Pumpkin Day!

Hi there!  

It's Andi's sister, Auntie Jill, to share about Pumpkin Day!

Do you do "Pumpkin Day"?  So many versions and variety of fun.  

I have had some sort of Pumpkin day since I started teaching in 199hmm, .... scary.

BUT this year is the FIRST TIME EVER that I had my chart done BEFORE the day of :)

Pitiful, I know.  I do get the tubs and supplies ready, but that chart is always last on my list.  And, Ironically, it's my favorite part - sharing!

Over the years I have added and molded activities, 
but here's a quick run down of our morning for this year (we are doing this on Monday the 28th).
I group 3-4 students per parent (depending on who signs up) and say "Good Luck"
OK, no, I give them SPECIFIC instructions.  They are to follow them step by step 
(and not go too fast or else you are stuck with these kids until lunch)

  The kit comes with supplies to investigate the pumpkin.  Each group leader gets a big book and students get their own copy.  The discuss shape and colors found on the pumpkin. They make predictions and then record observations of the number of ridges, circumference and weight of the pumpkin.  I encourage the parents to weigh and measure the kids too and use language such as bigger/smaller, more/fewer, "you weigh the same as 5 pumpkins", "how close was your estimate?" ...

  
Then, we get to the good stuff of scooping out the pumpkin guts and counting seeds. Each year I'm amazed that I teach adults to angle cut and make a notch for the lid. ??
I love to walk around and cut off some pumpkin flesh to taste.  I find my brave few who will take a taste with me.  It doesn't taste bad and I love their little squishy faces!

Then the counting seeds where I get to learn who has endurance.  
I have them make piles of 10 on a paper grid.  They get tired after 200!
(This when I see which parents keep counting and who hide extra seeds! It's true!)

I have them talk about shapes and the students design the jack-o-lantern face.  The parents then help the kids carve out the face.  They love this part.  Sometimes the parents have to go hand over hand, but they love feeling big and helping out.  Each year when the supplies go on clearance, I get more for the following year.  The scoopers are sturdy, but the blades bend and break fairly easy.

As they finish up, Each group records their results on our class graph.  While they take turns, each group also has a copy of my favorite book - Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jean Titherington to read.  Each child then also saves 6 seeds and make a little paper pumpkin with poem to share at home with their families.

So after, I pawn off some seeds to the moms to who have the yummiest recipe for roasting, we read through our chart and compare the results.

Fun morning for all. Mmmmm, I hope they remember the nutmeg!

So, what so do you do for your "Pumpkin Day"?

And, yes, the cutest, little Pumpkin has arrived... 

but I will let Andi tell you about that.

Stay tuned :)

The Length of the Links

Hey y'all! Another busy week is almost over. {Hooray, Hooray!}

And by the looks of the TPT sellers that I follow, Dr. Seuss day is almost upon us. There are so many Dr. Seuss products to choose from {and everything looks great!} I think there is enough material to keep Dr. Seuss going throughout the entire month of March!

For me? I'll be happy if my littles can focus long enough to make it through March 2. I'm not going to say that my 8 boys are wearing me pretty thin but they ARE! 

Anywho, I don't usually get to share much math-wise because I am bound to our pacing guide/math series, but I did sneak in a neat activity the other day. My wonderful neighbor {who's retiring this year, boo hoo} shared this activity with me and she can't remember where she got it from. So, if you know. Let me know, 'kay?  Thanks!

This is a measurement activity on length (and some critical thinking is involved, too.)

Materials: 

1) One sheet of construction paper - 12 by 18 inches, per pair of students

2) scissors

3) glue

Instructions:

The pairs are supposed to work together, devise a plan, and create the longest chain out of ONE piece of construction paper.

I showed them how to make a chain. Answered any lingering questions. Then, spread the pairs out around the room, and let them get to work.

When they were all done with their chains. We went outside to measure them. While we were outside, they helped me measure their chains and they were required to complete the activity sheet to record their findings.

Here's the activity sheet you can use if you'd like:

The Chain Gang Activity Sheet

The kids really liked to see each other's chains and they had a good discussion about the strategies they used. Also, we graphed the results of the lengths and the number of links. 

They learned that it didn't matter how many links they had, but how long they made them. Some kids thought that several small links would make their chain longer. They were a bit sad to find out they were wrong, but I did show them that their chains were stronger then the longest chains. Smiles again! {phew}

Two groups had really long chains but the girl group mistakenly had two of their links connected to nothing so their chain was slightly smaller than the boy group. Drat! I wanted those girls to show my haughty boys up. Oh well. They did learned their lesson.

Mya said, "Ms. Monroe! You always tell us to check our work and we forgot!"

I had to smile at that. :)

On a side note, I think I'm reading too many Junie B. books. 

I may be talking like her, now. Yikes!

If you decide to do this activity, please let me know how it turns out.

I'd love to hear from you!

Rooster's Off to See the World

One of my most favorite math lessons uses this wonderful Eric Carle book, Rooster's Off to See the World. I love these lessons because they are easy, use very few materials, incorporates literature, and they are F-U-N!

Materials: 

Book - Rooster's Off to See the World By: Eric Carle

white drawing paper (one per kid for each day)

crayons, pencils, or markers

*This is a 2 day lesson.

Day 1:

You will see how well your students can make growing patterns. Read aloud the first half of the book and when the rooster meets up with the five fish {to go see the world} you stop reading any further. 

Ask your kids to predict {in their heads, not to share yet} what they think will happen next. I usually like to reread the first half again just in case someone wasn't listening. Then, I send them off to their seats so they can draw, write numbers or words about what they think will happen next in the story. After you've given them about 10-15 minutes to work on their papers bring them back together and share everyone's predictions.

This is a great way to see if your kids can count, predict, explain, and some might even express higher order thinking. One year, I used a students work to show his giftedness! {It was such a cool answer!!}

Day 2:

Review some students responses from the day before {real quick} and then reread the book. PAUSE where you had stopped reading on Day 1 {for dramatic effect} and then read the rest of the book. The kids will be surprised to find that after the 5 fish join the group, the crew finds out that they are scared, homesick, or hungry and decides to go home. Typically no one will have predicted that, so it is a big shocker!!

After you have read the story and discussed the sequence of events, you will ask the students if they can recall how many animals TOTAL went on the trip {in their heads, not to share yet.} You may want to reread the story again before you send them off to work. Remind them that they can find their answer using pictures, numbers or words. Send them off to their desks to work on their papers. Give them about 10-15 minutes then meet together to share our answers.

This is a great Number Sense assessment. You can see if your students can: use a variety of methods to represent information about a series of groups, can they combine several quantities accurately, and what strategies do they use to solve their problem.

Here are some student examples:

Note: This is NOT an original idea. It is out of our old Investigations series, but I love it so...

If you have the book, spend a few days on something fun for your firsties!

Geometry Fun

Don't you just love Jerry Pallotta's Math Books?

Well, I do and so do my kids. I can never find my books when I need them because they are living in someone's book basket.

Also, aren't Bendaroos pretty cool?

Making words is a lot more enjoyable when you can use Bendaroos!

Now, when you can use Bendaroos with a Jerry Pallotta math book, be prepared for some fun!

We will begin learning about Geometry this week, and I can't wait!  Our new math series has the kiddos adding and subtracting with regrouping and it is has been torture for some of them. We have our third benchmark test (on the computer no less) this Tuesday and there are 4 questions with regrouping on it. I will be so happy to teach something different!

As a fun way to hook them into Geometry, I'll use this book and the kids will make the shapes using the Bendaroos.

While they are making the shapes, they will use this Shape Book to guide them along.

https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B50IAhu4PvmBYWY3ZGYyNjUtNDIzMy00ZWRhLTllNWEtMjkyYmI3M2Y5NzBj&export=download&hl=en
Also, I use this PowerPoint at the beginning of our Geometry Unit. [click here] It is a little long, but I have found that the kids really get a lot out of it. Enjoy!