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 7!

It's time for a little holiday math break! The students will never even notice because they will be enjoying this story about some very strange (but not very scary) monsters. Slowly at first, they start showing up at the door. One  little monster opens the door for groups of five, and then ten. I think I can see some tally marks happening while the reading is going on! Eventually 50 monsters are creating a huge mess in the house! Mother has had it.

She grabs her flyswatter and starts shooing them away, giving you a chance to do some subtracting practice. There are all kinds of math questions you can ask just by looking at the pictures. 

                  
      Extending the Story/Rereading
      This is a short story that begs to be reread.
      Read it to list words the class hears that rhyme:

      you/two      fudge/budge     heads/beds      other/Mother
      dishes/wishes      faces/races     count/amount    singing/ringing
      many/any     leaping/creeping    done/one     glad/had

      "The house is a wreck and the couch has been frosted.
      The food's been devoured and Mother's exhausted." 


Of course, your little people may be needing a brain break sometime today, so how about doing the Monster Mash here: Mallon Family Monster Mash

Happy Reading! Till next time, Nancy