This week the kindergarteners learned all about pumpkins. We started with learning about their life cycle all the way from a seed to a big pumpkin. Next, it was time to look inside a pumpkin, but before we could do that we had to do a little measuring and guessing. We made some predictions about what our pumpkin would look like inside and how many seeds it might have. Finally, it was time to cut it open and clean it out. As we cleaned it, we had to separate the seeds so we could count. Our pumpkins had between 325 and 550 seeds. After counting all of the seeds, we got to roast and eat them as a special treat. Next we turned our pumpkins into little volcanoes with baking soda and vinegar. We also talked about Jack-o-lanterns. After drawing a picture of a jack-o-lantern, we wrote descriptive words about it. Finally to end our pumpkin unit, we made pumpkin pie pudding. We combined vanilla pudding, pumpkin pie filling, pumpkin spices, whipped topping, and vanilla wafers. Mmmm!
Monday:
Reading:
Reviewed our letters and letters sounds - Sang our Better Alphabet Song
Phonological Awareness Warmups
Introduced to the letter Ww - Completed a letter Ww worksheet
Created list of words that begin with the /W/- identified word with the beginning sounds, number of syllables, broke word apart and identified corresponding letter sounds
Listened to the story Pumpkins
Colorful pumpkins worksheet
Math:
Calendar Binder
Number Talk
Collected data from our pumpkin after making some predictions
How many lines does your pumpkin have?
How tall is your pumpkin? (using cubes)
How wide is your pumpkin? (using links)
Will your pumpkin sink or float?
How many seeds are in your pumpkin?
Cleaned out our pumpkins and sorted the seeds
Pumpkin number puzzle worksheet
Religion:
Completed our Gospel Weekly - This week we talked about being part of a group, belonging, and baptism.
Tuesday:
Reading:
Reviewed our letters and letters sounds - Sang our Better Alphabet Song
Phonological Awareness Warmups
Introduced to the letter Xx - Completed a letter Xx worksheet
Created list of words that contain an /x/
Explored different kinds of life cycles
Listened to the story, Fall Pumpkin Fun
Introduced to the words a & an
Read through our emergent reader, The Life Cycle of a Pumpkin
Math:
Calendar Binder
Number Talk
Listened to the story How Many Seed in a Pumpkin?
Counted all of the seeds we found in our pumpkin
Religion:
Watched the video Brother Francis: The Saints, Our Heavenly Friends.
Started the conversation about All Saints Day
Wednesday:
Reading:
Reviewed our letters and letters sounds - Sang our Better Alphabet Song
Phonological Awareness Warmups
Introduced to the letter Vv - Completed a letter Vv worksheet
Created list of words that begin with the /v/
Listened to the story, Pumpkins
Reviewed the life cycle of a pumpkin
Roasted pumpkin seeds and ate them for snack. We tried 2 different flavors, salt & cinnamon and sugar.
Listened to the story, How Big Could your Pumpkin Grow? As we listened, we tried to identify all of the describing words.
Drew a picture of a Jack 0’Lantern and wrote 2 describing words
Math:
Calendar Binder
Number Talk
Played Top-It with Dot Cards
Religion:
Continued our talk about emotions. After looking at a picture, we had to determine who the how the person was feeling and make up a story about why they might be feeling that way. We also talked about how we should talk to God about how we are feeling because he already knows and cares about us.
Thursday:
Reading:
Reviewed our letters and letters sounds - Sang our Better Alphabet Song
Phonological Awareness Warmups
Introduced to the letter Jj - Completed a letter Jj worksheet
Created list of words that begin with the /j/- identified word with the beginning sounds, number of syllables, broke word apart and identified corresponding letter sounds
Listened to the story, Pumpkins
Reviewed the life cycle of a pumpkin then put it in order on our worksheet
Created volcanoes in our pumpkins by adding vinegar to baking soda
Math:
Calendar Binder
Number Talk
Built a number board
Religion:
Talked about St. Pope John Paul II. His feast day is Oct. 22nd. We watched a short video about his life and colored his picture in our saint book.
Friday:
Reading:
Reviewed our letters and letters sounds - Sang our Better Alphabet Song
Phonological Awareness Warmups
Introduced to the letter Ququ - Completed a letter Qq worksheet
Created list of words that begin with the /q/- identified word with the beginning sounds, number of syllables, broke word apart and identified corresponding letter sounds
Listened to the story, Grow a Pumpkin Pie
Made Pumpkin Pie Pudding - As we made our snack, we needed to use a can opener. We talked about how it uses gears to make it go around.
Wrote about our Halloween costumes and draw a matching picture - We turned it into a new class book.
Math:
Calendar Binder
Number Talk
Explored triangles. After describing them, we went on a hunt in magazines to find triangles.
Religion:
All School Prayer Service