Heathrow Primary School
Heathrow Primary School
Week 10- The Very Hungry Caterpillar
This week we based our learning around the story ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’. We were very excited because we had real life caterpillars in the classroom! We read the story, focusing on being able to say the next day of the week, subitise the amount using the pictures and match the correct number of fingers to the amount. We learnt the new words, ‘life cycle’, ‘caterpillar’, ‘cocoon’, ‘chrysalis’, ‘metamorphosis’ and ‘butterfly’.
We have been making observations of the caterpillars noticing that they were, “very tiny,” when they first arrived, but as time went on, “they ate all the food,” and started to, “get bigger and fatter.” The caterpillars have started to hang off the top of the tub and have started to create their chrysalis.
We learnt about the life cycle of a caterpillar, learning that they, “eat the egg to come out of it,” “a tiny caterpillar comes out on a leaf.” “They eat the leaves and get bigger,” “they go into a chrysalis,” “then after time, out come as butterfly, but they can’t fly straightaway, they have to wait for their wings to dry, then they can fly.” “The grown up mummy butterfly lays an egg and it starts again.” The children cut out photographs and stuck them onto a Lifecyle. They enjoyed being able to talk about the stages our caterpillars were at and were excited for next step.
The children enjoyed our ‘butterfly symmetry painting. They learnt the new words symmetrical when discussing that all butterfly wings are the same on both sides, like a mirror image. We created our own butterflies by putting different coloured splodges of paint on one sides of the paper, then folding it over and smoothing it out. The children were amazed when we unfolded the paper and could talk about how the colours had mixed together. We hung these from the ceiling to display their beautiful work.
We made some healthy butterfly snack bags. The children used their fine motor skills to open the ‘press and seal’ bags independently. They selected what they would like to put in their bag and used spoons to scoop up the fruit and carefully place it into their bags. The children then worked on their pressure by ensuring that the seal was closed correctly. They squashed the middles of their bag and twisted a pipe cleaner around it. The children then manipulated it to create the butterflies antenna.
We played a game called ‘Bug in a Rug.’ The children could recognise the rhyming words in our song. There is a ‘guesser,’ who covers their eyes as a child is hidden under the blanket as a ‘bug.’ The guesser has to use their focus and attention and memory skills to decide who is missing from the circle. The ‘bug,’ has to stay very still and quiet whilst under the cover. All of the other children have to stay quiet and not tell the guesser who is missing. It was also great for turn taking and the children celebrated their friends who had hidden well and guessed correctly. They loved being bugs in rugs!
The children learnt about the ‘h’ sound. They practised their formation using paint sticks.
We went on our transition visits to Reception to begin to prepare us for the changes next year.
On Thursday ‘Bugfest’ came to school. We got to learn about and see lots of different minibeasts. Some of the children we so brave and held some of the creatures.
- Attitude
- Achievement
- Aspiration