Kings Park ElementaryT4T - Pumpkin Unit Design
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Time 4 Teachers Unit Design Worksheet

Anchored Problem

Kindergarten classes study pumpkins each year. There is a need for a book that covers many different pumpkin topics. This book should be hands-on and be able to be read by kindergarten students as well as being used by the teachers as a teaching aid.

Literacy

  • Locate information from books and hands on investigation
  • Writing non fiction
  • Using writing conventions (left to right, repeating patterns, patterns in text, front and back, title, author, illustrator, sentence structure)
  • Understand and use seriation, patterning, counting, estimating, graphing, measuring

Authentic Activities

  • Consider the audience
  • Research the subject
  • Plan the book (cover, illustration, text, about author page)
  • Observe pumpkins
  • On the computer, illustrated the life cycle of a pumpkin

Background Building Activities

  • Discussed what a book is and the contents of a book
  • Read books on pumpkins
  • Hands on investigation (carving pumpkins, counting seeds, measuring, comparing types, sink or float, tasting pumpkin products)
  • Discussed team work (how to work cooperatively)
  • Discussed the difference of the terminology "different" and "same" by comparing apples and pumpkins

Constructing Activities

  • Created a pumpkin patch in the pod
  • Illustrated the different stages of pumpkin growth on the computer and on paper
  • Created books on the life cycle of the pumpkin
  • Created the big pumpkin class book
  • Create pumpkin foods
  • Created model of the inside of a pumpkin
  • Made a letter "p" flip book
  • Made a pumpkin blanket of what they have learned
  • In Art, students created woven pumpkins

Opportunity to Share

  • Read big book to each other in class and to other classes.
  • Share big book with Buddy readers
  • At parent conferences, have big book on pumpkins available for parents to see while they wait for their conference
  • Presented Five Little Pumpkins poem for class

Community

  • Individual (journal writing, sequencing, models, patterns
  • Cooperative (life cycle of pumpkin in computer lab, investigating inside of pumpkin, cooking, offering ideas about topics for the book)
  • Collaborative (making pumpkin patch, pumpkin blanket)

Standards

Math:

MAT.K.1 The student, given two sets containing 10 or fewer concrete items,

will identify and describe one set as having more, fewer, or the same number

of members as the other set, using the concept of 1 to 1 correspondence.

MAT.K.2 The student, given a set containing nine or fewer concrete items, will

tell how many are in the set by counting the number of items orally;

select the corresponding numeral from a given set;

MAT.K.3 The student, given an ordered set of three objects and/or pictures,

will indicate the ordered position of each item, from left-to-right, right-to-left,

top-to-bottom, and/or bottom-to-top.

MAT.K.12 The student will compare two objects or events, using direct comparisons or nonstandard units of measure, according to one or more of the following attributes:

length (shorter, longer), height (taller, shorter), weight (heavier, lighter Examples of nonstandard units include foot length, hand span, new pencil, paper clip, block, etc.

MAT.K.19 The student will sort and classify objects according to similar attributes (size, shape, and color).

MAT.K.20 The student will identify, describe, and extend a repeating relationship (pattern) found in common objects, sounds, and movements.

Science:

SCI.K.1 The student will conduct investigations in which:

  • basic properties of objects are identified by direct observation;
  • observations are made from multiple positions to achieve different perspectives;
  • a set of objects is sequenced according to size;
  • nonstandard units are used to measure common objects;
  • a question is developed from one or more observations;
  • objects are described both pictorially and verbally.

SCI.K.2 The student will investigate and understand that humans have senses including sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. Senses allow one to seek, find, take in, and react or respond to information in order to learn about one's surroundings. Key concepts:

  • five senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight);

SCI.K.4 The student will investigate and understand that objects can be described in terms of their

physical properties. Key concepts include

  • the eight basic colors;
  • shapes (circle, triangle, square) and forms (flexible, stiff, straight, curved);
  • textures and feel (rough, smooth, hard, soft);
  • relative size and weight (big, little, large, small, heavy, light, wide, thin, long, short);
  • and position and speed (over, under, in, out, above, below, left, right, fast, slow).

SCI.K.5 The student will investigate and understand that water has properties that can be observed and tested. Key concepts include

  • some materials float in water while others sink.

SCI.K.6 The student will investigate and understand basic needs and life processes of plants and animals. Key concepts include:

  • living things change as they grow and need food, water, and air to survive;
  • plants and animals live and die (go through a life cycle);

SCI.K.8 The student will investigate and understand simple patterns in his/her daily life. Key concepts include :

  • the shapes and forms of many common natural objects including seeds, cones, and leaves;
  • animal and plant growth;

English:

E/W.K.1 The student will demonstrate growth in the use of oral language.

  • Listen to a variety of literary forms, including stories and poems.
  • Participate in choral speaking and recite short poems, rhymes, songs, and stories with repeated patterns.
  • Participate in creative dramatics.
  • Begin to discriminate between spoken words and sentences.

E/W.K.2 The student will use listening and speaking vocabularies.

  • Use number words.
  • Use words to describe/name people, places, and things.
  • Use words to describe location, size, color, and shape.
  • Use words to describe action
  • Ask about words not understood.
  • Follow one-step and two-step directions.

E/W.K.3 The student will build oral communication skills.

  • Begin to follow implicit rules for conversation, (e.g., taking turns and staying on topic.
  • Begin to use voice level, phrasing, sentence structure, and intonation appropriate for language situation.
  • Listen and speak in informal conversations with peers and adults.
  • Begin to initiate conversations.
  • Participate in discussions about learning.

E/W.K.5 The student will understand how print is organized and read.

  • Hold print materials in the correct position.
  • Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.
  • Match voice with print, associating oral phonemes, syllables, words, and phrases with their written forms.

E/W.K.6 The student will demonstrate an understanding that print makes sense.

  • Explain that printed materials provide information.
  • Identify common signs and logos.
  • Read and explain own writing and drawings.

E/W.K.8 The student will demonstrate comprehension of stories.

  • Use pictures to make predictions about story content.
  • Identify what an author does and what an illustrator does.

E/W.K.9 The student will identify both uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

E/W.K.10 The student will print his/her name.

E/W.K.11 The student will draw pictures and/or use letters and phonetically spelled words to write about experiences, stories, people, objects, or events.

E/W.K.12 The student will explore the uses of available technology for reading and writing.

E/W.K.13 The student will begin to ask how and why questions.

Social Studies

HSS.K.5 The student will match simple descriptions of work that people do and the names of those jobs with examples from the local community and historical accounts.

HSS.K.7 The student will demonstrate an understanding that being a good citizen involves important actions by

  • Taking turns and sharing.
  • Taking responsibility for certain classroom chores.
  • Taking care of his/her own things (pencils, clothing, papers, books) and respecting what belongs to others.
  • Identifying examples of honesty, courage, patriotism, and other admirable character traits seen in American history.
  • Identifying examples of rules and the consequences of breaking them.

Technology Tools

  • Digital camera
  • Books on tape
  • Computer and printer
  • TV hooked up to the computer
  • Software: KidPix, AppleWorks, Graphic Converter

Assessment

  • Anecdotal notes
  • ECAP assessment folder checklist
  • Survey children on responses to the unit
Page created by Amanda Thomas and Julie White
October 2001

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