ACTIVITY 6

Insect Links to Literature

Teaching Objectives:

1. Students will read a literary work based on an insect character. Some suggested works are:
   • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
   • Little Bug by Dick Gackenbach
   • Miss Spider's Tea Party by David Kirk
   • The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
   • Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema
   • The Leaf Man and the Brave Good Bugs by William Joyce
   See the Bibliography for other books that might be used.
2. Students will look for accuracy in the literary and/or artistic portrayal of the insects in these works.
3. Students will write a paragraph describing their feelings about the insect's portrayal in the book or poem.
4. Students will discuss whether or not a literary work or artistic work has to portray every aspect of life accurately.
5. Students will write a paragraph or story or draw a picture about an insect or from an insect's point of view.

• Books based on insect characters
• Writing supplies

Procedure:

Read the book as a class. If it is a picture book, be certain that each child has had a chance to look at the pictures.

Discuss the insect portrayed in the book and determine what "real-life" facts the students know about this insect.

Use the graphic organizer "KWL" and assign students to find out information on the insect and report back to the class.

K--What do we know?
W--What do we want to know?
L--What have we learned?

Write the letters on the board and fill in the information. The "L" will remain blank until the students report back. At that time, the class may need to know more and you can begin the "KWL" process again.

Compare the facts about the real insects to the way that insect is portrayed in the book. This would be a good opportunity to discuss the concept of "poetic license" in literature and the "fly-on-the-wall" narrative point of view. (Authors using this point of view can tell what they observe going on around them, as if they were a fly on the wall. If the author could not hear or see something from the fly's vantage point, it cannot be part of the story.)

As a class, discuss whether or not everything in literature or art has to be completely like real life. Where do "feelings" come in regarding art and literature?

Have the students write a paragraph about how they felt about the insect in the book or picture.

Supplemental Activities:

Ask each student to write a paragraph or story or to draw a picture that tells a story about an insect or is created from an insect's point of view. Share the stories with the class.

Look in the 292 and 398.2 sections of the library for books containing ancient myths and fables such as the stories about Arachne or any of Aesop's Fables. These would include:

"The Ant and the Dove"
"The Fly and the Draught-Mule"
"The Wasp and the Snake"
"The Gnat and the Bull"
"The Gnat and the Lion"
"The Ant"
"The Flea and the Ox"
"The Grasshopper and the Owl"
"The Flea and the Man"
"The Bee and Jupiter"
"The Grasshopper and the Ant"
"The Bald Man and the Fly"
"The Bee-Keeper"

Some of these stories can be found on the Internet. Discuss the number of different insect characters the students can find in these stories. Discuss why the ancient storytellers selected the insects they did for their roles in these stories.

Modern author James Thurber in Myths for Modern Times and poet Ogden Nash have used insects in their writings. Locate these writings and have students discuss the way insects are represented in modern literature. Compare and contrast these modern writings with the works of Aesop and the ancient myths.

The August 19, 1996, issue of New Yorker Magazine has insects involved in human recreational activities on its cover. Have the students write a paper describing what is happening in the picture.

Have the students write poetry about insects.

Internet Sites:

Insect Proverbs lists proverbs from around the world collected by a University of Florida entomology professor. Ask the students to discuss the meaning of one or more of the proverbs and then write a proverb of their own.

B-Eye: See the World Through the Eyes of a Honey Bee demonstrates what a bee actually sees through its compound eyes.

University of Kentucky Entomology Youth Facts "Make Your Own Compound Eye" gives directions for making a model of a compound eye.