Lesson 3.2

Honey Bee Language Arts and Literature

Grades: 7-8

Essential Skills: Language Arts, Literature

Duration: 1-2 class periods

OVERVIEW

The students will learn how nature and honey bees are presented in literature.

Preparation

Teacher Preparation:

• Duplicate appropriate materials.
• Gather remaining materials and books (see Bibliography).

Other Materials:

1. Gather additional books, poems, artwork, etc. that relate to honey bees and honey.

Information Sheets:

• No. 13 Poems About Bees
• No. 14 Haiku
• No. 25 Diary of an AHB

Activity Sheets:

• No. 32 Movement of Africanized Honey Bees From Area of Introduction

Lesson Plan

Introduction activity (30 minutes)

Discuss literature that includes references to honey bees Focus discussion on different ways bees have been portrayed. Read aloud from Hubbell's A Country Year and sections of Following the Bloom: Across America with the Migratory Beekeepers and contrast to children's stories such as Winnie The Pooh.

Post enlarged copies of bee poems around the room. Give the students copies. Have the students read aloud a few poetry selections with bee themes, especially the poems for two voices. Ask the students to explain what they think each poem means.

Activity 2 Writing about bees (30 minutes)

Explain different forms of poetry, such as Haiku, Cinguain, or Diamante. Have the students find and read poetry that include references to bees. Have them write their own poetry or Haiku.

Activity 3 Diary of an Africanized honey bee (45 minutes)

Give a copy of Diary of an Africanized Honey Bee ( Information Sheet 25) to each student to take home and read as homework. Tell them they will need their copy for class the next day. Have them circle any words that are unfamiliar and discuss them in class the following day. Make a vocabulary list on the chalkboard.

Let students take turns reading aloud the Diary. Discuss the bee biology contained in it. Compare it with what they learned in Lesson 3.1. Facilitate a class discussion about what it means to anthropomorphize animals.

Have the students write a story from a bee's point of view about the migration of Africanized honey bees from Brazil to Arizona. Provide a copy of Activity Sheet 32 (Movement of AHB from Brazil) for reference.

Additions

Extensions:

• Have the students write a script for a documentary about Africanized honey bees.

Bibliography:

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz, by B. Barton. Published by Macmillan Publ. Co., N.Y., 1973.

The Honey Bee and the Robber Fly: A Moving Picture Book, by E. Carle. Published by Putnam Publishing Group, N.Y., 1981.

A Country Year, by Sue Hubbell. Published by Harper and Row, N.Y., 1986. pp. 19-23, 24-32, 68-73, 78-83.

Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. Milne. Published by E. P. Dutton & Co., N.Y., 1954.

Poems of Emily Dickinson. Published by T.Y. Crowell Co., N.Y., 1964.

The Honey Hunters, by F. Martin. Published by Candlewick Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1992.

The Bee Tree, by P. Polacco. Published by Philomel Books, N.Y., 1993.

Honey, From Hive to Honeypot, by Sue Style. Illustrated by Graham Everden. Published by Chronicle Books, San Franscisco, C.A., 1992.

Following the Bloom: Across America with the Migratory Beekeepers, by D. Whynott. Published by Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, P.A., 1991.

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