To eat or not to eat

After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, students will sort the foods the caterpillar ate by foods they need or don't need for their body.

A lesson plan for grade K Healthful Living, Mathematics, and Social Studies

By Karlyn Sugg

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Learning outcomes

Students will sort foods our body needs and does not need.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

30–45 minutes

Materials/resources

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• pictures of foods that the caterpillar ate (can be cut from magazines)
• extra pictures of food (enough for each student)
• two hula-hoops
• labels or signs for the hula hoops: “Foods We Need” and “Foods We Do Not Need”

Pre-activities

Students should be aware of the foods that their body needs through previous lessons on nutrition and on the MyPlate program (formerly represented by a food pyramid) from the USDA.

Activities

1. Conduct a short review of previous lessons on nutrition.
2. Introduce the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Before reading, you may wish to talk about the parts of the book, author and illustrator and take a picture walk through the book. This is not necessary for this lesson but is a great way to add English Language Arts goals.
3. Read the book through one time for enjoyment. Afterward, have the students discuss what the story was about.
4. Read the book again. This time, students are to listen for the foods the caterpillar ate in the book.
5. After the book has been reread, students will name the foods the caterpillar ate on each day. Students will dictate what the caterpillar ate each day. As the students tell you the items, write them on chart paper. For example: On Monday, he ate ________________.
6. After the foods have been listed, students will help the teacher read the chart aloud.
7. Next, have the students sit in a circle. Place the two hula-hoops in the middle of the circle with the hoops overlapping each other to form a Venn diagram. Label each hula-hoop with the labels, “Foods We Need” and “Foods We Do Not Need.” It is not necessary to label the middle section (see an example).
8. Give each student a picture of food the caterpillar ate. Give extra food pictures to the rest of the class.
9. Have students place their food in the appropriate hoop one at a time. If a student has trouble with the food, have other students help and talk about why it belongs in that hoop. When students get to foods like ice cream and cherry pie, they may choose either hoop. Talk about why ice cream is needed (milk) and why it is not needed (sugar). Explain that these items could go in either group. Then the students will place them in the middle of the hoops.
10. After all the foods have been sorted, ask the students what kinds of foods our bodies need (fruits, vegetables, etc.) and which ones we don’t need (candy, cake, etc.). You can refer back to previous lessons on nutrition, if necessary.
11. If you would like to extend this further in math, count the foods in each group. Talk about which group has most/least. You can also use the sorted foods to make a real graph with the pictures.
12. As a follow-up activity, you can use the same pictures in a center for the students to sort individually.

Assessment

Assess students by keeping anecdotal records while observing them as they choose the group in which their food belongs.