1-2-3 Come Do Some Pumpkin Shape Activities With Me
Do you read the story “Spookley The Square Pumpkin”, by Joe Troiano? This cute book has a message of tolerance, acceptance and being kind, which is so important in today’s diversified classrooms.
It’s also a great read if your class follows a “bucket filling” program. I use it to practice 2D shapes as well.
With these things in mind, I designed this “shapely pumpkin packet” which includes an emergent reader booklet featuring words from the Dolch lists, with a full page option teacher's can share, as well as a 2-on-a-page pattern for your students.
Students read, trace, write and color, as well as draw the 2D shapes: circle, oval, rectangle, square, triangle, & hexagon. They also underline the capital letters and include the end punctuation.
There’s also a quick, easy and super-fun "shapely pumpkin" craftivity.
If your school's not into Halloween, but a harvest theme, students pick a shape and make a plain, pumpkin in a pumpkin patch.
Older students can write the name of the shape on the front of their pumpkin and a list of attributes on the back.
My school celebrates Halloween, so we opt for a Jack-O-Lantern "shapely pumpkin".
I've included the blank patterns mentioned above, where students can draw on their own face, plus there's a set with facial features on each pumpkin shape that match the shape of their pumpkin. (Check out the photographs.)
Besides the standard shapes listed above, I’ve also included patterns to make a pentagon, octagon, trapezoid, rhombus, heart and star pumpkin too.
For some extra 3D pizzazz, have students strengthen those finger muscles by wrapping a green pipe cleaner around a pencil to create a vine, which they attach to the top of the back of their pumpkin using a piece of tape.
Completed projects make an adorable, pumpkin patch bulletin board. Use the 3 posters for the center of your display, and the "pumpkin patch" sign for the side.
Afterwards, use the graphing extension to see which pumpkin shape was your students' favorite.
For further reinforcement, there’s a set of colorful pumpkin cards, which feature all of the 12, 2D shapes listed.
Use as a center for an independent sorting activity. You can also make an extra set; cut the cards in half to make puzzles.
The matching pocket chart cards could also be cut in half. (These cards are on the cover photo.)
There are shape word cards for a Memory Match game as well. Children can match picture to word, or picture to picture.
You can use these for an “I Have; Who Has?” game too. “I have the circle shaped pumpkin card. Who has the circle word card?”
The packet also includes several writing prompts based on "Spookley", as well as 2 Venn diagrams, plus several bookmarks.
Because "Spookley The Square Pumpkin" is a rhyming story, I've also included a “Rhyme Time” activity, where students think of words that rhyme with square.
You can do this independently using the worksheet, or list them together as a whole group. As always, I've made an answer key with an alphabetical list of 81 words!
Today's featured FREEBIE, is also a rhyme. Since I don't have time anymore to do a specific unit on nursery rhymes, I try to include matching themed ones with whatever we're currently studying.
Thus "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" is perfect for October. Click on the link for a sweet, keepsake craftivity, along with a poster poem of the rhyme.
Well that's it for today. Thanks for popping in.
The trees have just started to turn beautiful orange, yellows and red, so it's time for a nice long walk with Chloe. Wishing you a relaxing day.
"Autumn leaves come falling down; red, orange, yellow and brown." -Unknown
