Book Bag Activities for
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
By: Stephanie Becker

• Carle, Eric. The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Rationale:

• I would use this book with young readers because it is a funny book full of patterns and bright colors.

Author Information: (Biography at Eric Carle's Website)

• Eric Carle is acclaimed and beloved as the creator of brilliantly illustrated and innovatively designed picture books for very young children. Eric Carle got his start when Bill Martin Jr. asked Carle to illustrate a story he had written. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See was the result of their collaboration.
• Soon Carle was writing his own stories, too. His first wholly original book was 1,2,3 to the Zoo, followed soon afterward by the celebrated classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has become his best-known work.
• The themes of his stories are usually drawn from his extensive knowledge and love of nature. In his books he attempts to bridge the gap between the home and school. Eric Carle has illustrated more than seventy books, many best sellers, most of which he also wrote.

Questions to use with the story:

• Knowledge- How many pieces of food did the caterpillar eat?
• Comprehension- Explain in a sentence why the caterpillar had a stomachache.
• Application- Choose the pieces of food you would eat if you were a caterpillar.
• Analysis- Make a chart that distinguishes the characteristics of a butterfly and caterpillar.
• Synthesis- What would have happened if the caterpillar would have kept on eating junk food?
• Evaluation- The caterpillar ate a lot of human foods. Is it really possible for him to eat these foods? Explain why it is or isn’t.
• Before reading- What do you think this book is about?
• During reading- Why do you think the caterpillar is eating so much food?
• After reading- What are the life stages of a butterfly?

Activities:

• Draw the life cycle of a butterfly- After reading the book, students will draw the butterfly’s life cycle including the following four stages: egg, caterpillar, pupa or cocoon, and adult butterfly. The students will draw the four stages on a piece of construction paper using markers, pencils, and crayons. This activity helps students learn the life cycle of a butterfly.
• Raise your own caterpillar-First put your students into groups of three or four. Take your class on a walk to a close park or use your playground. While at the park, the groups of students will search to find their own caterpillars. Hopefully students will find one caterpillar per group. Once the caterpillars are found, they will be put in a glass jar that has holes in the lid. Make sure to also put some grass and smaller sticks in the jar. The students will be in charge of taking care of the caterpillar (giving it fresh grass, twigs, etc.) until it becomes a butterfly. This activity will allow students to actually see the butterfly’s stages.
• If I were a caterpillar, I would eat... Students will be given a copy of a circular sheet that contains the above words. They will complete the above sentence and draw pictures of the foods that they listed. The sheet will then be put on a round piece of colored construction paper and added with other student’s humps to create a whole class caterpillar. Each hump will represent a segment of the caterpillar. The teacher can make another hump that has the caterpillar’s face. This activity was obtained from http://members.aol.com/cbruner1/. This activity encourages students to think about what foods they like to eat.
• Stained Glass Butterflies-The students will make their own stained glass butterfly using black construction paper and different colors of tissue paper. The black construction paper is the frame of the butterfly. To make the frame you cut out a butterfly and then cut holes/windows on the wings that you will put the tissue paper over and glue to the frame to make a colorful butterfly. This activity helps student’s motor skills.
• The Very Hungry Butterfly- After reading the story, students will create their own story about the very hungry butterfly. This activity encourages students to write creatively.
• Create your own book cover- Students will create their own book cover for the book using any materials that they wish.
• Putting the book in order-The students will be given cards with the names of days and the names of the foods the caterpillar ate. While reading the book they will be asked to match the days with the food and put them in the correct order. After reading the book, this activity could be repeated again. This activity helps students learn sequence.
• Prediction-Before the story, students will be given one look at the book cover. The title of the book should be hidden. After they have looked, they need to write a sentence about what they think the book is about. This activity creates student interest for the book.
• Caterpillar Food Group- The teacher and students will look at the food pyramid and discuss the foods in each group. They will then create their own food group caterpillar. The students will put the daily-recommended servings of each food group in Ziploc Baggies. You will first start with the milk group. In the bottom corner of the baggie put in 6 spoonfuls of dry milk to represent the 6 servings of the milk group you should have daily. After that you take a small twist-tie and tie off that section. Then move to the next food group making sure to tie off each section so each food group is represented on its own. The foods you can use are dried milk -Dairy, raisins -Fruit, dried potatoes -Vegetables, peanuts -Protein, Nerds candy - Sweets/Fats, white rice -Breads/Rice. After this is done, students can draw a face on the caterpillar. This activity was obtained from Carrie Bruner's Thematic Unit. This activity helps students learn the major food groups.
• Songs and poems: In pairs, students will write a caterpillar song or poem. It should include some words from the book. This activity encourages creativity and cooperation.

Props:

• I would have a toy or real caterpillar and butterfly that would give my students a visual representation.

Bibliography of related books:

• Clara Caterpillar by Pamela Duncan Edwards
• Caterpillar’s Wish by Mary Murphy
• The Caterpillar and the Polliwog by Jack Kent
• I Am a Little Caterpillar by Francois Crozat
• Charlie the Caterpillar by Dom Deluise
• From Egg to Butterfly by Marlene Reidel
• I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe
• The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco
• Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert
• Miss Hallberg’s Butterfly Garden by Gay Bishop Brorstrom
• Backyard Insects by Millicent Selsam
• The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
• 1,2,3,to the Zoo by Eric Carle
• The Honeybee and the Robber by Eric Carle
• The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
• From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle

Assessment Plan:

• To assess that the children have learned something from the book I would have them complete the following questions.
  • Draw the four stages of the life cycle of a butterfly.
  • What are the six food groups? List one food item that is found in each category.
  • List five foods that the caterpillar ate.