Callum the Caterpillar

CALLUM THE CATERPILLAR

Callum The Caterpillar

1 Rationale

“Imagine a classroom where teachers are supportive, students are inspired, and children care about one another and are working together to solve challenging problems.

That’s social and emotional learning (SEL) in action” (The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), 2017).

The good news is that the winds of change are blowing at schools and academic settings all over the world. Why? Because it is our responsibility as facilitators to help our learners feel relaxed, recognized and motivated to have the most optimal performance possible in the learning process.

Creating an atmosphere that helps to decrease the natural stressful feelings that many students experience while learning is certainly key to meet that purpose.

Scientists and researchers (Lantieri & Goleman, 2008) have shown how teaching 2 Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), 2017).

This type of environment is vital to negotiate, accommodate and construct meaning. In concert with this proof, this booklet aims to equip teachers and learners with the social-emotional tools to interact effectively with one another and with their readers not only in the classroom and at school but also at home and in the school district.

The possibility that readers offer to understand emotions and to learn how to deal with them through the texts will favour learners’ developmental processes of change, self-generation and construction.

When we tap on our emotions and positive social relationships, the material at hand will always be more memorable.

“We are neurobiologically wired, and to learn anything, our minds must be focused and our emotions need to “feel” in balance” (Desautels, 2016).

2 Readers for younger learners (suggested ages 6-8)

1. Introduction The following readers have been chosen to explore and work with the concepts of friendship, collaboration and heightened emotions.
   • Callum the Caterpillar (Jane Cadwallader) is a clever pick for beginner readers.
2. Through playful and dynamic artwork, this story explores Callum’s umbrella of heightened emotions on his way to becoming a beautiful butterfly with the help of a fairy.
3. • Mole at the Seaside (Julie Davies) introduces young learners to reading in italics through a story with delicious artwork. This reader is rich in folding themes of generosity, cooperation, friendship and different emotions by the hand of a Mole who is presented with a pair of glasses which help him open his eyes to the world.
4. • Home (DreamWorks) is a classic which children love while engaging in   Oh’s big-hearted life. This hip, colourful story introduces concepts such as cooperation, friendship and varied feelings. Oh is a Boov which makes friends with a girl called
5. Tip 3 when the Boov come to Earth. Oh and Tip tackle challenging obstacles together thanks to their love for each other, their compassion and their sensitivity. Before embarking on SEL activities with any of the readers, it is recommended to pre-teach the words which depict emotions accurately. The reason for managing a large bank of words to describe emotions is that it makes it easier for learners to talk about their feelings, their needs and their mood (Brackett, 2017)
   Callum the Caterpillar
   1.2.1 Pre-reading activities
   1. Name that emotion!
   Pre-teach feelings vocabulary by using pictures, gesture and miming. For this story, consider the following words:
   Calm, worried, happy, sad, tired, surprised
   2. Listen, run and fill up your heart Stick pictures depicting the emotions you have pre-taught on one or all of the walls in your class.
   Several pictures show the same emotion (for example four different happy faces, four different worried faces, etc.)
   Divide your class into several teams and hand out a big paper/cardboard heart to each team Call out the emotions one at a time.
   The kids listen and run to the wall to gather the face corresponding to the emotion you mentioned.
   They should take it to their team’s heart. When all the faces are gone from the wall, each team sees how full of different feelings their heart is.    
   Try to elicit the emotion words as learners share what they have.
   3. Callum feels…
   Introduce the character by showing the cover and elicit how he feels.
   Then open the story on pages 2, 4, 8, 9, 17 and elicit how he feels one more time
   (2 sad, 4 happy, 8 worried/surprised, 9 happy/calm, 17 tired)
   You may also choose other pages of your liking, the idea is to elicit the feelings. Matching emotions (optional):
   If you are art / drawing savvy, you may want to hand out pictures showing Callum experiencing different emotions. Students match the correct pictures with the emotions words you write on the board.
   4. Arousing curiosity
   Tell your learners “poor Callum!
   What’s his problem? (If necessary give alternatives “his house? His friends? His family? His food? His house?)”
   “What 5 you breath out. You might want to play some peaceful music and ask your learners to say “I’m calm” several times at the end until you feel the feeling of being calm has really sunk in.
   ...........................................................................................................
   WORKSHEET
   Before you read
   Draw a butterfly on the board and elicit or present the word.
   Draw nine lines in a row below the picture and play Hangman, eliciting letters to spell the word. Introduce caterpillar in the same way.
   While you read Stop at the kitchen scene on page 11.
   Tell the children to count the number of caterpillars in the scene.
   Invite the children to name the foods they can see in the fridge.
   After you read
   Play Pictionary.
   Divide the class into two teams.
   Slowly start to draw a cake on the board and say: What’s this?
   Invite the children to put their hands up to guess.
   When a child guesses correctly, award a point to her/his team.
   Then repeat with drawings of other words from the story
   (a butterfly, a fridge, feet, a tree, cheese).
   Using the worksheets Worksheet 1
   1 Look in the fridges and tick (✓) the foods you can see.
   Ask the class to look at the first fridge and elicit the names of the foods.
   Write apples and cheese on the board and draw a box next to each word.
   Ask Are there any apples in the fridge?
   Elicit the answer yes and tick the box next to apples, then ask Is there any cheese in the fridge?
   Elicit the answer no and put a cross in the box.
   Tell the children to complete the activity, ticking the foods they see in each fridge.
   2. Draw the next food in the sequence and write.
   Chant the foods in the first row and ask the children to chant with you.
   Hold up the worksheet, point to the box and ask the children to suggest the next word in the sequence (apple).
   Tell the children to draw an apple in the box and write the word below. The children then complete the other sequences

Butterfly Life Cycle

Butterflies have four different stages to their life cycle.

  Each stage serves a different purpose and the butterfly looks completely different.

  The change from stage to stage is called a "metamorphosis".

Materials:

• paper,
• printer,
• scissors.
• glue

Craft Instructions:

• Print out the template pieces -- there's a choice between a large version and a small version.  The completed small version fits on a single sheet of paper.  The large version would be a good option for a small bulletin board (classroom door).
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