The topic I have chosen for this unit is pumpkins. I created this original unit which would target the primary grade levels. This unit was written in a way that it could be adapted to include a variety of age levels, abilities, and learning styles.
Unit Goals and Objectives
Students will:
1. Compare and categorize living and non-living things.
2. Recognize and identify the parts and functions of a pumpkin.
3. Chart, graph, or diagram the life cycle of a pumpkin.
4. Create class bar graph charts from student lead questions.
5. Express learning through music and poems.
6. Act in a dramatization during a Reader’s Theatre using a fictional story.
7. Record and communicate observations of pumpkins in drawings and words.
8. Cooperate in group settings and share their ideas freely.
9. Students will be able to retell events that took place in a story using visual aids.
10. Learn about pumpkins through the use of webquests and other internet resources.
Unit Guiding Questions
1. What do pumpkins need to grow and change?
2. How are pumpkins alike and different?
3. How did pumpkins originate?
4. What is a pumpkin?
5. What are the different parts of a pumpkin?
6. What are the functions of each part of the pumpkin?
7. Can you compare a pumpkin to another plant you are familiar with?
8. Can you write a pumpkin story using vocabulary words? (Examples: roots, stem, vine, variety, ripe)
9. Can you sequence the life cycle of a pumpkin through writing or an illustration?
10. Can you interpret the data, which was collected from the class, and put it into a bar graph?
11. Can you identify on a map where the largest pumpkin patch in the United States, is located?
Organization, Time Frame, and Instructional Strategies
The pumpkin unit will take approximately three weeks. It will cover both fiction and non fiction literature in order to teach four main points; pumpkins are living things, pumpkins have different parts, pumpkins grow/change, and the growth of a pumpkin can be depicted in a life cycle.
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
Create a T-chart of the characteristics of living and non living things. -Students will understand that living things move, grow, and change -Living things need air, water, space, and food to stay alive. | Students will sort pictures of living and non living objects. | Using a KWL chart I will assess student’s prior knowledge about what they already know about pumpkins and what they would like to learn about pumpkins during our unit. At the conclusion of the unit we will fill out the remaining column of our chart to assess what the students have learned during the cross curricular, three week unit. | Pumpkins have five parts (roots, stem, leaves, and flowers) During shared reading, I will read It’s Pumpkin Time by Zoe to help the students attach some of the units new vocabulary to the corresponding picture of a pumpkin part | The student will understand that each new pumpkin part has a job to do. Students will watch a YouTube video demonstrating that each pumpkin part has a function. The students will draw a picture of a pumpkin which includes all five parts. They will then be asked to match the riddle with the corresponding part. This will assess the student’s knowledge of the pumpkin plant functions. |
Week 1
Week 2
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
As a class, we will read The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons. After reading the book, we will add five pumpkin facts to our KWL chart as a class. | During shared reading, the teacher will share the book Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman. This book does a wonderful job of illustrating to the students the lifecycle of a pumpkin and what a pumpkin needs to survive. I will also have the students use the story to work on their sequencing skills as they use puppets to retell the events of the story. | During shared reading, the class will read Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington. Using the picture cards and lifecycle graphic organizer the students will sequence the lifecycle of a pumpkin and understand that it is a continuous process. | Heterogeneous groups of students will read the story The Stubborn Pumpkin by Laura Geringer. The students will have a discussion on how this book is similar to Big Pumpkin and then be asked to share the story with another first grade class as a Reader’s Theatre. | The teacher will share the story The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz. At the conclusion of the story I will have the students write a cinquain poem to demonstrate what they have learned about pumpkins thus far (see provided example). |
Week 3
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
The students will complete a pumpkin glyph activity. The glyph will help the students recognize their personal similarities and differences. I will be able to incorporate this to pumpkins by discussing the different varieties that are available and refer them back to The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons. | To help accommodate the variety of learning styles in my classroom today I will share pumpkin songs and poems to be placed in their poetry notebooks. | The students will take a field trip to a local pumpkin patch and have the opportunity to select their own pumpkin. | The students will be asked to fill out a diagram and observe the pumpkin using their five senses. Using the pumpkins that the students picked at the pumpkin patch, we will use the internet to find out other areas of the world where pumpkins are grown. They will then make a pumpkin globe out of their pumpkins. | The students will be able to enjoy eating pumpkin seeds and other products that derive from pumpkins. Conclude the unit by completing the “What have you learned” portion of the KWL chart. |
Instructional Strategies
·
· Group Presentation
· Large Group Discussion
·
· T-Chart
· K-W-L
· Webquests
· Internet
· Assorted Worksheets/Activities (see the following handouts)
Unit Research
1. Seed- a seed is a part of a plant that can grow into a new plant. A seed grows into the same kind of plant that it came from.
2. Root- The part of a plant that attaches it to the ground or to a support, conveying water and nourishment to the rest of the plant.
3. Stem- the stem carries things a plant needs to all the plant’s parts. It carries water from the roots to the leaves. It carries food from the leaves to the roots and the rest of the plant. A stem also holds up the plant.
4. Leaves- A flattened structure of a higher plant, typically green and bladelike, that is attached to a stem directly or via a stalk.
5. Vine- A weak-stemmed plant that derives its support from climbing, twining, or creeping along a surface.
6. Flower- The reproductive structure of some seed-bearing plants, characteristically having either specialized male or female organs or both male and female organs, such as stamens and a pistil, enclosed in an outer envelope of petals and sepals.
7. Pulp- A soft, wet, shapeless mass of material.
8. Variety- A number or range of things of the same general class that are different or distinct in character or quality
9. Ripe- Developed to the point of readiness for harvesting and eating.
10. Pumpkin- A large rounded orange-yellow fruit with a thick rind, edible flesh, and many seeds.
11. Sprout- a shoot of a plant.
12. Living things- things that grow, change, and make other living things like themselves.
13. Non-living things- things that do not grow, eat, drink, or make more things like themselves.
Teacher Instructional Materials and Resources
How to Grow a Pumpkin
Pumpkin Patch Information
Pumpkin Unit Ideas
All About Pumpkins
Magazine
The Mailbox: Idea Magazine For Teachers
Grade 1: October/November 2011
Title | Author | ISBN |
I Can Make It! I Can Read It! | Nancy Anderson, Linda Morgason, and Jan Robbins | 1562343912 |
Reading, Language and Math, Activities for Fall | Mary Rosenberg | 1420638882 |
Organize October Now! Grades K-1 | Sharon Murphy | 1562346717 |
Science | Lucy H. Daniel, Jay Hackett, Richard H. Moyer, JoAnne Vasquez | |
The Vanishing Pumpkin | Tony Johnson | 043922618X |
Related Children's Books
Title | Author | ISBN |
Pumpkin Pumpkin | Jeanne Titherington | 0688099300 |
From Seed to Pumpkin | Wendy Pfeffer | 0064451909 |
It’s Pumpkin Time! | Zoe Hall | 0590558498 |
The Pumpkin Patch | Margaret McNamara | 0689858744 |
Pumpkins! | Natalie Whitney | 039574301X |
The Stubborn Pumpkin | Laura Geringer | 0590108506 |
Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins | Dianne Ochiltree | 06898509055 |
Too Many Pumpkins | Linda White | 0823413201 |
The Pumpkin Book | Gail Gibbons | 0439439749 |
The Ugly Pumpkin | Dave Horowitz | 0142411450 |
The Runaway Pumpkin | Kevin Lewis | 0439439749 |
The Biggest Pumpkin Ever | Steven Kroll | 059046435 |
Pumpkin Soup | Helen Cooper | 0374460310 |
Big Pumpkin | Erica Silverman | 0590477609 |
The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin | Joe Troiano | B0020X6YEW |
The Vanishing Pumpkin | Tony Johnston | 0698114140 |
Assessment
Task: The students demonstrate an understanding of the stages of a plant’s life cycle and its parts.
Procedure: The student draws and labels the six stages of a pumpkin’s life cycle.
Assessment Rubric
Name: _____________________ Date: __________
Criteria | Exceeds (3) | Meets (2) | Needs More Time/Help (1) |
Knowledge | Identifies all six stages of the pumpkin life cycle correctly | Identifies four stages of the pumpkin life cycle correctly. | Gives three stages in random order or less than three stages in the correct order |
Organization | Detailed plant diagrams show visible parts of the pumpkin and six stages of growth in the correct order. | Pumpkin pictures show visible parts of plant and four stages of growth in the correct order. | Pumpkin pictures are drawn but lack detail and are in no particular order. |
Quality | Neat and all stages are labeled. | Neat and some stages are labeled. | Plants are drawn but with no labels. |
Scoring | 9 points | 6-8 points | 0-5 points |
Comments:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Total Points: ____ E: 9 Points M: 6-8 Points
Grade: ____ N: 0-5 Points
Field Trip
On Wednesday, October 19th, Ms. McKisick’s class will be traveling to the nearby, Pride of the Wapsi Pumpkin Patch. As we are nearing the end of our unit, students will finally be given the opportunity to view the pumpkin, which we have learned so much about, in it’s natural environment. For the first time, students will be able to use all five of their senses to explore the geographic location in which a pumpkin grows, the different parts of a pumpkin, as well as pick their own pumpkin to bring back to the classroom for future activities.
The bus will leave our school at 9:00A.M. and it is scheduled to return to school by 2:30P.M. It is requested that students pack a sack lunch and a beverage of their choice, unless their parent/guardian is traveling with us and plans on purchasing food at the snack shop. The cost of this field trip is $12.00 per student. This cost includes transportation, entry to the pumpkin patch, as well as a pumpkin for each student. Students must return permission slips by Monday, October 17th. They can be given to either Ms. McKissick or the school secretary, Mrs. Hart.
Looking forward to a fun filled day!
Ms. McKissick
“Purely Pumpkin Day”
On Friday, October 21st, our class will be celebrating the end of our pumpkin unit! To bring an end to this unit we will be having a Purely Pumpkin Day. We will be inviting the other first grade classrooms as well as parents and grandparents to help us celebrate! The celebration will take place in the school gym as we will need plenty of room for all of our guests and activities. Our class will be putting on a Reader’s Theatre, sharing student written cinquain poems, and singing recently learned pumpkin songs and other poems.
The pumpkin food and beverages that will be available to students and guests during our Pumpkin Pumpkin Day will be either baked or bought by parent volunteers. I have previously requested the parent’s help in celebrating the completion of our unit in a letter that went home with the students several weeks ago. There will be no charge to attend this celebration; all we ask is that you bring your fall spirit and an appetite!
Cross Curricular Connections
· Geography- students will identify on a map of the United States where the largest pumpkin patch is located.
· Sociology- the students understood the similarity and differences of the class by looking at the different pumpkin glyphs that were created.
· History- students will be introduced to the origin of pumpkins and how they came to be through the “Three Sisters” legend.
· Anthropology- students will understand how pumpkins have come to play a major role in how pumpkins have come to play a major role in the fall season.
· Political Science- students will learn the impact of agriculture and crops on the Midwest. They can look at different regions to see how much pumpkins cost in different areas of the United States.
· Economics- students will be taught that they have to pay for pumpkins and how much it would cost to purchase pumpkins for the entire class.
· Listening- students will be given the opportunity to listen to audio tapes or CD’s in a listening center during work station time.
· Speaking- students will perform a Reader’s Theatre in front of a live audience as well as recite songs and written poems.
· Reading- students will be exposed to a variety of literature on pumpkins at various levels.
· Writing- students will write a non fiction book based off of the information they have learned throughout this unit.
· Viewing- students will have the opportunity to view flip charts from Promethean Planet and YouTube.
· Visually Representing- students had to complete the lifecycle in
· Math- students will complete a pumpkin math packet that asks students to complete story problems about pumpkins.
· Science- students can describe the function of each part of a pumpkin and sequence the lifecycle.
· Art- during the assessment students were asked to draw and label the parts of a pumpkin as well as list what they need to survive.
· Music- the students will learn new songs and poems about pumpkins that are taught in a rhythmic and rhyming manner.
· P.E. - students will play a modified game of tag where a farmer (a chosen student) tries to pick the pumpkins (the remaining students) out of the “pumpkin patch”.
· Health- students will learn the nutritional placement of a pumpkin as they are fruits and not vegetables.
Letter to Parents
Dear Parents,
The month of October will be an exciting time in our first grade class! We will be learning about pumpkins using both fiction and non fiction texts. The students will be exposed to a variety of activities as I will implement this unit across the curriculum.
My main objectives for the unit are for students to learn that pumpkins are living things that grow and change, pumpkins have parts which have specific functions, and pumpkins develop through a ongoing lifecycle. On October 19th, the students will have the opportunity to visit the Pride of the Wapsi Pumpkin Patch! This trip will give them the opportunity to observe pumpkins in their natural environment. The PTO will be funding this trip so there will be no additional costs to you or your family. Please feel free to mark this date on your calendar as we would love to have several parent chaperones. We would also like to invite parents to our Purely Pumpkin Day on October 21st at 2:30pm. Our class will be performing a Reader’s Theatre, cinquain poems, as well as songs and other student written poems. I am in need of parent volunteers to bake/buy items that are made from pumpkins to help end our celebration. Looking forward to a fun filled October!
Sincerely,
Ms. McKissick
563-468-8643
Individualized Unit Options
Students will get the option of choosing what activities they would like to complete during this unit. They must do a total of three activities, one from each category; visual, written, and kinesthetic. Some of the activities suggested require the students to work in pairs, while others require class participation or solo performance. Students are encouraged to pick activities based off of what best suits their individual learning style. This list of activities was developed so that each student could find at least one activity that they would enjoy participating in. Additional information on tasks will be given as the unit progresses or by student request.
Visual | Written | Kinesthetic |
Students will chart the lifecycle of a pumpkin after reading the book Pumpkin Pumpkin. | Students will write and share a cinquain poem using the information they have learned about pumpkins throughout this unit. | Students will participate in a Reader’s Theatre over the book Stubborn Pumpkin. |
Students will draw and or paint a picture of a pumpkin and label its parts. | Students will keep a journal of the new pumpkin vocabulary words that they have learned. | Students will sing and recite pumpkin poems and songs that were previous learned at various points throughout the unit. |
Students will make a diorama of the pumpkin patch the class visited on our field trip. | Students will complete an activity booklet on how to grow a pumpkin. | Students will cook a recipe using parts of a pumpkin. |
