Pumpkin, Pumpkin perfect literacy and activity pairing

Hi teacher friends,

Let me introduce you to Katy Miller, a PreK-4 and special education here at Grove City College. She created an engaging lessons for student that related to the pumpkin life cycle. Enjoy!

I had the privilege of teaching at a local elementary school for a field placement over fall break. I wanted to incorporate the fall theme, so I decided to read the book Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington. The students really enjoyed reading the book! My goal for the lesson was to have them learn about the life cycle of a pumpkin.

To begin the lesson, the students talked about their favorite activities to do in the fall. All of them were excited about carving pumpkins. This was a favorite activity for them and it is one of my favorites too! I then read the book and had the students fill in the words with me. We talked about the pumpkin life cycle and then made the cycle out of play dough.

The students and I were “pumpkin inspectors” and had to figure out all the steps to grow a pumpkin. After the lesson was completed, I told the students we would have a special treat after lunch. I had the students make graham cracker pumpkins with orange icing and then turn them into Jack-O-Lanterns using candy corn. My favorite part of the lesson was when I was reading and the student helped me finish the sentences. I would point to the word “seed” and the student would read “seed”. I then had the student point to the seed on the page. He loved finding the different parts of the pumpkin.

A teacher moment I experienced during this lesson was to go at the students’ pace. I was teaching in an Autistic support room and the one student did not want to do anything. However, with help from the classroom teacher, I was able to get the other student involved and this made the hesitant student want to participate.

What a great way to get students engaged in learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin and integrating literacy too!

Now what? Comment and share your perfect literacy and activity pairings below!

Remember friends, you have the EduMagic in YOU!