Pumpkinpalooza

I am so excited to tell you about our PUMPKINPALOOZA! 


It all started with this WONDERFUL book written by Margaret Mcnamara. Mr. Tiffin's class makes estimates about how many seeds are inside a big, medium, and small pumpkin. I only read to the part of the book where all the students had made their estimates. Then I split my class into groups. We tallied who thought the bigger pumpkins would have the most seeds and who thought the smaller pumpkins would have the most seeds. Most of my students thought the biggest pumpkins would have the most seeds. They said things that are bigger can hold more. Good logic :-)

Each group had to discuss what they thought a reasonable estimate would be. We listed our estimates on the board. Then each group opened up their pumpkins and began pulling out all of the seeds. Lots of "EEEEEEEWS!" were heard and lots of kids got the giggles! 


After every single slimy seed was out of our pumpkins we discussed how we thought we should count our seeds. The class decided counting by tens was easiest. Each group member started making piles of ten. One of my little girls took charge of her group and split her group into two. Each part of the group had to create ten piles of ten then stop because they knew they had 100. Then they piled the seeds they had counted onto a plate. {Proud teacher moment right there!} They were done counting lickety split and went on to help the other groups.

We recorder all of our answers then I read the rest of How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin. In the book Mr. Tiffin explains that pumpkins with the most ribs/lines have been on the vine the longest. For each rib/line on the pumpkin there is a line of seeds on the inside. *I kept this in mind when I picked my pumpkins. I was the weird girl counting lines on pumpkins outside of Whole Foods*


Our smallest pumpkin had 32 ribs and 614 seeds! WOW!

Next we talked about adjectives. We added adjectives with Post-Its to a paper pumpkin. (Ok, this is the pic from last year, but we did the EXACT same thing!) I have a post about this right HERE. We'll do the writing activity mentioned in the post tomorrow.


We wrapped up our Pumpkinpalooza with a reading of Pumpkin Jack


While my kids were at PE today I super secretly carved one of our pumpkins into a Jack-o-lantern. We put Jack and our other pumpkins into our garden plot at school. We made predictions about what would happen to Jack and the other pumpkins too. Our class is curious to see if Jack rots faster than pumpkins that aren't cut. We are also curious to see if the smaller pumpkins rot faster than the bigger pumpkins.




It was such a wonderful day of learning! I can't wait to write about our Pumpkinpalooza tomorrow. My kids had a blast and worked so well together!




4 comments:

  1. Jennifer - what fun things you have done with this book...I love all the extensions...predicting seeds, describing a pumpkin. I bet your kiddos had a blast!
    :o)
    Vicky
    Traditions, Laughter and Happily Ever After

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  2. I hadn't seen that first pumpkin book before- looks great! These are really engaging and interesting ways to teach estimation, measurement and counting. Thanks for sharing!
    Karli
    Creating a Thoughtful Classroom

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  3. Thanks for the books suggestions. I am always on the hunt for new books to share with the kiddos.

    Cindy
    Granny Goes to School

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  4. Ahhh Pumpkin Jack is one of our favorites! LOVE that you are making one of your own. Fantastic, engaging activities Jennifer!

    ~Christy & Tammy
    Fluttering Through First Grade

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