Answering questions about unfamiliar words read aloud – days of the week (Very Hungry Caterpillar)

Alternative Titles: Cookies Week by Cindy Ward; Today is Monday by Eric Carle (These books are similar to The Very Hungry Caterpillar in that they address a similar theme – days of the week – and sequencing)

Suggested Instructional Strategies

W:	Guide students to listen for and recognize the days of the week as presented in the story
H:	Hands on activities and visual supports; while reading the story highlight the days of the week providing visual supports for word recognition
E:	Children will make their own graph to facilitate their knowledge of the days of the week
R:	Recalling the days of the week from the story and foods corresponding with those days
E:	Re-creation of daily foods eaten by caterpillar; pairing each day to what they ate at snack time
T:	Preferential seating, large pictures, hands on examples of items in story
O:	Visual support of story sequence; modeling activities; large and small group instruction

Instructional Procedures

Review the days of the week using your calendar or a days of the week song they might already know.

Gather the students around you and read the big book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “Let’s look for the days of the week as we read. Raise your hand when you hear me read a day of the week.” As you read use your highlighter tape to highlight the words for the days of the week in the book. When you are finished reading, “Who can tell me what days we heard in this story?.

Show them a blank chart with 7 columns “Will you help me fill in the days of the week? Who can tell me the names of the days?”. Working together start with Sunday and write in the days of the week on the chart. Go back in the book and find them and add them to chart sequentially.

After the chart is filled in, draw in the foods that the caterpillar ate each day in the columns. Once again use the book to help you and let the students come up and draw the foods in on the chart. “Who can remember what foods the caterpillar ate? Do you remember what day he ate that food?”

Leave the chart displayed and give each student a copy of the chart with only the days filled in. Read over the days together and then let them draw the pictures of the foods on their own charts. To keep it simple tell them that they can just choose one of the foods from Saturday to draw.

An extension activity would be: give the students another blank chart and have them record what they eat for snack each day for a week. You will probably have to help them find Monday and tell them they can leave Sunday and Saturday blank, since they aren't at school.

Formative Assessment

(1.6.2) The children will share experiences individually and in groups by reviewing their charts to see if they put the right foods under the correct days. They could also individually tell you the days of the week.

Related Materials & Resources

www.cmc-math.org

Author

Linda Moore, Early Intervention Special Education Teacher, IU#5 Lorri Schulz, Speech Therapist, IU#5

Date Published

November 06, 2012

Answering questions about unfamiliar words read aloud – days of the week (Very Hungry Caterpillar)