view_context: Dynamic page
Exploring Life Cycles
Students study the life cycles of different plants and animals and the characteristics of living, nonliving, and dead things through multiple engaging informational texts and hands-on activities.
ELA
Unit 7
Kindergarten
Unit Summary
In this science-based unit, students continue their exploration of seasons by learning what makes spring the season of growth. At the start of the unit, students learn the characteristics of living organisms, as well as what living organisms need to survive. Students deepen this understanding by studying the life cycles of plants, frogs, butterflies, and birds. Throughout the unit, students are encouraged to think about how the life cycles of various organisms are similar and different.
Students build on to the strategies learned in previous units to understand an informational or literary text. In particular, students learn to describe processes by retelling stages of a life cycle in order using temporal words "first," "next," "then," and "last." After reading a variety of texts on the same topic, students determine the ways in which texts on the same topic can be similar and different.
Students continue to build writing fluency by writing daily in response to the Target Task. Additionally, students engage in narrative and informational writing projects using a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing, with more of an emphasis on drawing and writing.
Please Note: In February 2026, this unit and its lesson plans received a round of enhancements. The text Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood by Tony Hillery has been moved here from Unit 8. The text Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle is out of print and has been removed from the unit. This unit is now 27 instructional days (previously 26 days). The writing projects and assessments have been revised. Teachers should pay close attention as they intellectually prepare to account for the updated pacing, sequencing, and content.
Fishtank Plus for ELA
Unlock features to optimize your prep time, plan engaging lessons, and monitor student progress.
Texts and Materials
Some of the links in the sections below are Bookshop affiliate links. This means that if you click and make a purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which supports our non-profit mission.
Core Texts
-
Book: It's Spring! by Linda Glaser and illustrated by Susan Swan (Millbrook Press, 2003) — AD590L
-
Book: What's Alive? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld and illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott (HarperCollins, 1995) — 430L
-
Book: How a Seed Grows by Helene J. Jordan and illustrated by Loretta Krupinski (HarperCollins; Revised edition, 2015) — AD470L
-
Book: From Seed to Sunflower by Mari Schuh (Lerner Classroom, 2016) — 510L
-
Book: The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle (Little Simon; Reprint edition, 2009) — 500L
-
Book: Who Will Plant a Tree? by Jerry Pallotta and illustrated by Tom Leonard (Sleeping Bear Press, 2010)
-
Book: Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood by Tony Hillery and illustrated by Jessie Hartland (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books; Illustrated edition, 2020) — AD540L
-
Book: Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert (Clarion Books, 2001) — AD459L
-
Book: From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligman and illustrated by Bari Weissman (HarperCollins; Revised edition, 2015) — 490L
-
Book: Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray and illustrated by Kenard Pak (Clarion Books, 2017) — AD430L
-
Book: A Nest Full of Eggs by Priscilla Belz Jenkins and illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell (HarperCollins, 2015) — AD630L
-
Book: The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen and Jerry Pinkney (HarperCollins, 1999) — AD820L
-
Book: Frogs by Gail Gibbons (Holiday House; Reprint edition, 1993) — AD600L
-
Book: From Tadpole to Frog by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld (Scholastic Paperbacks, 2011) — 520L
-
Book: Egg to Chicken by Rachel Tonkin and illustrated by Stephanie Fizer Coleman (Crabtree Classics, 2019) — 510L
-
Assessment Text: “And the Bullfrogs Sing: A Life Cycle Begins” by David Harrison and illustrated by Kate Cosgrove (Holiday House, 2020)
Supporting Texts
Rubrics
Resources for Lessons and Projects
Assessment
The following assessments accompany Unit 7. For more guidance, see the Summative Assessments and Assessments Accommodations & Modifications Teacher Tools.
Content Assessment
The Content Assessment measures students' understanding of the unit's content knowledge and vocabulary. It should serve as the primary assessment for the unit.
Cold Read Assessment
The Cold Read Assessment tests students' ability to comprehend a "cold" or unfamiliar passage and answer standards-based questions. The Cold Read Assessment can be given in addition to the Content Assessment as a pulse point for what students can read and analyze independently, a skill often required for standardized testing.
Unit Prep
Intellectual Prep
Before you teach this unit, unpack the texts, themes, and core standards through our guided intellectual preparation process. Each Unit Launch includes a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning to ensure you're prepared to support every student.
Essential Questions
- What do all living things need to survive?
- How are life cycles of various organisms similar and different?
Reading Focus Areas
- To understand information in a text, readers think about the sequence of events.
- Texts on the same topic can be similar and different.
Writing Focus Areas
Narrative Writing Focus Areas
- Use facts to plan a realistic beginning, middle, and end.
- Describe the setting in the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
- Tell about the setting in the beginning, tell about the problem in the middle, and tell about how the problem is solved at the end.
- Add topic-specific vocabulary.
- Revise by adding details to tell how a character feels.
Informational Writing Focus Areas
- Use temporal words and facts to explain a sequence of events.
- Include a title, labels, and illustrations to tell the reader more about the topic.
Emergent Writing
Use the Emergent Writing Teacher Tool to regularly study students' Target Task responses. During Independent Writing, prompt students using the supports relevant to their individual Emergent Writing phase. By the end of Unit 7, students should demonstrate mastery of several skills within Phase 4: Conventional Writing.
Speaking and Listening Focus Areas
- Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.
- Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
Vocabulary
Text-based
bloomsburstclinginghatchlaymoltnutrientsorganismpeckplantedpuzzledrootsshootssprouttransform
To see all the vocabulary for Unit 7, view our Kindergarten Vocabulary Glossary.
Supporting All Students
In order to ensure that all students are able to access the texts and tasks in this unit, it is incredibly important to intellectually prepare to teach the unit prior to launching the unit. Use the intellectual preparation protocol and the Unit Launch to determine which support students will need. To learn more, visit the Supporting All Students Teacher Tool.
Content Knowledge and Connections
- All living things need food, water, and air to survive.
- A life cycle is a series of stages that a living thing passes through as it is born, grows, and dies.
- Different organisms have different life cycles. Organisms grow differently.
- First, a seed is planted in soil. Its roots grow down into the soil. Next, a shoot grows out of the soil. Then, the shoot turns green and leaves grow. Last, it becomes a plant. It needs soil, sunlight, and water.
- First, the frog spawn is laid in a wet place. Next, a tadpole hatches from its egg. The tadpole is born with gills and a tail so it can swim underwater. Then, the tadpole grows legs, lungs, and a mouth. Its tail shrinks, and it becomes a tiny frog. Last, the frog grows and loses its tail. It lays frog spawn, and the cycle repeats.
- First, the butterfly starts as an egg. Next, the egg hatches and it is a caterpillar. Then, it creates a special house, where it changes and grows wings. This is the chrysalis stage. Last, it comes out as a butterfly.
- First, a bird lays its eggs in a nest. Next, the bird grows inside the egg. Then, the egg hatches and it is a baby bird. Last, the baby bird grows into a young bird. It grows feathers and begins to fly.
Previous Fishtank ELA Connections
Future Fishtank ELA Connections
Lesson Map
3 days
Write a narrative about a seed that travels from one place to another.
Brainstorm a story with a beginning, middle, and end using facts about plants.
- Narrative Writing Brainstorm Graphic Organizer (GK–2)
- Mentor Text 1 (GK, U7, L9)
Standards
L.K.1.bL.K.1.fL.K.2.cL.K.2.dW.K.3W.K.5W.K.6
Draft a story about a seed moving from one place to another with a beginning, middle, and end.
- Narrative Writing Brainstorm Graphic Organizer (GK–2) — From Day 1
- Narrative Writing Brainstorm Graphic Organizer Sample Response (GK, U7, L9)
Standards
L.K.1.bL.K.1.fL.K.2.cL.K.2.dW.K.3W.K.5W.K.6
Revise narrative writing by adding topic-specific vocabulary.
- Revision Text (GK, U7, L9)
Standards
L.K.1.bL.K.1.fL.K.2.cL.K.2.dW.K.3W.K.5W.K.6
3 days
Write a narrative about a bird that hatches from its egg.
Brainstorm a story with a realistic beginning, middle, and end, using facts about the life cycle of a bird.
- Mentor Text 3 (GK, U7, L19)
- Narrative Writing Brainstorm Graphic Organizer (GK–2)
Standards
L.K.1.bL.K.1.fL.K.2.cL.K.2.dW.K.3W.K.5W.K.6
Draft a story about a bird that hatches with a beginning, middle, and end.
- Narrative Writing Brainstorm Graphic Organizer (GK–2) — From Day 1
- Narrative Writing Brainstorm Graphic Organizer Sample Response (GK, U7, L19)
Standards
L.K.1.bL.K.1.fL.K.2.cL.K.2.dW.K.3W.K.5W.K.6
Revise a narrative story by adding words to tell more about the character's feelings.
- Phase 4: Conventional Writing (GK, U7, L19)
- Mentor Text 3 (GK, U7, L19)
Standards
L.K.1.bL.K.1.eL.K.1.fL.K.2.cL.K.2.dW.K.3W.K.5W.K.6
