Teacher:  Heather Forbis

School:  Lexington

Title:  The Very Hungry Caterpillar
 
Subject:  Science

Grade Level:  K

Overview:
In this lesson the students will become familiar with butterflies and caterpillars. They will explore, listen, use memory, use sequence cards to tell a story.

Approximate Duration: 1 at 30 minutes

Content Standards:
Science as Inquiry
The students will do science by engaging in partial and full inquiries that are within their developmental capabilities.
Life Science
The students will become aware of the characteristics and life cycles of organisms and understand their relationships to each other and to their environment.
Benchmarks:
SI-E-A1
asking appropriate questions about organisms and events in the environment;
SI-E-A3
communicating that observations are made with one's senses;
SI-E-B4
developing explanations by using observations and experiments;
LS-E-B1
observing and describing the life cycles of some plants and animals;

Interdisciplinary Connections:
English/Language Arts : Standard Seven
Students apply reasoning and problem solving skills to reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visually representing.
Arts : Creative Expression
Students develop creative expression through the application of knowledge, ideas, communication skills, organization abilities and imagination.

Educational Technology Standards:
Identify, explain, and effectively use input, output and storage devices of computers and other technologies (e.g., keyboard, mouse, scanner, adaptive devices, monitor, printer floppy disk, hard drive).
Use a variety of developmentally appropriate resources and productivity tools (e.g., logical thinking programs, writing and graphic tools, digital cameras, graphing software) for communication, presentation, and illustration of thoughts, ideas, and stories.

Objectives:
1. TLW listen to the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carl and/or watch the felt puppet presentation.
2. TLW arrange the sequence cards in the same way as the story was read.
3. TLW create a picture of his caterpillar and/or butterfly using KIDPIX.
4. TLW arrange the sequence cards in free play as he would like the story to be read.

Lesson Materials and Resources:
1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar book
2. Felt pieces of the book (Fruit cut-outs)
3. Sequence cards
4. Computer software

Technology Tools and Materials:
Hardware:  computer
Software:  KidPix

Websites:
Butterfly Coloring Page

Background Information:
The students will be familiar with fruit, a caterpillar and a butterfly.

Lesson Procedures:
1. Read the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar with the puppet and felt pieces.
2. Ask children questions about the caterpillar and the butterfly.
3. Discuss the life cycle that the butterfly went through.
4. Students will be chosen to put sequence cards in order as the story was told.
5. The students will be dismissed into centers for free play.
6. The students can draw or print out a picture of a butterfly and color it. Go to http://www.coloring.ws/butterfly1.htm to print and color a picture.

Assessment Procedures:
Rubric to assess the student's ability to listen, and to tell a story.

Reproducible Materials:
Very Hungry Caterpillar Rubric

Explorations and Extensions:
The students will be allowed to go to the computer station daily for the week long unit on the butterfly. The students can walk in the butterfly garden on the school grounds.

Lesson Development Resources:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Sequencing Activities

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Felt Board Fun

Butterflies at Enchantedlearning.com

Reflections:
Each year I teach this lesson and the children really enjoy it. The like to use the sequence cards to retell the story in their own words.

Feedback: If you are not the author but used this lesson plan, please send your comments to the author.