31 Days of Halloween - Day 16!

Do you know that there are children who have never touched the icky guts of a pumpkin before? Who do not know what that smells like? Who might think that there is one really great big seed in the whole thing?

It is heartbreaking to think that all of the simple pleasures and things that we did in school so many years ago are now exceptional opportunities to learn for our students! What that means is, if you do not provide these activities in school, they might miss it entirely because pumpkins are not inexpensive. Parents will buy a costume and a plastic pumpkin and send their child out there to collect their loot. Purchasing a real pumpkin, carving it as a family activity, actually roasting the pumpkin seeds to eat them? Often that only happens if teachers do it.

I recommend this book, How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin, by Margaret MacNamara to use as a basis for Pumpkin Day in your classroom. On Pumpkin Day (not to be confused with a Halloween Party) all reading, math, science, writing, science, and craft activities center around the mighty pumpkin! In this book, a teacher is helping the class to figure out some answers to questions that they have about pumpkins. You can figure them out right along with them in your real classroom!

My recommendations for you include: enlist help from parents ahead of time, and make sure you collect everything you will need: big scooping spoons, big bowls to put the pulp in, pumpkin cutting knives (for the adults). You need 2 big pumpkins (with 2 adults in charge) to handle a classroom of children. Give each adult a list of the children's names to call up one by one. That way, they don't keep asking, "when is it my turn?" Don't forget the plastic tablecloths for the pumpkin tables!

Have a great self-directed pumpkin art activity for them to do at their seats while they are waiting. In another corner you could have a parent reading a new Halloween story.A fun writing activity is to pretend that you are the last pumpkin left in the pumpkin patch, and it is getting late. What happens to you?

When the children are interacting with the pumpkin, they should have their math notebooks with them to write down how many creases are on the pumpkin, etc. 

I  take the seeds home to bake them in a little bit of oil with some
salt. It is worthwhile to get to taste something new. Then you can graph "Do you like roasted pumpkin seeds or not?" More math! 

For tons of free printables plus further ideas to help round out your activities, check out my October Ideas board on Pinterest. The link is up there on the right!

Happy Reading!  Till Next Time, Nancy

31 Days of Halloween - Day 8!

Thea Dewhickey is a nice little girl who won Second Prize last year at the costume parade. Her parents were so proud of her. Her parents really want her to win First Prize this year. They make all kinds of suggestions for beautiful, fluffy costumes. However, Thea wants to be the scariest monster in the whole wide world! Mr. and Mrs. Dewhickey drag her all over town to various Halloween Superstores, but do not want to buy her the costume that she really wants. They just know that an ugly, scary monster will  not win First Prize.

Fortunately, Grandma shows up and saves the day with her sewing machine. Thea is happy as can be in her scary dragon monster costume, but she certainly does not win a prize. The Prize Winners turn out to be her parents, who are wearing the type of creation they tried to force her to wear. (Thank goodness for Grandma and her sewing machine!) Thea is very proud of her parents.  


This is a good story to study plot with. 
I like to use chart paper to write out my students' ideas on how the story began, and what was the problem that cropped up?
What happened next, and how did the problem get resolved?

This story also lends itself nicely to a talk about facts and opinions. Ahead of time, prepare a chart sheet with 6 different kinds of Halloween costumes (or put it up on a doc. camera). Tell the class that this year, these are the only costumes that are available in stores and they must pick from this list. Ask them to think about which costume is the best of all. 

Call them up, one by one, to place a big black or orange Magic Marker "vote" directly above the costume they would choose. Evaluate the graph when it is complete. Which costume received the most votes? How many more votes did it receive than the one that got the fewest votes? Does it prove that the witch costume (or pirate or whichever one wins) is the best? Or, is that just an opinion? 

PS Is Grandma wearing a costume in the story, or is she perhaps really a witch? Hmmmmmm.

Happy Reading! Till next time, Nancy