The Very Hungry Caterpillar Lesson Plan

Before doing the Read-Out-Loud of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, Begin and K-W-L (What we Know, What we Want to Know, and What we Learn).  This can be done by asking what students know about Caterpillars.  "Have you ever seen one?" "Held one?" "How did it feel?" "What happens to Caterpillars?"

Start the Read-Out-Loud and invite students to count out the foods the Hungry Caterpillar eats each weekday.  "How many things does he eat on Saturday?" "How many more is that than what he ate on Friday?"

Once done reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, review the changes the Caterpillar undergoes.  Use to book to show the Four Stages; egg, caterpillar, cocoon (chrysalis), and then butterfly.  Once you are done explaining the stages of butterfly metamorphesis, Play YouTube video of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Link Page Down).  The animation will bring the story to life and give children a broader understading of the story. 

Once the book has been read, the lesson plan, based on the book, can be implemented.   With this lesson, students will put into practice Days of the Week, Counting, Colors, Matching and Labeling, and Sentence Structure by creating their very own Hungry Caterpillar Book, which will instead be titled "The Very Hungry ___________(Student's Name)".  They will also have an introduction to studies of life science by becoming familiear with the Metamorphesis of the Butterfly.  

 Preparations

-Glue Sticks and Scissors for each student
-Take a Picture of each Student (Two Cut-Outs of Each Students' Faces will be needed for the book- One big face (Size of a fifty cent piece) for the Caterpillar on the Cover and One little face (Size of a Nickel) for the Butterfly at the End of the Story).
-Print "The Very Hungry _________(Student's Name)" Template (Link 3 Page Down)
-Print "The Very Hungry Catterpillar Sentences" Template (Link 4 Page Down).  Studens will cut out words, and then glue (glue stick) the words down in the correct order on the blank lines of their books.  Note: Students can write their own names in the blanks in order to practice writing their names.
-Cut Strips of Construction Paper to create the art in the book from Monday through Friday (These Strips will later be cut by the students into small squares which they can use to create the shape of the food for the catepillar Monday through Friday).
                  -Apples, Strips of Orange and Red
                  -Pears, Strips of Light Green and Green
                  -Plums, Strips of Dark Blue and Purple
                  -Strawberries, Strips of Pink and Red
                  -Oranges, Strips of Yellow and Orange 
-Finally, Create your own Modge Podge (Link 2 Page Down).  Modge Podge (glue and water) can be used with a paint brush to keep the small squares of paper into the shape of the foods for the caterpillar.  Modge Podge is great because it allows room for 'mistake' for the students.  The art work still shows through beautifully. 
Modge Podge can be divided into small cups and given to individual students or shared among small groups of students.