Listening Activity for Primary Students: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Video

Reflection

Reason for choosing the video

For this activity I chose a short video based on the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I selected this video because it is very popular with primary school students and it includes clear images, repetition and simple vocabulary that young learners can easily understand.

The story is engaging and helps students learn vocabulary related to food, days of the week and animals.

Learning objectives

The main objectives of this activity are:

  • To develop students’ listening comprehension skills

  • To expose students to authentic audiovisual material

  • To learn and reinforce basic vocabulary related to food and animals

  • To encourage oral communication in English

Sequence of activities

Pre-listening activity

Before watching the video, the teacher shows pictures of different foods and asks students some questions such as:

  • What food do you see?

  • Do you like apples or cake?

  • What do you think the caterpillar will eat?

This activity helps students activate their previous knowledge and prepares them for the topic of the video.

While-listening activity

Students watch the video using Edpuzzle and answer the interactive questions during the video. These questions help students focus on the main ideas of the story and check their understanding.

Post-listening activity

After watching the video, students work in pairs and talk about the foods that appear in the story. They can also answer questions such as:

  • What food do you like?

  • What food did the caterpillar eat?

This activity encourages communication and helps students practise vocabulary in a meaningful way.

Flipped learning

Part of this activity can be used as a flipped learning task. Students can watch the video and answer the Edpuzzle questions at home. In the following class, students can participate in speaking activities and discussions related to the story.

Positive aspects of the activity

One of the best aspects of this activity is that the story is very visual and engaging for young learners. Students usually enjoy the repetition and the colourful illustrations, which help them understand the story.

The interactive questions in Edpuzzle also help maintain students’ attention and make the listening activity more dynamic.

Possible improvements

In the future, I would add more visual vocabulary support before watching the video and include a creative activity, such as asking students to draw their own caterpillar and describe what it eats.

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