In this creative writing activity using Pages, students embark on an imaginative journey inspired by Eric Carle's classic tale, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. After reading about the caterpillar's insatiable appetite for various foods, each student selects an alternative food that the caterpillar might have eaten and the group collaborates on a class book.
The activity begins when the story ends. Students brainstorm as a class what other foods might a caterpillar that was “very hungry” want to eat. After the discussion each student is tasked with writing a sentence of their own for a page of the book. Students can use their iPads to write their individual sentence. Using the template in Pages attached below, students type out their sentence describing this new culinary adventure. With the intuitive features of Pages, students utilize the audio media button to record themselves narrating their sentence, bringing their writing to life with their own expressive voice.
Next, armed with an Apple Pencil or their fingers, students delve into the visual aspect of the project. Using the drawing tools within Pages, they illustrate the scene described in their sentence. Leveraging the animate line drawing feature, they add motion to their artwork. This movement allows students to see their work come to life right in front of them.
Each student should airdrop their individual page to the teacher to curate into a collective Pages book. This book can then be shared as an EPUB file into Books, or in the Apple Bookstore. An EPUB file can be viewed across all devices in applications like Books and Kindle. (see below)
This integrated approach not only enhances creativity but also strengthens understanding of storytelling elements such as descriptive writing and visual representation. Through Pages, students seamlessly blend technology with literary imagination, transforming a beloved children’s story into a personalized multimedia experience.
Summary of Lesson:
- Students each receive a copy of the blank template
- Students will type a sentence describing an aspect of the caterpillar’s adventure
- Students will use media button to input audio recording of reading sentence
- Students use an Apple Pencil or their fingers to draw an accompanying image
- Using the line draw animation students can animate drawing
- Students airdrop completed template page to teacher
- Teacher curates individual pages into a class book
- Teacher shares book as an EPUB file
Attach up to 5 files which will be available for other members to download.