Linking children's book as a way of collecting materials

How can I as a teacher link children’s book as a way of collecting materials?

The bowerbird workshop consisted of finding a children’s story book that would be able to connect to the idea of collecting materials.  The book chosen was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. As a pre-service teacher I was wondering how I can use this book in the classroom as an idea of getting children to collect items.

As the Hungry Caterpillar’s environment is in the outdoor setting, I began to cumulate ideas of getting children to explore natural materials through the outdoor environment. The caterpillar lives outside amongst leaves, trees, bark, food scraps and sticks so therefore children can really explore and expand on their knowledge of the outdoor. Children are able to categorise items through colour and shape, texture, size and smell. ‘Collecting can help children learn how to sort, classify, match and organize their world’ (MacNaughton & Williams 2009, p.19). As a pre-service teacher I am constantly questioning the idea of children feeling a sense of belonging in their environment, I feel that children should be taught through many different learning arrangements that allow different learning experiences. Natural materials are a great way to let children investigate the earth and their environment. As a pre-service teacher I believe it is essential for children to share their thoughts and experiences as a class discussion. Through using storybooks and the collecting of materials children are able to hear different perceptions and perspectives on ideas that children will all be complete different too. Listening is a key tool in the classroom and I believe children can listen to the ideas of others through being respectful. According to MacNaughton and Williams (2009) it’s vital that as a teacher welcoming the thoughts of what children have to say to us in all its diversity is very important as all children’s ideas are correct as there is no wrong in your thinking.

References:
MacNaughton, G & Williams, G 2009, Techniques for Teaching Young Children; Choices for Theory and Practice, 3^rd edn, Pearson Education Australia, NSW.