Pumpkins, Pumpkins, and more Pumpkins!

So much learning went on this week in P4J!  We spent a great deal of time learning about Pumpkins and doing pumpkin-themed activities.  The first task on our list was figuring out what is inside of a pumpkin!  Students made a hypothesis, or a guess, about what was inside and drew a picture of their guess.  Then, we cut the pumpkin open and discovered that there were seeds inside!  And goo!  We then used tweezers to try to separate the seeds from the goo and strengthened our fine motor skills in the process.  Students then glued a few seeds to the bottom half of their drawing to record what was actually inside of the pumpkin.  

Some friends really did not like the way the pumpkin smelled inside!

We also made a fun pumpkin craft using contact paper and tissue paper.  Students pressed squares of orange tissue paper to a piece of sticky contact paper to make a cute pumpkin display for the hallway.

 

We also did our first cooking project of the year this week!  Students made rice crispy treat pumpkins by first counting out 25 mini marshmallows, then adding 1 square of butter and melting it in the microwave.  They then mixed in 1/2 cup of rice crispies and attempted to make a ball with the mixture.  After they made a ball, students were able to use green frosting and gum drop to make the stem and vine.  

The best part of cooking activities - eating what we make!  Cooking projects require students to use their math skills, follow directions, and helps them develop positive self-esteem (I did it!). 

We also worked on our counting skills this week by constructing sets of pumpkins to match a desired number.  Students placed the correct number of little plastic pumpkins on each printed pumpkin on the mat.  This is still a very tricky skill for many students - keep practicing :)

 

We also read several stories about scarecrows this week, including The Little Scarecrow Boy and The Falling Leaves and the Scarecrow.  To tie in with these stories, we made our own scarecrows!  We practiced following directions, as well as our cutting and gluing skills.  They turned out beautifully!

More cutting and gluing practice was had when we made jack-o-lanterns.  Students were provided a black piece of construction paper and an orange piece of paper and instructed to make any kind of jack-o-lantern they wanted.  The results were priceless :)

Finally, we ended the week with a warm day.  It was quite the treat to go out to play without putting our coats on first!  Sadly enough, I think this was the last time that will happen until Spring. 

We also spent a lot of time this week getting ready for conferences.  I really appreciate all of our families taking the time to meet with me and discuss your child's progress.   It really is a pleasure to have each and every one of them in class!