We’re learning all about pumpkins this week and the kids couldn’t be more
thrilled!! I thought I’d share some of the fun we’re having in case
you’re knee deep in pumpkin seeds, too!
We started the week activating & growing our pumpkin schema. We
read a few fun non-fiction pumpkin books, gathered new learning, and added our
little fact seeds to our pumpkin chart. Did you know that pumpkins are
fruit?! That was a “are-you-for-real?!?!” moment for the kids.
We followed up our new learning with a little apples vs.
pumpkins venn diagram. We reinforced a few key vocabulary words {similar,
contrast, compare, alike, different} & used that verbiage while we talked
about both. The kids did such a GREAT job recalling facts.
I read the book, “The Littlest
Pumpkin” and had the kids wrote about why the littlest pumpkin felt
disappointed. They then made a text to
self connection and wrote about a time they felt disappointed. It’s much
easier to articulate it than it is to write it down! Especially at this
time of the year!!! All that to be said, I think my kids did a GREAT
job….especially since they worked independently doing so!
We were working on sequencing this
week, so I put a little sequencing activity in the pocket chart & they had
to sequence the life cycle of a pumpkin. I found the real life pumpkin
photos & they matched them to sentences that I typed up on the computer.
After they matched the pictures to the words & sequenced the steps, I had
them finish a little life cycle sequencing worksheet to check for
understanding.
My FAVORITE
activity is one I’ve been doing for years….Pumpkin Investigations! The kiddos got to measure the height and
circumference of their pumpkin. They predicated if the pumpkin would sink or
float……it floats! We talked about using our 5 senses…minus the
sense of taste…to observe the outside and inside of a pumpkin. As each
kiddo took a turn observing the outside of the pumpkin, I had him/her give me
an adjective to describe their observation. We created a word web and I wrote down all of
the adjectives for the outside of
the pumpkin in green. Then we did the
same thing for the inside of the
pumpkin. I cut it open and had the kids dig in and give me an adjective
for what they felt/saw/smelled. Then I wrote those words on the web in red. They
then put the seeds in groups of 10 and counted them. Boy those pumpkins hold a lot of seeds! Thank you to the parents who came in to help
with this fun project!!!
Counting how many lines the pumpkin has.
Measuring the height and circumference of our pumpkins.
Our pumpkin floats!!!!
Getting all the seeds out......
. We ended our fun pumpkin day by making our 3rd snazzy snack! The kiddos got to put frosting on a rice cake and decorate it with candy corn and chocolate chips to make a face. They did a great job!
