Pumpkins

1. Pumpkins By Zoila Cerruti

2. Rationale I chose pumpkins because during the fall season children will see many pumpkins in their environment. This unit gives me an opportunity for authentic learning activities that relate to things they encounter in theireveryday lives.

3. Overall Goals • Students will learn the stages of development of a pumpkin • Students will participate in rhymes, songs, conversations, and discussions • Students will develop and use new vocabulary words associated with pumpkins • Students will be exposed to concepts of prints through literature • Students will have opportunities for inquiry and exploration • Students will develop number concepts by sorting and using patterns • Students will develop one to one correspondence • Students will compare, contrast, and measure objects • Students will participate in a field trip • Students will understand the concept of geographic location

4. Unit Introduction I will introduce the unit by setting up a taste testing center. I will have students taste pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread. The students will try to guess what these items are and how they are the same. The students will then use pictures to graph their favorite one after we have discussed that they are both made using pumpkins.

6. Language and Literacy • Students will listen to the story Five Little Pumpkins and retell it using flannel characters • Students will create pumpkin cards and write notes to their friends • Students will share in a Language Experience Activity after attending the field trip • Students will read and sequence pumpkin growth cards • Students will match capital letters with lower case letter cards that have been prepared on pumpkin cut outs

7. Literature • Students will listen to the story Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington • A class book will be created as students brainstorm ideas on how to help pumpkins grow. The teacher will write down each student’s sentence and the students will illustrate it. The book will be placed in the classroom library. • Students will write a poem about pumpkins • Students will listen to Apples and Pumpkins and create a venn diagram to contrast and compare the two

8. Puppets • Students will use stick puppets to retell Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater • Students will create pumpkin puppets using brown lunch bags, yarn, crayons and felt

9. Dramatic Play • Students will use scarves to pretend they are pumpkins in a pumpkin patch • Students will pretend to be farmers that are planting and harvesting pumpkins. They will have a box with farming clothing to use, plastic tools, gloves and other farming items

10. Art • Students will collect signs of autumn outside such as pinecones, leaves, nuts, twigs, and acorns. The students will glue the items on a tag board pumpkin shape cutout • Students will create “What’s inside a pumpkin?” craft activity (See resources for instructions) • Students will use washable markers, a damp sponge, paper towels, hats, scarves, wigs and glasses to create a Mr. Pumpkinhead at the Art Center. • Students will tear tissue paper to fill in and decorate a pumpkin

11. Sensory Centers • Students will taste pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread and graph which one they prefer • Students will make pumpkins using Pumpkin Pie Playdough (See resources for recipe) • Students will carve a pumpkin and use the five senses to describe it

12. Music and Movement • Students will participate in a Pumpkin Relay (See other resources for instructions) • Students will march through a pumpkin patch • Students will make a drum out of a salt container and sponge paint pumpkins on them. The students will use the drum to sing Five Little Pumpkins (See other resources for the words)

13. Math • Students will estimate the circumference of a pumpkin using yarn. Each child will check their prediction and tell whether their estimation was shorter or longer than the actual circumference • Students will solve simple word problems related to pumpkins (See resources for word problems) • Students will weigh pumpkins • Students will create patterns using colored pumpkin seeds • Students will reinforce shape recognition by decorating a pumpkin with felt circles, squares, and triangles • Students will count pumpkin seeds

14. Science • Students will explore the inside of a pumpkin and record their discoveries. (See resources for detailed instructions) • Students will make Crustless Pumpkin Pie (See resources for the recipe) • Students will predict whether their pumpkin will float or sink • Students will keep a science journal on the growth of a pumpkin • Students will experiment with primary colors to find the combination to make the color orange

15. Social Studies • Students will go on a field trip to a pumpkin patch • Students will identify on a map the states that grow pumpkins • Students will listen to a farmer that grows pumpkins, who will explain his role in the community

16. Technology • Students will complete a kindergarten Web Quest on pumpkins at www.fd.appstate.edu/webquests/messner_f01/pumpkin/punpkin.htm • Students will visit the following website and tour a pumpkin farm www.liveoakcanyon.com

17. Theme Related Trade Books Apples and Pumpkins Picking Apples & Pumpkins The Biggest Pumpkin Ever Pumpkin Pumpkin From Seed to Pumpkin The Pumpkin Patch Too Many Pumpkins The Pumpkin Book

18. Other Resources • Five Little Pumpkins Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate The first one said, “Oh my it’s getting late.” The second one said, “There are witches in the air.” The third one said, “I don’t care.” The four one said, “Let’s run and run and run!” The fifth one said, “Its Halloween fun!” Then “Oooooo” went the wind and out went the lights, and the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight! The Pumpkins Are Here Tune: The Farmer in the Dell The pumpkins are here; The pumpkins are there. The pumpkins, the pumpkins Are everywhere. The pumpkins are up; The pumpkins are down The pumpkins, the pumpkins Are all around. The pumpkins are in; The pumpkins are out. The pumpkins, the pumpkins Are all about. The pumpkins are low; The pumpkins are high. The pumpkins, the pumpkins, All say “Goodbye!”

19. Other Resources Mr. Pumpkin Tune: Where is Thumbkin? Mr. Pumpkin, Mr. Pumpkin Round and fat. Round and fat. Harvest time is coming Harvest time is coming Yum, yum, yum. That is that! • Ten Little Pumpkins Tune: Ten Little Indians One little, Two little, Three little pumpkins, Four little Five little, Six little pumpkins, Seven little, Eight little, Nine little pumpkins Ten little pumpkins in the Pumpkin patch!

20. Other Resources • Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater Had a wife and couldn’t keep her. He put her in a pumpkin shell And there he kept her very well. Crustless Pumpkin Pie ¾ cup sugar ½ cup Bisquick mix 2 tablespoons margarine 1 can (13 oz.) evaporated milk 2 eggs 1 can pumpkin (approximately 2 cups) 2 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 2 teaspoons vanilla Mix all ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour the mixture into a greased pie tin. Bake at 350 for 50 to 55 minutes. Vary the recipe by pouring the mixture into small muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.

21. Other Resources • Pumpkin Exploration- Science Center Instructions Encourage students to explore and record their discoveries. Place a pumpkin in a shallow tub in the science center. Cut the top off the pumpkin or cut the pumpkin in half so that little ones can observe and feel the inside as well as the outside of the pumpkin. Provide plastic knives and spoons for the children to use when exploring the pumpkin. Near the center, post a large, pumpkin-shaped chart cut from orange poster board. As children visit the center, record their discoveries on the chart. Be sure to have disposable wipes available for a quick cleanup after students’ sticky studies! What’s Inside a Pumpkin? – Art Instructions From construction paper, cut a stem, a leaf, and two identically shaped pumpkins. Title one of the pumpkin cutouts “What’s Inside A Pumpkin?”; then glue on the stem and leaf on the cutout that has the writing on it. To the other pumpkin cutout , glue short pieces of orange yarn and real pumpkin seeds that have been washed and dried on the other cutout. Assemble the shapes with a brad; then take a pumpkin peek!

22. Other Resources • Pumpkin Pie Playdough 5 ½ cups flour 2 cups salt 8 teaspoons cream of tartar ¾ cup oil 1 (1 ½ (ounces) container pumpkin pie spice Orange food coloring (2 parts yellow, 1 part red) 4 cups water Mix all of the ingredients together. Cook and stir over medium heat until all lumps disappear. Knead the dough on a floured surface until it is smooth. Store in an airtight container. Pumpkin Relay Fill two pumpkin lawn bags with leaves or crumpled newspaper, and seal them. Have the first child from each of the two relay teams roll one of the bags to the opposite end of the playing area and back. Continue until all the members of the teams have had a turn. The team that finishes first wins the relay

23. Other Resources- Math • Jacob saw 3 pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. Charles saw 2 pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. Who saw more pumpkins? How many more? • Cassidy’s pumpkin weighs 10 pounds. Carlo’s pumpkin weighs 5 pounds. Whose pumpkins weighs less? How much less? • Michael’s mom baked 8 pumpkin pies for the class party. The children ate 5 pies. How many pies are left? • The pumpkin farm sold 5 pumpkins before lunch and 4 pumpkins after lunch. How many pumpkins were sold in all? • Keesha has 4 pumpkins. Ann has 2 pumpkins. How many more pumpkins does Keesha have than Ann? • Michael’s pumpkin cost $10.00. Natalie’s pumpkin cost $8.00. Whose pumpkin cost the least?

24. Other Resources -Technology • www.theteachersroom.com/pumpkinpatch.htm • www.42explore.com • www.enchantedlearning.com • www.fd.appstate.edu/webquests/messner_f01/pumpkin/punpkin.htm • www.liveoakcanyon.com • www.pumpkin-patch.com/index.html