Grade: Elementary
Subject: 4 Blocks

#2354. nonfiction pumpkin GR with chart

4 Blocks, level: Elementary
Posted Sat Aug 25 18:32:08 PDT 2001 by deb ().
Hope College Four Blocks Follow Up,

Pumpkin, Pumpkin
The Pumpkin Book By Gail Gibbons
Growing Pumpkins published Newbridge

Using a chart to help compare several non-fiction pumpkin books.

Day One -- The Pumpkin Book By Gail Gibbons
Teacher should prepare a chart with these headings ahead of time:
Who is doing the planting of the pumpkin seeds?
What kind of tools were used?
What will they do with the pumpkins?
Did the pumpkins become a jack-o-lantern?

Before Reading -- The Pumpkin Book
Read the above questions to the class.

During Reading --
Re-read the first one, read the book to the class until reaching the page with the answer to the question on it. Pause. Call on someone to answer:

Who is doing the planting of the pumpkin seeds?

Call on another student to read the part of the book that tells us the answer. You are trying to get the students to realize that the answers are RIGHT THERE in the book.

Continue until all the questions are answered and the book is read.

After Reading --
Fill in the chart whole group, revisiting the pages with the answers. Make sure one child is answering, another child is reading the page with the answer on it.


Day Two -- Growing Pumpkins by Newbridge
Teacher should prepare a chart with these headings ahead of time:
Who is doing the planting of the pumpkin seeds?
What kind of tools were used?
What will they do with the pumpkins?
Did the pumpkins become a jack-o-lantern?

Before Reading -- Growing Pumpkins
Read the above questions to the class.

During Reading --
Re-read the first one, read the book to the class until reaching the page with the answer to the question on it. Pause. Call on someone to answer:

Who is doing the planting of the pumpkin seeds?

Call on another student to read the part of the book that tells us the answer. You are trying to get the students to realize that the answers are RIGHT THERE in the book.

Continue until all the questions are answered and the book is read.

After Reading --
Fill in the chart whole group, revisiting the pages with the answers. Make sure one child is answering, another child is reading the page with the answer on it. Discuss the differences and similarities between the books.

Day Three -- Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Teacher should prepare a chart with these headings ahead of time:
Who is doing the planting of the pumpkin seeds?
What kind of tools were used?
What will they do with the pumpkins?
Did the pumpkins become a jack-o-lantern?

Before Reading --Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Read the above questions to the class.

During Reading --
Re-read the first one, read the book to the class until reaching the page with the answer to the question on it. Pause. Call on someone to answer:

Who is doing the planting of the pumpkin seeds?

Call on another student to read the part of the book that tells us the answer. You are trying to get the students to realize that the answers are RIGHT THERE in the book.

Continue until all the questions are answered and the book is read.

After Reading --
Fill in the chart whole group, revisiting the pages with the answers. Make sure one child is answering, another child is reading the page with the answer on it. Discuss the differences and similarities between the books.

Day Four -- Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Before Reading --
Set the purpose -- We are going to re-tell the story. Pay attention to the order of what happens in the story.

During Reading --

First reading with teacher
Shared reading
Read each page or two
Summarize what happens
Records the information on a sentence strip and put it in a pocket chart.

Second reading
Read the book with a partner. I also provide each partner set with a paper listing the steps in a mixed up order. Have the students read the book with their partner. Then cut up the sentences and glue on a piece of paper in the correct order. Some teachers have the students EACH complete a paper. Some teachers have the students complete ONE paper per pair. It is the teacher's choice.

After Reading
Re-tell the story and use story sentence strips to build the story as it is retold.

Day Five -- Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Teacher needs to re-write the sentence strips from yesterday so that there are TWO sets (one to leave whole, one to cut into words).

Before Reading --
Word order affects understanding. First, the teacher will read a sentence strip in the pocket chart to the students. Then the teacher will cut up the sentence into words. I'm cutting off the....... I'm cutting off the ....... Teacher should put the words back in order. Show the class the same sentence uncut and match the words showing the students that these words say the same thing as the sentence strip. Teacher continues to cut up each sentence into words modeling that the words make a sentence.

During Reading --
Read Pumpkin, Pumpkin with partners.
Give each partner group a sentence to rebuild.

After Reading -- Have the students compare their sentences with the chart to make sure they've built the sentence correctly. Often teachers will have the students glue their words onto a big piece of construction paper and illustrate it making a class big book. Class Big Book is now available for SSR time.

OTHER LESSONS --

Cooking with Pumpkin Seeds -- Science and Writing

Collect pumpkin seeds (many teachers carve pumpkins and do lots of math activities with these pumpkins). Read a toasted pumpkin seed recipe from a book to the class. Record the recipe on chart paper. Rewrite the steps so the class can read the steps.

Provide the students with a four page pumpkin shaped blank books. Together write the steps for making toasted pumpkin seeds with the teacher modeling thinking and spelling. Use sequencing words:

First
Next
Then
Last

Have the children illustrate their recipe books. Have the students read their Pumpkin Seed Recipe books for easy reading and take them home to share with parents.