THE
VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR
Posted by: Priyanka Goenka
Author
and Illustrator:
Eric Carle
Recommended
Grade Level:
Pre-K – 1
Common
Core Standards Addressed:
CCSS.Math.Content.3.i - When counting
objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with
one and only one number name and each number name with one and only one object.
CCSS.Math.Content.4.ii - Count to answer
“how many?” questions about as many as 10 things arranged in a line, a
rectangular array, or a circle, or as any as 5 things in a scattered
configuration; given a number from 1 – 10, count out that many objects.
Summary: The Very
Hungry Caterpillar starts off with a little egg lying on a leaf. The egg
hatches and a very hungry and tiny caterpillar crawl out. Focusing on the basic
concept of the number of days in the week, the hungry caterpillar sets out to
look for some food. He begins on Monday, eating through one apple. Tuesday, he
eats through two pears. Wednesday he eats through tree plums, but he’s still
hungry. The story goes on as he eats his way through various fruits and food
until Saturday. Finally ending up with a
stomach ache, he eats through one fresh green leaf, and finds he is no longer a
little caterpillar, but a big fat one. He builds a cocoon around himself and
stays inside until he emerges as a beautiful butterfly.
Rating: ***** This is
a short and simple story and full of learning opportunities from days of the
week, to counting. The words are easy enough for a small child to understand
the story line and for a beginning reader to get through with little
difficulty. The adorable and colorful illustrations engage even the youngest
children.
Classroom
Ideas:
In the classroom this story presents an application in an engaging setting. It
encourages students to talk about each other's thinking, in order to improve
their mathematical understanding. It allows flexibility for group or individual
work. This can initiate counting practice. For instance, children can count out
the food that the hungry caterpillar eats each weekday. The teacher can ask
questions introducing the concept of more and less. Such as, how many things
does he eat on Saturday? How many more things is that than he ate on Friday? The
other concept is to introduce the days of the Week.
I love this book. Children can learn basic concepts such as counting, they learn about caterpillars and butterflies, life cycles and time and measurement. This book is very colorful and help the little ones to learn about food vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteThe book is an interesting literature for young children. It is a great idea to have the children use comparison by asking how much more and how much less as they use concrete numbers to count from one. There is a lot of scaffolding that can be done within this lesson.
ReplyDeleteMy students love this book and they love counting the number of items the caterpillar eats each day and how many different types of food it takes for him to eat and get a stomachache. No matter how many times you read it to them, they keep asking for more and more!
ReplyDelete