(Observation)

Anna and The Very Hungry Caterpillar

7/11/14

Story time in the Possum room is a particularly exciting time for Anna
who loves reading books with her teachers, peers and even sometimes on her own.
The story today was called The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It was the simpler
board book version of the classic story and even came with a little finger puppet
caterpillar to make the retelling all the more exciting for younger audiences.
Anna was very engaged as Kristy read the story aloud to the group of children,
she even used her pointer finger to point at each of the fruits that the caterpillar
chewed through. Anna was also very enthusiastic to join in on the munching
noises saying nom, nom, nom at the end of each page.

Through this observation I can see links in Annas learning/ development to the
Early Years Learning Framework Outcomes:

Children have a strong sense of identity
Anna demonstrated an emerging sense of identity through her language
use- Saying nom, nom, nom was representing the fact that the
caterpillar was eating
Also evident in her interest in being a part of the group story time, she
was engaging in shared play experiences.
Children are connected to and contribute to their world
By sitting on the floor Anna allowed other children to also participate in
the activity, displaying an awareness of others
Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
Anna displayed her sense of wellbeing through a response and
involvement in the storytelling.
She demonstrated a degree of spatial awareness as she pointed out the
different fruits.
Children are confidant and involved learners
Anna displayed this as she expressed wonder and interest in what was
going on around her
I also see evidence of this as she is mirroring or imitating Kristys
munching noises
Children are effective communicators
This is evident as Anna is responding both verbally and nonverbally to
what she can see and hear.
Noticing and predicting patterns in speech Anna always knew when the
appropriate time was to make her munching sound

 (Learning Experience)

As inspired by Anna and The Very Hungry

Caterpillar 7/11/14

Objective: To create a learning experience for Anna borrowing from her

original interest in the story book The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Idea: Bring in a caterpillar puppet and allow Anna to feed the puppet fake
foods.

This is a picture of the
puppet/food I brought in
for Annas learning
experience.

Repetition is a very
effective tool to engage
the interest of infants
and I am hoping that the
familiar storyline will
allow Anna to really
connect with and enjoy
this experience.


How this will promote learning:
Introducing new yet familiar experiences helps to bridge the gap
between familiar and unfamiliar. This as well as initiating a one-on-one
interaction (asking Anna to feed the caterpillar will help to foster a
strong sense of identity.
By engaging in ongoing conversation with Anna as I name the foods
that our caterpillar eats I will be encouraging her to be connected with
and contributing to her world.
By building upon Annas original interest in the story to create a new
activitiy I will be building upon and extending her ideas, thereby
encouraging a strong sense of wellbeing.
By providing such an exciting resource (a puppet that can eat, wow!!) I
am adding an element of intrigue, challenge and surprise which I am
hoping that Anna will really enjoy and assist in her becoming a
confident and involved learner. The puppets are also made of felt
which is a very different sensory experience than many children are
used of.
By modeling correct language use and attempting to engage Anna in
conversation she will be encouraged to become an effective
communicator.
 Reflection
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Learning
Experience (24/11/14)

Anna, as well as another child really seemed to enjoy this activity.
We began by reading the original story book so that the children could
make the connections between the activity and something familiar. I
brought out the puppet and Anna was immediately intrigued; she
touched his eyes, opened his big mouth and stroked the soft felt. I then
showed her the food and began verbally recounting the story of the Very
Hungry Caterpillar feeding my puppet as I went along. She caught on
very quickly and put out her hand to help me feed the puppet. Unsure of
where the food was going she kept on trying to open up our puppets
mouth to check that it wasnt hiding in there. This was a beautiful
example of that curious spirit we hope to encourage throughout the
learning process. The joyous laughter and smiles coming from Anna
made me feel as though this was a successful learning experience which I
will repeat on another day to further enhance the experience both for
Anna and the other child who was also very interested and engaged.