Adding Just A Little Pumpkin Spice to your math and literacy stations...

I hope I am not too late to the Pumpkin Party. I just had a Pumpkin Activity Day and made about a "zillion" pumpkin centers to review all the concepts we have been working on in our classroom. We do not celebrate Halloween and yes I want all students to be able to attend school, regardless of their religious beliefs. Okay, now that we have that out of the way I want to share some of the fun we had...

For those students who still need letter naming practice this is an activity the children greet with great eenthusiasm They have a recording sheet and work with a partner rolling the soft  die and coloring in the number. I can put letters they are struggling with in these clear pockets and differentiate, based on individual needs

This is a popular, non competitive game in my classroom and provides another means for reviewing sight words that we have introduced. I had a chant that went with this and children love getting a turn and picking a card they can be successful with. A picture of pumpkin seeds are hiding behind a word. If a child pulls the right card and can identify the word, they become the winner and the game begins again. I use this whole group but the children love doing this during workshop time! Activities can be so simple.

My students loved doing these ten frames and we had great "math talk" about how you don't always need to count each candy corn. We learned if the frame is filled then we know there are 10, one row means there are 5, etc. Students who are still struggling used counters and placed them on top of these images and counted before finding the numerical match. The loved filling in the response sheet that went with this on the following day.

Who doesn't like a great game of BINGO? When the parent volunteer brought out candy corn to mark the answers I thought the students were going to lose their minds from enthusiasm! It was too cute. However, I told them they would be able to take 5 pieces home in a baggie and get permission from Mom and Dad. Yup, let them decide if they can eat them. 

This was the most popular activity of the day. A parent ran this center and did such a great job. All the supplies need to be well organized and this year I got smart and made large posters for them to follow. They also had a matching little book to take home to retell the story and explain the color of each bead. This was a  a huge hit. The moms really did a great job monitoring this station.

This is an outdoor activity but well worth the time. Many of our students have never seen the inside of a pumpkin and felt how slimy it is. They got a chance to see the strands close up and touch the pulp and seeds. They helped me add the soil and water and now we are going to see if anything magical happens! The following morning a child swore he saw a sprout coming up and I loved his conviction.

We were not ending the day without sharing a couple of pumpkin pies and deciding if we liked it or not. We even put a little whipped cream on top. All our parents who came to help shared this treat and helped make this day so special. 

These are just a few highlights from the day. We made headbands and did some fabulous pumpkin investigations. The children were shocked that pumpkins float in water and it was so much fun to drop a huge one in a large tub of water.

It was a great day of learning and the children took all their special projects home in a folder. We even squeezed in a simple art project and tasted pumpkin seeds. 

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Now I better start working on assessments for report cards.

Happy Sunday!

A Passion for Pumpkins

Our school does not celebrate Halloween. We are a fundamental school that has many students who do not celebrate this holiday. So I always need to come up with activities that are still lots of fun challenge them academically, but no witches and goblins can come into our rooms. I also want them to reflect the Common Core. That can be a tall order at this time of the year! 

I worked on a variety of activities today and have not moved away from my computer. I really had to think about what to use to build letter naming fluency and would not be "more of the same thing" for my struggling readers. Yup, you read that right. We are already talking about progress monitoring this little ones but that is a whole, other post. 

Students just roll the cube with a partner (collaborative model) and fill in this little recording sheet after telling their partner the name of the letter. I am giving them crayons that are fall colors to spice it up and make it more fun. I can have them focus on the letters they need to work on since I am the boss of the cards! Easy and fun.

If you have been following my blog you know all about this game. Now I made it with a pumpkin graphic. These are the words I want my kids to know fluently so I have repeated them several times. One card has pumpkin seeds hidden behind it and when the student pulls the card and finds this they win this round. Here is what we like to chant once a student has been picked... "Pumpkin, pumpkin on a vine, we love your seeds. They taste so fine."

This is a very simple ten frame activity that I am introducing during guided math. I want students to understand that when a 10 frame is filled you don't even need need to count the candy! For students with a limited understanding of this I will give them easier cards and have them put counters right on top of the candy corn to make these concepts more concrete.

Here is a simple cut and paste activity that I will provide for students who are ready for more abstract learning. I will use it for my top students. It might make a great homework activity, once students clearly understand these concepts. 

Students need lots of practice counting and this is just another activity using pumpkins and seeds.

I'm going to make a recording sheet that allows students to draw their own seeds. They will love doing that. I like the idea of showing 10 on one pumpkin and putting more seeds on another to count all the seeds together. Here is where subitizing work will really pay off. Your higher students will not always need to count each and every seed!

I love this little activity the best! What do you think?

My students have been having a blast will all the fishing games I have mad but seriously you don't fish for a pumpkin! So I had this big, clear spoon in my kitchen that I glued a magnet to. I covered the inside with a pumpkin. So students will play with a partner and dig for pumpkins. Each card has a magnet on the back.Once they identify the letter, the partner will place them on the vine with lowercase letters on the bottom and uppercase letters on top. I hope my little farmers like this activity. 

These gorgeous graphics all belong to Whimsy Workshop. I recommend purchasing them if you want to make some of your own centers. Aren't they adorable? Please check out her products. I love all of them! Her blog is right here.