How do pumpkins grow?: Book project

Pre-activities

• Read stories about pumpkins.
• Discuss the life cycle of a pumpkin.
• Discuss vocabulary (seeds, soil, sprouts, leaves, and flowers).
• Dramatize the growth of a seed. Students start in a curled up position and gradually uncurl and stretch to “grow” as “sun and rain” are added.

Activities

1. Early in the day, have each student paint “soil” across the bottom section of the 6×36 inch strip of light blue construction paper. Allow drying time.
2. Hand out the sheet with text for book and practice reading the copy.
3. Read first strip of text. Cut the first strip and paste it on the first page of book. Paste seed in “soil”. Discuss the spelling of the word “seed”. Label the seed.
4. Guide students through the next five pages:
• Page 2: paste seed in soil, draw and label sprout.
• Page 3: draw and label green leaves.
• Page 4: draw green leaves, make yellow flowers by scrunching small squares of yellow tissue, label yellow flowers.
• Page 5: draw green leaves, draw small green pumpkins, cut out, paste and label.
• Page 6: draw big orange pumpkins, paste and label. Add green leaves.
5. Cut out two orange construction paper pumpkins for each student. Paste on a green construction paper leaf and ribbon curl.
6. Write the title of book “How Do Pumpkins Grow?” on each book along with each student’s name.
7. Practice reading books.

Assessment

Listen to each student read his/her book.

Ask each student to explain how pumpkins grow. Check order of stages of growth.

Supplemental information

Text for How Do Pumpkins Grow? book:

• Plant the pumpkin seed in the soil.
• The rain and the sun make the seed sprout.
• Soon the sprout grows into a plant with green leaves.
• Then yellow flowers grow on the plant.
• Next small, green pumpkins begin to grow.
• Finally, there are big, orange pumpkins.