Have You Ever Seen A Pumpkin?

Have you ever seen a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin?

Have you ever seen a pumpkin that grows on a vine?

A round one, a tall one.

A fat one, a small one.

Have you ever seen a pumpkin that grows on a vine?

I've seen this poem in so many places online and in so many pumpkin units and my children love it!  We sing it to the tune of "Have you ever seen a Lassie?" 

This pumpkin unit crossed over from Science to English/Language Arts to Social Studies to Math. There was so much learning taking place! I did my best to catch it all on camera for you to see!

One math center planned and taught by Mrs. Miskelly, our intern from Winthrop, challenged the children to put each pumpkin in order by size.  Then, they had to order the pumpkins based on how much each pumpkin weighed. 

Mrs. Claire, one of our wonderful parent volunteers, got to experiment with the children during center time.  We set her up with a big tub of water and the children predicted and then tested if pumpkins sink or float and if the size of each one mattered. 

Also during center time, the children created and painted pumpkins from brown paper bags!

The children also got to read and illustrate the pumpkin poem at the top of this post.

Mrs. Misenheimer and Austin enjoy the poem together! 

Audrey and Kailyn draw their pumpkins on a vine.



Mrs. Miskelly put out some pumpkin seeds and measurement tools at another math center one day.  The children counted them and compared the amount each measuring cup would hold. 

How's all that for learning about Pumpkins? 

And that's just the beginning--there is MORE to come!

Five Senses

Five Senses Song

to the tune of "Where is Thumbkin"



Five Senses, Five Senses

We have them, We have them

Seeing, Hearing Touching

Tasting and Smelling

There are five, There are five

What a fun science unit to kick off the year with, and it's probably one of my favorite science units that I'll teach in kindergarten.  Much like any other unit, it's very exploratory and hands on.  But, what makes me smile the most is seeing the children rely on just one sense at a time--and then realizing how very valuable they all are and just how much they work together. 

I've collected quite a few GREAT books over the years to go along with this unit as well.  Here are just a few of my favorites.

Each day we talked about a different sense and then explored various items relying solely on that sense.  We played "Eye Spy" when talking about sight.  Then, brown paper bags where filled with items such as popcorn, peanut butter, and peppermint to smell; a napkin, a marker, and a puppet to feel.

Smelling

Feeling

At the art center, the children painted the body part we use for the sense we explored that day. 

 Painting eyes

Painting noses



Painting hands



I added another center to the rug area this week.  It is a Five Senses Picture Sort I purchased from Lakeshore. 

For shared reading I gave the children each a copy of the Five Senses Poem to read and practice.  They illustrated around it. 

Let me go ahead and apologize if you now can't get the tune of "Where Is Thumbkin" out of your head--I've had it in my head all week!