F is for FRIDAY! - Pumpkin Life cycle too--

I just LOVE Fridays (even more when it's a payday- sadly today is not). I can drag through the week and think I will never make it to Friday.. but when Friday morning comes I am blessed with a second wind to get through the day. I tell my class that it is fun Friday (but if you compared Friday to another day of the week they'd look similar). Fun Friday seems to help us all start out the weekend with a renewed energy. I do save movies, fun crafts, and new decodable readers for Friday whenever possible. My Friday morning starts out with an iced coffee (decaf since I am pregnant) from Dunkin Donuts that I ONLY drink on Friday (to save money). I have a wonderful husband that actually gets up earlier on Friday mornings to get coffee (he has one too!) and bring it home while I hustle a 4 1/2 year old through the morning routine. My Friday usually ends snuggled on the couch with the same 4 1/2 year old, popcorn, apple juice, and a movie. To me, Friday feels like the day before summer vacation or spring break! I am so happy that it comes once a week!

This Friday we learned about the Life cycle of the Pumpkin. We watched this short clip on teacher tube, read this book, and completed this activity.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

P is for Pumpkin Play Dough

This weekend Amelia and I made pumpkin play dough. I was hesitant at first because I remember homemade play dough in my preschool class when I was 4. It was smelly and gritty. And, because homemade play dough is requires cooking.. and I am not the best cook. But, I need some creative and fun ways to keep my kindys busy this week... 1-because it is the week before Halloween and 2- I need to finish up assessment for report cards! We made 3 batches, 1 for home, 1 for my class, and 1 for Amelia's class. I am sure my kindy kids will have lots of fun playing with this very yummy pumpkin spice scented play dough. I got the recipe here-- but there are tons online. I am going to trying glitter in the winter holiday batch!

P is for Pumpkin Day!

Today was our class Pumpkin Day! Thank you to all of the Mom's that volunteered. I couldn't have done it without you! I hope you had as much fun as we did!

We had 4 activities:

Pumpkin Data
Children used cubes and measuring tape to measure their pumpkins. Predicted and explored how many ribs and how much their pumpkins weigh, and explored the inside of their pumpkin. They also measured themselves in pumpkins!

Taste Test

First we read Grow A Pumpkin Pie!
and then we tasted a pumpkin cookie, pumpkin pie, and a pumpkin lollipop. We graphed our favorites and explored mini pumpkins and read Halloween books while we waited to switch activities.

Pumpkin Life cycle

We read From Seed to Pumpkin and then made a pop up pumpkin life cycle. I found the activity here.

Pumpkin Parts Brace Map

We read Pumpkin Pumpkin and then cut, glued, and labeled the parts of the pumpkin to make a brace map. I got the idea here. I really like Thinking Maps. I am going to work on incorporating them more in my lessons.

Then... after math.. after all of the volunteers went home... We carved the PUMPKINS! The kids were great scooper's and watched patiently while I cut out the Jack-o-lanterns. We put mini lights in them, and I let 3 students at a time go into the bathroom and close the door to see our Jack-o-Lanterns light up in the dark. After a very busy morning and a very wild afternoon, Mrs. Dillon (our principal) ended up being our health teacher! Thankfully, I got a good report when I picked them up! :) Have a great weekend!

Pumpkin data collection

View more documents from LuanneVirginiaLewis.