The Very Hungry Kindergartner: A Kindergarten Bookmaking Activity
After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, students create their own books titled “The Very Hungry Kindergartner.” This activity combines counting, writing, phonetic spelling, and illustration as children follow a hungry kindergartner through the months of the year—and into first grade!
Grade Level: Kindergarten Submitted by: Amy Koch, kindergarten teacher Book:The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Word walls, picture dictionaries, or other classroom resources to help students spell food words
Prepared book pages for each student, with sentence frames below a blank space for illustrations
A cover page for each book
Preparation
Prepare a set of book pages for each student. Begin with January and continue through the summer, ending with the kindergartner becoming a first grader in August.
Use sentence frames that increase the number of foods eaten each month. Leave blanks for students to add a character’s name and food choices.
Directions
1. Read and Discuss the Book
Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar together. Discuss how the caterpillar eats different foods and changes as the story progresses. Explain that students will write about a very hungry kindergartner who grows into a first grader.
2. Write the Monthly Pages
Have students choose a name for their character and complete the sentence frames:
January: “In January, __________ ate one __________.”
February: “In February, __________ ate two __________.”
March: “In March, __________ ate three __________.”
April: “In April, __________ ate four __________.”
May: “In May, __________ ate five __________.”
Students can use their character’s name or “he” or “she” in the first blank. Encourage them to choose their own foods, use classroom word resources, and try phonetic spelling.
3. Add the Summer Ending
Choose June or July for the vacation page, depending on your school calendar:
“In __________, __________ took a vacation.”
On the next page, write:
“In August, __________ grew…”
Finish on a separate page with:
“…into a FIRST GRADER!”
4. Illustrate and Make a Cover
Have students illustrate the space above each sentence. On the food pages, encourage them to draw the number of foods named in the sentence.
Add a cover with the title “The Very Hungry Kindergartner,” the student’s name, and an illustration.
5. Share the Books
Invite students to read their finished books to classmates or share them with another class.
Teacher Comments
“This is a great counting, reading and writing activity. My kids love it.” —Amy Koch
