Eric Carle- The Very Hungry Caterpillar Part 2

During our Eric Carle unit we always try to incorporate math.

This is a time activity I got from one of my co-workers. The children cut out the apple. Then they draw a picture of the caterpillar on the apple.  We read the script together, and figure out where we need to draw the hands on the clock. I glue this page into the Eric Carle books we make.

We concentrate a lot on adding in the spring. I try to make adding practice sheets with art that goes along with the unit we are working on. I used the practice pages below during this unit.

 

Up Next: Eric Carle Unit- The Very Hungry Caterpillar Part 3

Eric Carle Unit- The Very Hungry Caterpillar Part1



Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of my favorite books. I remember reading it with my little brother when we were children, and I enjoy sharing it with my students now. We have so much fun reading the book and learning about caterpillars and butterflies.

First we read the story. We talk about the days of the week as we read the story. The students love predicting how many pieces of fruit The Very Hungry Caterpillar will eat next.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pre-Writing

After we read the story we write about it. The students use this pre-writing sheet to organize their thoughts. They write one sentence about the story in each box. I work with them to edit their writing on the pre-writing sheet. Then they copy their sentences onto story writing paper and draw an illustration.

The next thing we do is create an interpretation of the cover. Their caterpillars turned out so cute. Unfortuntaly, I forgot to take pictures before sending them home, so I am  using a photo of the sample.

We also create butterfly art. This sample was done a few years ago using paint. This year I had my students use tissue paper to decorate their butterflies. They turned out so beautifully. I really wish I had taken pictures.

Terrific Tissue Paper Squares

I want to add that I used pre-cut tissue paper squares on our butterflies. I love these! I don't have to spend time cutting tissue paper, they are uniform in size, and it cuts down on scraps. Plus they come in variety packs so you get a lot of colors. I purchased mine at Michael's. I'm not sure if they still sell them, but you can buy 5000 squares for $6.00 at Oriental Trading.

Up Next: Eric Carle Unit- The Very Hungry Caterpillar Part 2

Buzz Words Activity



One of my students brought animal crackers for our snack. They came in this cute bear container. I could not "bear" the idea of throwing it out (and I could not resist that pun). I just knew I could come up with a use for it.  I decided to use it for a sight word game to go along with the Honey Bee and the Robber.

I made these cards, which I will print on card stock and laminate. The cards will go inside of the bear. The students will pull out a card. If they pull a sight word they will read the word. If they read it correctly they can keep the card. If they do not read it correctly they will need to put it back into the container. If they pull a "buzz" card they have been stung and will have to put all of their cards back into the container.

Buzz Words

I am going to cut out the title, which is at the bottom of the document, to fit over the label on the container.

I was not able to get this activity completed in time to use with our unit this year, but I can't wait to use it next year! I plan to create more cards to help fill up the bear container. I will post an update on this activity in the future.

Up Next: Eric Carle- The Hungry CaterpillarT

Summer Vacation!



Wow!  I can't believe the school year is over. It was a very busy and exciting year. Now it's time to relax a little and begin preparing for the new group of students that are coming in August.

I know it's been several weeks since I've posted. I don't know about you, but the end of the school year is always super busy for me. Finishing up student scrapbooks, handwriting our report cards, and preparing for awards day fills the last few weeks of school. Packing up the room so the custodians can wax our floors (I love coming back to shiny new floors!), and completing end of the year paper work also keeps  me running. There was little time for blogging over those few weeks.

After school let out I spent the first week of vacation cleaning my apartment and getting ready for vacation. Then it was off to New York City, where I boarded the Caribbean Princess for a nine day cruise! I took this picture from the balcony of my stateroom. So exciting!



I wish that every summer break could begin this way! I had such a fab time. I will be posting more about my cruise on my home blog (http://addictedtosparkling.blogspot.com/).

Now that I am relaxed I feel ready to begin preparing for the new school year. Before I begin posting ideas for the start of the year, I am going to catch up on some things I wanted to post at the end of the year. Over the next week I will be posting the end of our Eric Carl Unit. I will also be posting on our fairytale unit.

Up Next:  The Honey Bee and the Robber  Sight Word Game (Finally! J)

Insect Song

My intention was for my next post to be a post on a Honey Bee and the Robber word game, but I am still working on that post. While I'm finishing up I thought I'd share a little song I wrote to help my students remember the parts of an insect. We sing it to the tune of  "I'm a little Tee Pot"

I'm a Little Insect 

I'm a little insect, I have six legs

a thorax, and abdomen, and a head

If you count my body parts you will see

I'm an insect, I have three!

I've used this with my class for a few years, and they love it! The first year I used it we went on a fieldtrip to the botanical gardens in our area. Our tour guide started to tell our class that insects have three body parts. My students quickly rattled off the parts before she could get a word in. Then they sang the song. Needless to say I was one proud teacher!



Eric Carle- The Honey Bee and The Robber

I've never included the Honey Bee and the Robber in my Eric Carle unit. I've thought about it before, but by the time we finish with the other stories it's usually May, and that means it's time for fairy tales. However, this year we had an odd two day week due to make-up days from our snow storm in January. This was a great opportunity to fit in this story.

Of course, the first thing that we did was read the book.

Then the students wrote about it. 

I wanted artwork to go next to their writing. I must admit that I came up with this project on the fly. I borrowed a bear pattern from one of my co-workers, and got the honey bees from another co-worker.

I was originally going to have them paint on white paper, but I didn't have enough. Instead I used light brown paper. It ended up working great! The light brown paper with the darker brown paint gave a layered look that reflected the style of illustrations in the book.

I incorporated science into the lesson by teaching my students facts about bees. We learned about their body structure, work habits, and habitat.  

Bee Facts

I had them organize their thoughts using this format.

I worked with the students on editing their work (the above picture was taken before the work was edited). Then they copied it onto lined paper and drew an illustration.

I wanted artwork to put next to the students' facts. This was another project I came up with quickly. I had the bee pattern from another project, and used pattern blocks for the hexagons that make up the honeycombs.

I let the students decide how many hexagons they used (they needed to use at least six), and how many bees they used. They had a lot of fun with this, and I am pretty pleased with the result. When  I do this in the future I will have the students label the parts of the bee.

Bee Adding

We've been working on adding. I would like to come up with an adding math center with manipulatives to use with this unit in the future. For this year, I made an adding practice sheet with a bee graphic on the top.

Up Next: Eric Carle- The Honey Bee and the Robber Buzz Words Activity

Eric Carle Unit- The Tiny Seed



Each Spring my class works on an Eric Carle Unit.  This unit is a great way to connect math, science, and literacy. We start by learning about the author, and then use his stories as a starting point for lessons on insects, spiders, and plants.  Over the next few weeks I will be posting about the activities in this unit.

The first book we read this year was the Tiny Seed.

After reading the book my students wrote about the story.

Then they created this interpretation of the cover (we did not splatter paint our art this year).

When both parts of the project were completed I glued their writing next to their art. This will become a page in their Eric Carle book.

After reading the story we learned about the needs of plants, and the students wrote about the things that plants need.

Then the students completed this activity.  I love looking at the different flowers they drew! Both their writing and art will become another page in their book.

The final activity they completed was this seed planting sequencing activity. This can be a bit time consuming, but the students love it.

We will refer back to this activity in May, when we read Jack and the Beanstalk and plant beans during our Fairytale Unit.

Up Next: Eric Carle-The Honey Bee and The Robber