THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR BOOK

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR BOOK

This lesson, which focuses on “The Very Hungry Caterpillar book”, has been created for pupils of the 1st year of Primary Education.  

I have chosen this book because it is very motivating for them and also they can learn new vocabulary (different kinds of fruits and junk food, the days of the week, numbers) and the cycle of the caterpillar´s life.  

Moreover, they have much previous knowledge of their mother tongue, so they could easily develop the new vocabulary and structures in English.  

ACTIVITIES

I have created the following activities: 

Introduce the book to class: A caterpillar! 

First of all, I will show the caterpillar and invite children to describe it. Furthermore, I am going to ask my students some questions in order to know what they know about caterpillars. 

- Examples: have you ever seen a caterpillar? Why do you think the caterpillar is so hungry? What kind of food do caterpillars eat? 

 Reading the book 

I have created a storytelling prop to accompany The Very Hungry Caterpillar book.  

I covered a Pringles tin with some plain paper and green EVA, stacked and cut out a slot for the mouth big enough that my students could post pictures of each of the food items in. After that, I added a brown cocoon shape to back. When the caterpillar had eaten all his food and slept for a while I opened the lid and pulled out a butterfly finger puppet I had put in earlier.

While I am reading the story, my students could work on basic concepts such as:  

• Counting: They will have to count out the food that the hungry caterpillar eats each weekday. 

• Days of the Week: I will use our English corner where the days of the week are written on. The students will have to tell me what the caterpillar does on each day.  

• Changes: we will review the changes that the caterpillar undergoes. Then I am going to ask them if they can think of other things that change.  

- Examples: Do pets change? How? Do trees change? Have you changed? (I will help them recognize that all living things grow and change) 

After reading the book 

We will make Caterpillar and Butterfly Crafts so that my students could have fun retelling the story with their own caterpillars and butterflies.

To Make Caterpillars: use discarded egg cartons, pipe cleaners, paints or markers. 

1. Cut apart a carton to make a six-hump caterpillar. 

2. Paint the carton including a face on one end. 

3. Poke two holes for antennae and insert pipe cleaners. 

To Make Butterflies: use basket shaped coffee filters, paints, pipe cleaners. 

1. Fold the filter in half, and then open it again. 

2. Drip paint on the centrefold. Let it spread and dry. 

3. Pinch the filter in the centre, and then wrap a pipe cleaner around it to be the butterfly's body.