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The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Objectives

To use finger spaces between words.

To use knowledge of sounds to write new words.

Resources

Large piece of paper | Pencil | Coloured pens

Vocabulary

Words in bold can be found in the 📄 Year 1 English Glossary.

caterpillar | finger space | describe | label

Today's Lesson

Introduction

Watch this lesson's introductory video with your student.

What to Get Ready

Have all resources out on the table, including coloured pens or pencils. Have your 📄 Caterpillar Pictures from the last lesson ready and print out a range of pictures of different types of caterpillars.

Phonics - Introduction

Explain to your student that in this lesson they are going to be practising forming their small letters. Look at the 📄 Alphabet Mat. Ask your student to point out all the letters they think are small.

Explain that when we are writing we need to make sure we are gripping the pencil correctly.

Watch the video 'The Pinch and Flip Method'. Practise using the method with your student.

WATCH - How to Teach Proper Pencil Grip to Kids - The Pinch and Flip Method (YouTube)

Ask your student to trace and write the small letters a,c,e and i on lined paper.

Phonics - Speaking and Listening

Have another look at the pictures together of different types of 📄 caterpillars that you have found on the internet.

Ask your student to point out what they notice about the different caterpillars. What is the same about them? What is different? Which is their favourite/least favourite caterpillar?

You may also like to look at their names and any interesting facts about them.

Say to your student that today they are going to be inventing their own caterpillar! They can choose exactly what it is going to look like. They will also choose its name.

Give your student time to think and then to talk through their ideas with you before starting to draw their caterpillar on the large piece of paper. Remind them to leave space around the outside as they will be adding labels to their drawing.

Phonics - Writing

Explain that they are going to write words or sentences describing their very own caterpillar. Remind them that ‘describing’ means to use words to say what you can see or touch. Ask your student what words or sentences they could use to describe their caterpillar. You could use these questions to help them:

What does it look like?
What colour is it?
What shape is it?
How might it feel to touch?

Your student's description could fit around the drawing or they may prefer to write it onlined paper.

Phonics - Extra Support

If your student needs extra support with spelling a word, first ask them to say the word slowly. Ask them ‘What is the first sound you can hear?’ then, ‘What is the last sound you can hear?’ and, ‘Can you hear any other sounds in the middle?’

You can also encourage them to use their 📄 Alphabet Mat to help them spot the sounds they can hear, but do not tell them the letters/sounds they need. It does not matter if spellings are incorrect.

Phonics - Extra Challenge

If your student is ready for an extra challenge you could ask them to write sentences of description rather than single words. They could use the 📄 Sentence Checklist to help them. They could also use the words ‘and’ or ‘but’ to make their sentences longer.

For example, ‘My Caterpillar has a green body and black eyes.’ Or, ‘My caterpillar is fluffy but smooth on its head.’

Phonics - What to Notice

While your student is doing this activity, remember to praise them for the skills they are using.

For example:

‘I can see you are listening really carefully for sounds!’

‘Well done for remembering to use a finger space between words.’

‘I have noticed you reading your sentence to check it makes sense.’

Phonics - Handwriting and Spelling

Take out the 📄 High Frequency Word List and select three words that your student could not spell correctly. Ask them to practise these words today.

You may like to use activities from 📄 Weekly Spelling Activities.

Citations

[1] www.youtube.com