Pumpkin Unit

As a big orange globe on the end of a vine
You can take me and make me into a pie
As a Jack O'Lantern I am famed
Now it is time for me to be named.

What am I?

We used our five senses to discover more about pumpkins

We learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin and then we made pumpkins out of two orange paper plates and yarn. We glued life cycle cards to the yarn so that we could retell the story.

This is my pumpkin. The kids made it orange by writing a fact about pumpkins on orange slips of paper and gluing it to my pumpkin. This idea came from: http://mymontessorijourney.typepad.com/my_montessori_journey/2010/11/pumpkin-life-cycle.htmlWe made predictions about what the pumpkins would look like on the inside. The next day we opened them up and found out. The kids were so excited. I don't think I have heard so many squeals and "yuck!" in my entire life.

My little friends then predicted which pumpkin had the most seeds.

In math the next day we got into groups of 3 and counted the seeds in a small, medium, and large pumpkin. One group counted by 2's, one by 5's, and one by 10's. Each group made a poster of how they counted and presented it to the class.

Books we read during this unit:
Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington
Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum

It's Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall

Pumpkins Pumpkins Everywhere by Kimberly Carey

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin by Margaret McNamara