Pumpkin Pi

Math with Produce!

Fall is a fun time to do some hands on math activities. If you are fortunate enough to work close to a farm or produce stand and you can wrangle a field trip - great! Students can choose their own pumkins for math activities. Here's where you can find some ideas:

http://themes.atozteacherstuff.com/230/pumpkins-lesson-plans-activities-printables-and-teaching-ideas/
http://teachingheart.net/apumpkinunit.html
http://math.about.com/od/themeworksheets/ss/pumpkin.htm

There's even homework assignments for pumpkins! http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/math/activities/first-second-grade/pumpkin-math/

Funny Farms

Fall Field Trips!

Go to a farm. Buy pumpkins. Look up pumpkin math activities (http://mathwire.com/themes/themepumpkin.html) or art activities http://www.theimaginationtree.com/2012/10/pumpkin-activities-for-kids-from-its.html
or everything activities http://urbanext.illinois.edu/pumpkins/education.cfm.
Students don't need spending money on a farm, or nice clothes, or good 'sit-still' skills. They can walk and rund run and touch stuff. They can see where food comes from. They can get a little bit dirty and a lot happy. There's always a way to make a farm field trip fit into the standards, so you can relax :)

If you can't get to a farm, make one. Straw bales cost about $6.00. Stores might donate funny looking squash and gourds to your cause. Have the students run around outside picking up leaves. Create a fall backdrop for seasonal lessons. So many students are hungry for nature, for hands on learning, for lessons hidden in play. Let the kids be kids for even 15 minutes a day. I promise the class will run more smoothly with the inclusion of some organic materials in the curriculum! Happy Fall!!

Perspective

Fall is a great time to incorporate art into the curriculum. One activity I introduce in the fall is still life drawing. As a class we collect an assortment of leaves, branches, seeds and seasonal veggies. These I arrange on a high table or stool in the center of the room. I then issue paper and pens or pencils to the class and instruct them to draw what they see from where they are seated. (I think pens are better than pencils for this, because kids will spend too much time erasing otherwise.) They must fill up the WHOLE PAGE with their drawing. (So many students are ingrained to respect borders on paper - it cramps their style!)  When the sketches are done we all compare pictures and talk about the way we all see EVERYTHING from our own perspective. Same still life - different views.