Spring has sprung and I’m loving all the bug and flower themes in preschool. This week I read a classic by Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. As we read the book I focused on vocabulary, categories of food, WH questions and temporal concepts (yesterday, today, tomorrow.) It’s great when the kids already know the story because we can talk about other concepts without losing the flow the story! We made a bunch of different caterpillars this week! The one pictured above has S-blend articulation targets on it. I also created a version that contains multi-syllabic words. Lots of my clients are working on these two articulation goals! We made this caterpillar with actions on it! We worked on identifying actions, using verb + ing, and answering WH questions. It was also great for past tense -ed! We started with a full caterpillar and then took pieces off as we answered questions! We also did this story retelling with all the pieces of the story. There is a circle for each part of the story! Whew! That caterpillar sure was hungry! In individual or small groups sessions, we retold the story to make a long caterpillar! It gave us a chance to discuss the butterfly lifecycle. Then we took the foods and sorted them into categories (healthy/junk, hot/cold, etc.) We also used the pieces to retell the story as I read it whole group. We were pretty proud of our giant caterpillar so we worked a little bit on some concepts! We used words like taller, shorter, bigger, smaller, equal, same, different, as tall as, and as long as. All the kiddos got a chance to measure themselves next to it! We decided who was the tallest and who was the shortest. A great opportunity to work on comparatives and superlatives! The last activity I did with my little guys was a bug pattern activity! The one I have I picked up at Goodwill but I can’t find it online! It is Similar to this one pictured above! I used it to work on concepts like first, last, middle beginning, end, and same/different!
So tell me… what are you doing to work on The Very Hungry Caterpillar?
Please note that Eric Carle has sent cease and desist letters to TpT and bloggers requiring that his work not be used to make materials. While I find this very sad, considering the valuable language inspiration his boooks are, I will always comply with known copyright rules. Feel free to make your own materials based off of this idea.
Join the SRN newsletter!
I'm so glad you stopped by! If you'd like to keep up with the newest posts and get exclusive free downloads, please sign up for the newsletter! Your first freebie is ready as soon as you subscribe and confirm your email!
Kara says
Cute caterpillar activities! I downloaded – thank you!
Kara
Spedventures
Abby says
Great ideas. Thank you 🙂
Amy says
I love your ideas! You make it look so easy! I was wondering what version of Boardmaker you have? I would like to expand my v.6 library. Thanks for all of your hard work!
speechieapps says
Wow. LOVE all the ideas for using this book. It seems like my preschoolers never get sick of this one–it usually even wins out over dragon-related books! 🙂 I will definitely be using some of these suggestions. Thanks for sharing your resources so freely!
Aubrey Taylor Klingensmith
@atklingensmith (Twitter)
speechieapps.wordpress.com
bilingual slp says
Thank You! I m actually on this book with my little ones. What program do you use to make your activities?? I m a Bilingual SLP so I have to make my materials for my Spanish speaking kids.
Jenna Rayburn says
I used PowerPoint and Boardmaker on this one! Perfect timing!
bilingual slp says
You are the best for sharing so many wonderful ideas. I check your blog often to see what you have come up with and I am never disappointed!!!
Alexandra88 says
HI Jenna
Great ideas !!! I am unable to download …..no preview avialable .
Thank you
Connie
Jenna Rayburn says
Hi COnnie – Some browsers show NO Preview Available, but if you select FILE on the left side – you will still be able to download it.
Heather's Heart says
I love this! Thank you so much!
Heather
Heather’s Heart
Susannah says
Thanks SO much for posting this share! I do this book every year and it was FABULOUS to have something “new”. The kids ADORED sitting on the floor an helping to either put together artic word (I printed up extra circles and used my own words for different groups) caterpillars or making the one that retold the story. Then they would lie down next to the caterpillar and we worked on longer, shorter, longest, shortest to see if they were bigger than the caterpillars they had made.n Once the caterpillar was complete, we revisited what happened first, second, last, in the middle etc.
Susannah says
PS…. FABULOUS with reg. ed kids, but not so good with kids with autism lol. After we were retelling the story and got past the 5 oranges, I thought it would be quicker to just “run thru’ the other things he ate…. NOT SO FAST, there was almost an autism brewhaha with fists all because two kids were arguing (fixating!) on what order the pictures should go in!! “THE CHOCOLATE CAKE comes NEXT” one was wailing, “NOOOOOO THE WATERMELON” (and I’m also sitting there thinking GREAT language!!)
Melissa says
Hello- Where can I print the full version of these cards? Thank you! Melissa =)
adminSRN says
They are no longer available due to copyright laws. But you can make your own!