In October we had great fun with the many pumpkin themed works throughout the classroom.
We had many opportunities to connect this unit with other areas of the classroom. The photo on the left is secret number work. A child chooses a secret number written on a slip of paper, he/she then has to fetch that number of pumpkins from a basket on another work mat. When he/she returns a second child guesses what number the first child chose. The photo on the right is the sets basket work. The basket contains sets of objects for numeration work 1-10. After the child has sorted the objects into sets, he/she counts each set and places the objects under the numeral card for that quantity.
We also brought the pumpkin unit into the Practical Life Area of the classroom. The photos above show two friends hammering golf tees into a pumpkin. These friends are practicing concentration, coordination, independence, order, and safety while having fun! This was a very popular work!
The photos below show two other Practical Life works; transferring colored water with a baster and stringing pumpkin beads onto a pipe cleaner. Love the concentration and determination of our friend stringing the beads!
We read several books in the science area of the classroom about pumpkins. We learned a pumpkin is a squash. Many of us think of a pumpkin as a vegetable but botanically speaking it a fruit. We learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin plant. After the seed is planted if it gets water, the right temperature, light and air it will germinate and a seedling comes up, which grows into a vine. Yellow flowers grow on the vine and as the flower dries up a green pumpkin begins to grow. The pumpkin is ready to harvest when it ripens to orange.
"Pick a pumpkin from a vine
Pumpkin round, pumpkin fine.
Pick a pumpkin from a vine.
Let's pick pumpkins"
Before Halloween we carved our classroom pumpkin. Some friends enjoyed removing the "guts" from the pumpkin, while other friends were less than interested in that step. After the pumpkin was carved, we rinsed and dried the seeds, we spread them on a baking sheet, and sprinkled on some cinnamon sugar. YUM! After Halloween, we placed our Jack-O-Lantern into a large glass container and sealed the top. We have begun to make observations of our decomposing pumpkin. We will talk about how decomposers such as bacteria and fungi break down the pumpkin into tinier parts. We can put the pumpkin out in the compost bin. Rotting old plants provide food to grow new ones.
