Pumpkins in the Primary Classroom Curricular Unit. Pumpkins: Not Just for Halloween! If you teach primary grade students, it's virtually impossible to avoid the excitement inspired by the harvesting of fall pumpkins. For young children, as for most of us, pumpkins are more than just a variety of squash. They have come to symbolize not only the vibrant color of the fall season but the spirit of the season as well. This is the best time of the year to utilize the endless possibilities of pumpkins in your classroom activities. Your young students may tend to associate pumpkins only with Halloween and jack o'lanterns, yet, if you wish, you can de- emphasize the holiday connections and still tap into a wide array of pumpkin- related curriculum links in math, science, language arts, social studies, cooking, music and art. Pumpkin Literature. From the dozens of books we've used over the years with our classes, these are the pumpkin favorites we and our students come back to again and again: The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin by Stan and Jan Berenstain. This story offers two slants on pumpkins. One excellent application is in science, showing how everything is unique in nature.
Preschool-Aged Halloween Bulletin Board Ideas. When it comes to preschool. Let the kids decorate their pumpkins and write “Preschool Pumpkin Patch” or “Teacher’s Name Pumpkin Patch” at the top of the bulletin. Pumpkin Patch provides premium kids clothing range both online and in stores. Patch eClub; View Desktop Website; ABOUT PP Our Story; Quality Guarantee; Investor. A second, equally satisfying application, ties into the concept of giving thanks. The Pumpkin People by David and Maggie Cavagnaro. A delightful story told with beautiful photographs about a truly magical community activity, the launching of carved and lit pumpkins at a nearby lagoon. The All- Around Pumpkin Book by Margery Culyer. An excellent resource for teacher use, this book includes the history of the pumpkin, planting tips, carving tips, cooking, party and craft ideas. Jeb Scarecrow's Pumpkin Patch by Jana Dilon. This delightful story shows how Jeb's family has labored all year to keep the black crows away from the patch. Jeb worked very hard to carve several jack- o- lanterns before the crows arrived the week before Halloween. He succeeded in scaring the crows away as well as selling all the pumpkins and jack o'lanterns! From Seed to Jack O'Lantern by Hanna Lyons Johnson. The title is self- explanatory! A nice life- cycle book. The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll. Every year we see those newsphotos of gargantuan pumpkins.. Mousekin's Golden House by Edna Miller. A woodland creature discovers a discarded jack o'lantern. Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell. This story shows a young girl and her family going to the Comstock Farm to pick apples and pumpkins. Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman. This is another wonderful story that repeats the action of several ghoulish creatures in their efforts to get a large pumpkin off the vine in order to make pumpkin pie. The story also shows the life- cycle of a pumpkin. A Preschool Pumpkin Activities Theme that includes preschool. Connect all of the pumpkins together by using the green yarn and display the pumpkin patch on your wall or bulletin board. Preschool Pumpkin Activities. 1 sign 2 pumpkins with a mouse accent 7 pumpkins 1 triple piece pumpkin accent A pumpkin basket A resource guide. Pumpkin Patch Bulletin Board Set: Grade/Age. Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington. This is an easy to read story, beautifully illustrated, showing the life- cycle of a pumpkin. Math and Science With Pumpkins. If you are able to visit a pumpkin patch and bring pumpkins home, you're in luck - - there are many scientific and mathematical activities you can do with all those pumpkins! Before beginning any activities with the pumpkins we recommend putting each child's name on his or her . The Great Pumpkin Line- Up. This activity reinforces the concept of shortest to tallest. Before the children begin this activity you will need to create a line on the rug with chalk or masking tape. Have the children bring their pumpkins to a group meeting. Explain to the children that they will be placing their pumpkins on the line according to height. If you are working with children who are in kindergarten or first grade you may want to use some children to visually explain what you are asking. Start by having one child placing the pumpkin on the line and then asking the next child to bring up his or her pumpkin and measure to see if it is shorter or taller. Continue this process until all the children have had an opportunity to place their pumpkin in the correct position on the line. You could count the pumpkins using ordinal numbers to reinforce the use of these numbers. This information can be recorded on a piece of adding machine tape for use with subsequent activities. Attribute and Comparison Graphs. Arrange the children on the rug in a circle and have each child place the pumpkins in the center of the group. During this activity you'll be trying to elicit as many differentcategories or attributes about the pumpkins as possible. These should be recorded on chart paper or in any spot where they can easily be seen. Start the discussion by encouraging the children to compare the likenesses and differences of the pumpkins such as size, shape, type of stem, texture, coloration, weight, etc. Over a period of days, select a different attribute each day to graph. Picture graphs, bar graphs, or even post- it notes and stickers are effective graphing media. Which Weighs More? You'll need a scale to weigh the pumpkins. Prepare a class graph that can be used to record the information gathered during this lesson, and some cards reading . Spread these cards out on the floor during weighing. Using the adding machine tape that was recorded with the first activity, arrange the pumpkins in size order. When they are all arranged on the line ask the children, . Some children may assume that the biggest pumpkin will weigh the most.) Tell the children to make an estimation of which pumpkin would weigh more and then actually weigh the pumpkins. Cutting open some pumpkins to examine the differences inside will help children account for this apparent paradox. After weighing a few of the pumpkins, when the children have an idea of what a one- , two- , or three- pound pumpkin feels like, have them, one at a time, pick up their own pumpkin, make a guess/estimation of its weight, and then actually weigh it. Read the scale with each child and then direct him or her to put the pumpkin behind the correct weight card. Continue with this process until all children have placed their pumpkins on the floor graph showing the weight of their pumpkins. When the floor graph is completed, ask the children some questions about it, such as: 1. Do we have more pumpkins that weigh ? How many pumpkins weigh ? Are there any pumpkins that weigh ? Be as creative as you want when asking these questions. Encourage the children to ask their own questions about the data on the graph. Children can record the information from the real- pumpkin floor graph to make individual graphs to take home and share with parents. How Big Around Is My Pumpkin? This activity engages the children in estimating the circumference of their pumpkins. It is easiest to explain the circumference as the distance around the fullest part of a pumpkin, like putting a belt around the pumpkin. Prepare a graph for use with this activity with columns labeled . Provide pairs of students with lengths of string and scissors. Each child guesses how much string it will take to go around the circumference of the pumpkin and then cuts the string to that length. Each student has a turn to record the outcome of his estimate on the class graph. When the graph is complete, ask students questions similar to those in activity #3. A good follow- up for class or home is to challenge the students to find five things that are as long as their pumpkin was around. Additional Experience With Estimation and Graphing. Children will enjoy estimating and graphing the number of vertical lines on a large pumpkin, or the number of seeds within. Children can write their guesses on a small Post- its, and arrange them on a graph in categories (0- 5 lines, 6- 1. Allow plenty of time for questions: Which number category was chosen most? Were there any number categories not chosen at all? How many more/fewer children chose . Story Problems. Challenge your young mathematicians by presenting them with some pumpkin facts to incorporate into original word problems they can write together in cooperative groups. Some suggested facts: a) Pumpkins grow on vines that sometimes reach 1. Hansen, in Learning 8. October, 1. 98. 8, pp. Science Journals: The Great Pumpkin Race. The presence of a collection of pumpkins in your classroom provides numerous opportunities to increase observational skills and promote some important scientific concepts. Journal writing is ideal for promoting writing. When you are able to combine observation and writing, you have a dynamite project! Observational skills are a primary focus with young children, and having their own pumpkin to observe brings out their proprietary nature! During your visit to the pumpkin patch, have each child select his or her own pumpkin — one that has personality from the child's perspective — but one that he or she can carry around without too much trouble. If a trip isn't in the offing this year, try to have each child bring a pumpkin to class or solicit donations from a sympathetic (or overstocked) local merchant. Have the children scrutinize their own pumpkins carefully and then write as many descriptive sentences about the pumpkin as they can. You might want to model some simple descriptive sentences for very young writers to use as a guide. Once their journals reflect thorough observation of their own specimen, allow for some switching with classmates to note likenesses and differences. After a few sessions of pumpkin journal writing, your students will be captivated by . Talk with the class about the need to select two pumpkins from the group to represent the whole class in the experiment (since it would be most unpleasant to have a room full of decomposing pumpkins!). Discuss predictions with the class, then give students a chance to record their observations of the representative pumpkins and to write their predictions in their journals. They can then use their journals regularly to record their observations of the pumpkins as they check them on a weekly basis for changes.(Please Note: It is very important that you keep each pumpkin in an aquarium or other large glass container, tightly sealed with plastic wrap. This eliminates 9. Pumpkin Patch Bulletin Board Set. This colorful, autumn- themed bulletin board set includes: A scarecrow (approx. Hook Published by Carson- Dellosa Publishing, LLC.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2016
Categories |