Pumpkins - Day 1

Phonics/Writing

Preparation:

Write the word pumpkin on a piece of paper, then cut into individual letters.

Materials

“Pumpkin” letters

Teaching:

Letter Learner (Learning letters and letter sounds):

1.       Sound out each letter.

2.       Have child hand you each letter as you sound it out (/p/ sound – they give you letter ‘p.’) Create word pumpkin with letters.

3.       Blend sounds together slowly to make word pumpkin; draw each sound out. Have child try to guess word.  If they can’t, you need to blend sounds closer and closer together until they guess word (this is a phonics skill that they will learn in time).

Emergent Reader (Knows letters and letter sounds):

1.       Tell child that there is a secret word that these letters spell. They will be forming little words and finally they will make the secret word.

2.       Say, “Using these letters, make the word ‘pin.’” If needed, slowly sound out the word as they search for the letters and put them together to form word “pin.”

3.       Say, “Change one letter to make the word “pip.”

4.       Change a letter to make the word “kip.”

5.       Say, “Change a letter to make the word “sip.”

6.       Say, “Change a letter to make the word “sup.”

7.       Say, “Change a letter to make the word “sum.”

8.       Say, “Change a letter to make “pum,” add a letter to make the word “pump”

9.       Put the remaining three letters “kin” on the end, and ask “Can you tell me what the secret word is?”  Sound out the word with child, if needed.

Reading

Preparation:

Make a poster with poem “Five Little Pumpkins”

“Five Little Pumpkins sitting on a gate.

The first one said, “Oh my it’s getting late”

The second one said, “There are witches in the air.”

The third one said, “But we don’t care.”

The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run.”

The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun.”

“Ohhh,” went the wind.  Out went the light.

And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Materials:

Poem

Orange crayon

Yellow crayon

Teaching:

Letter Learner:

1.        Read the poem together 2-3 times.  Do a finger play with it.

2.       Have your child find and color all the ‘P’s” orange.

3.       Say the word pumpkin together.  Listen to the two /p/ sounds.

4.       Read it through again.  Point to each word as you say it.

5.       Help child point to words with you. (This helps them recognize sounds and words).

Emergent Reader:

1.       Read poem together 2-3 times.

2.       Have child color the word “pumpkin” orange. 

3.       Have child color the word “the” yellow.

4.       Have child point to and say any other words they know.  They can color those words, too.

5.       Say poem again pointing to words. 

6.       Hand child a pointer (wand, pen or pencil with a star attached to it, etc.) and as you say the poem together they point to each word as they say it.  (This is important in helping them connect written word with what they are saying).

Math

Preparation:

Draw or print out four pictures of a fence/gate. Place pumpkin stickers (or glue pumpkin pictures) on the fences on one gate place one pumpkin, on second gate place 2 pumpkins, on third gate place three pumpkins, on fourth gate place four pumpkins.

Materials

4 gates with pumpkins

Pumpkin stickers (or pictures of pumpkins and a glue stick)

Teaching:

1.        Tell child, “Here are some pumpkins on gates, but there aren’t five pumpkins on any of the gates, and the poem says, ‘Five Little Pumpkins.’ Can you put the gates together to create longer gates with five pumpkins on it.”

2.       Have child put the gate with four pumpkins next to the gate with one pumpkin to create a gate with five pumpkins.  Put the two and three pumpkins together.

3.       Have child use pumpkin stickers to make five pumpkins on each of the gates, using the matching gate as a guide for number of pumpkins to place on fence.

Book of the Day:  Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden by George Levenson

1. Read the book to your child, talking about what you are learning as you read.

Science

Preparation:

Buy a pumpkin, cut off the top

Materials

Pumpkin

Teaching:

1.        Using the five senses have your child explore the pumpkin.  Touch the skin, stem, seeds, and inside of pumpkin.

2.       Smell the pumpkin.

3.       Look at the pumpkin, what colors are there? What shapes do they see?

4.       Let them taste something with pumpkin in it (we like eating pumpkin pancakes so we talked about pumpkin pancakes).

** SAVE THE PUMPKIN SEEDS FOR LATER LESSONS**

Art

Preparation

Buy a pumpkin

Materials

Pumpkin

Paint

Paintbrushes

Teaching:

1.        Let your child paint the pumpkin. 

**I wouldn’t recommend using the same pumpkin as the one cut up in “Science” because it makes such a cute decoration, and it will last longer uncut.**