It’s Pumpkin Time!!! Here is a sneak peek into my huge Pumpkin Life Cycle Unit.
This unit has many components making it a cross curricular thematic unit. Tying all subjects together in one fun theme makes the learning so that much better and so much more fun.
One of the many activities that is great to do for any unit, is using graphic organizers. Teaching our students to organize their thoughts is a vital skill that they will need throughout life.
A family involved class pumpkin recipe book activity is included that you can choose to do with your class as well.
One of my favorite activities to do during any unit is a labeling activity. This unit includes colored and black and white posters for both the inside and outside of the pumpkin as well as 3 differentiated student activities.
Various Pumpkin Life Cycle Posters and Cut and Paste Life Cycle Learning Activities are also included for students to complete whole group or individually. They are provided in many formats, colored and black and white, to meet the needs of all classrooms. 
My thematic units include individual student graphic organizers as well as chart parts to complete the organizers as a class as well as vocabulary cards that feature real life pictures to display during the unit.
My favorite part of the entire pumpkin unit is being able to complete hands on activities with the students. Students LOVE using manipulatives for learning. This section of the unit includes a variety of different pages to perform a variety of different pumpkin investigations. Students will have the opportunity to bring in a pumpkin of some kind from home in order to help complete the activities. A letter to parents asking for pumpkins is included. Students will work on sorting the pumpkins in several ways, determine if the pumpkins sink or float, determine if the pumpkin seeds sink or float, taste different pumpkin flavored foods to see which is the class favorite, poll the class on their like/dislike of pumpkin pie, make predictions, and more. Graphing pages and classroom chart/graph parts are included in the unit. A pumpkin investigations booklet is also included (2 to each page) so students can compile all of their data/findings in one easy to locate place. This book also includes pages for students to describe a pumpkin using their 5 senses.
The Classroom “Big” books and student readers both read the same. The full colored version of the book includes real life pictures to make learning more fun. The student readers are in black and white to allow your students to follow along and then take the story home with them.
Another fun activity that is not a part of the unit, but can be purchase separately is our Pumpkin Life Cycle Flip Flap Book.
This flip-flap book is a great addition to my Pumpkin Life Cycle Unit. 4 versions of the book have been provided to best suit the needs of your class and can be used for differentiation within the classroom. This flip book is 8 pages long including the cover.
The versions included are:
-Blank pages labeled with ordinal words: First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Draw the Pumpkin Life Cycle
-Blank pages labeled with the stages of the Pumpkin Life Cycle: seed, sprout, vine, flower, green pumpkin, orange pumpkin, Draw the Pumpkin Life Cycle
-Simple Sentences with space to draw on life cycle stages labeled pages
-Simple Traceable Sentences with space to draw on life cycle stages labeled pages
