luminous, gauzy illustrations work together to describe the fascinating relationship between the milkweed plant and the monarch butterfly.

Illustrations: acrylic and pastel

Curricular Use: 5^th-6^th grade; Science, Language Arts

5Q/4P

Lesson Plan Title: Monarch and Milkweed Day

Grade Level: 5^th         

Concept / Topic To Teach: animal/plant interdependency; writing styles of informational and narrative texts

California State Standards Addressed:

- Life Sciences, Sections 2e-g (energy production in plant cells)

- English Language Arts, Reading Comprehension Section 2.0 (Structural Features of Informational Materials; Comprehension and Analysis; and Expository Critique); Writing Sections 1.0 and 2.0 (Writing Strategies and Writing Applications)

General Goal(s):

- gain understanding of insect life cycles and migratory behavior

-gain understanding of general plant physiology

- practice reading comprehension and analysis

- practice writing skills

Specific Objectives:

-creating a milkweed garden for monarch butterflies

-learning about the relationship between monarchs and milkweed plants 

-writing and illustrating a short story about a topic in the natural world in a style like Helen Frost uses in Monarch and Milkweed

-analyzing how Frost combines informational writing with narrative structure

Required Materials:

-copy of Monarch and Milkweed, by Helen Frost and Leonid Gore, ill. (New York: Atheneum, 2008)

-large map showing routes/timing of migratory routes of monarchs

-milkweed seeds, pots, potting soil for each student

-area on school grounds where students can plant a milkweed garden for monarchs

Class Time: one hour for Science section; one hour for English section; short follow-ups later to care for sprouting milkweed plants; one final wrap-up hour for review/discussion and planting butterfly garden outside

Step-By-Step Procedures:

- At the beginning of the day, read Monarch and Milkweed aloud to class

In Science period:

- after reading the book, show the map of migratory routes and explain it, while using the pointer to help students follow the progress of the butterflies.

- draw monarch life cycle out on board: egg is laid on milkweed à egg hatches to larva à larva eats leaf, and so on, addressing the importance of the milkweed to the monarch’s life-cycle.

- distribute milkweed planting materials to students; discuss how students can help with the monarch’s life cycle by planting milkweed plants outside for monarchs to eat and lay their eggs on. Explain that when the milkweed plants have gotten big enough the class will transplant them into an area outside, making a butterfly garden to observe.

- discuss how milkweed (and plants in general) performs photosynthesis by combining carbon dioxide with water and light resulting in sugar, oxygen, and energy for the plant.

In English period:

- ask the class to think about how Frost wrote the story of the monarch and the milkweed. Is it straight-forward scientific fact? Or did she choose to make it more like a story? What language choices made it more like a story?

- suggest some examples to get students started: “In a patch of dirt behind an old red barn…”; “Monarch…drums her feet on Milkweed’s flower, and tastes home…”; etc. Note that Frost does not say “the monarch” or the “the milkweed plant”, but instead uses Monarch and Milkweed as proper names, thus making them into individual characters, unlike the way a science textbook would be written. 

Plan For Independent Practice:

-at home, write a story and draw pictures that explain something that happens in the natural world that the class has already learned about. Perhaps how photosynthesis occurs, the steps in the water cycle, etc. Try to explain the process in a narrative style, remembering the class discussion about the literary techniques used in Monarch and Milkweed.

Closure/Follow-up:

-when milkweed plants have begun growing leaves, review the steps of photosynthesis emphasizing the importance of leaves in plants.

-when milkweed plants have grown several inches tall, they are ready to be transplanted outside. After this is done, review how the plants help the monarchs by providing a place for the eggs to be laid, feeding the new larva, and how the monarchs’ offspring will return to the milkweed plants after the winter migration.

DM 7/5/09