Pumpkin Fest 2013: Pie in a Cup!

Yep, you're reading it right!  TWO POSTS IN TWO DAYS!  Be amazed y'all.  Be.  Amazed.  Yesterday I told y'all how our class got down and dirty with pumpkins using math and science labs to explore and learn.  Today I'm going to show y'all the second half of Pumpkin Fest: Pumpkin Pie in a Cup!  Mmm....

A teammate of mine did this with her son when he was in Pre-K but my fifth graders loved it none the less!  We poured 1 1/3 cup of cold milk and two 4 oz. boxes of vanilla pudding into a Ziploc bag.  Make sure you get all the air out and seal it tight!  Then pass the bag around your circle and have the students knead the bag for about a minute or until everyone has a turn.  It will turn this yellow color when it's ready.

Once everyone has had a turn, open the bag back up (be careful it's messy!) and add one 15 oz. can of pumpkin, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. ginger.  Seal the bag again (remember to remove all the air).  Pass the bag around the circle again and let the students knead the batter once more.

 

Set the bag aside (I doubled the recipe and used two bags) and pass out little Dixie cups to each student.  Give each student half of a graham cracker and allow them to crush it in the bottom of the cup.  This will be their crust!

 



 

When everyone has crushed their graham cracker, cut a corner off of your Ziploc bag and proceed to fill up everyone's cup with the pumpkin filling.  It's fun to pretend to be a pastry chef!  I then let the kids come up and get the whip cream topping and begin the feast!

 



 

The kids thought it looked like baby food but really liked it!  I was surprised by how many students had never had Pumpkin Pie before.  I will say that with my 21 fifth graders one bag did the trick with these little Dixie cups!  So you have two options: 1. Fill 'em up a second time.  OR 2. Give them a little bit bigger cup (like the one's the dentist give you to swish with).  I hope you and your kids enjoy this activity!  I got the recipe from Making Learning Fun, so hop on over there for a printable version.

 

Happy Fall y'all!





Pumpkin Fest 2013

I know, I know!  It's winter now and everyone is in the winter spirit but I was out of town for Thanksgiving and still wanted to share what my kiddos did to celebrate fall!  And let's be honest...  I actually have time to write a blog post so I have A LOT to catch up on, lol.

Right before the holidays my kiddos and I got elbow deep in some serious pumpkin activities!  These were not all done in one day mind you.  In fact, we did one activity for Halloween and one for Thanksgiving!  I know some schools are stricter on their holiday policy, so some of you might not be able to do this during those times.  Thankfully you can do these anytime during the fall season and it is still applicable and fun!

The first activity we did was Pumpkin Fest Labs!  Thanks to Jennifer Runde from Runde’s Room and her wonderful unit “The Pumpkin Pack” that was filled with all sorts of science and math labs that correlated with dissecting a pumpkin!  Here are just a few of the labs we did in class:

Sink or Float

 

 

Measuring the Circumference

 

 

Counting Seeds

 

Can't forget the rotten pumpkin!  Always fun when the kids cut into that ;o)

 

 

Graphing and Finding Correlations

 

All in all this activity took up the first half of our day but my kids were using their math and science brains THE WHOLE TIME and they LOVED it!  I will absolutely be doing this every year from now on.  Come back tomorrow (yes, you read that right... TOMORROW.  I know, I can't believe it either - two posts in two days) to find out what we did for the rest of Pumpkin Fest.  HINT: IT WAS DELICIOUS!

Happy fall y'all!

Happy Halloween Sale!

In honor of one of my favorite holidays, I am putting everything in my TPT store on sale!  Starting October 30th and ending on October 31, 2013 (after trick-or-treating of course), my entire store will be 20% off!

(Thanks to Becca from First Grade in Foxwell Forest for the super cute button!)

Here are just a few seasonal goodies that you might want to check out!

 

October Writing Prompt Calendar

 

 

October Word Work Activities (FREEBIE!)

 

Trick-or-Treat: Multi-Digit Multiplication

 

 

Trick-or-Treat: Two-Digit-Divisors

 

Trick-or-Treat: Order of Operations

 

If you liked the October Word Work activities, you'll love my new Spelling and Vocabulary Stations: Set 1!  They are perfect for any time of year and any spelling or vocabulary list!

 

 

Click on any of the images above to take you to my store!  I hope you have a fabulous Halloween and get lots of yummy treats and stay safe!  The next time you hear from me will be after Pumpkin Fest.  Pumpkins guts all day... WISH ME LUCK!

 

 



Trick or FREEBIE: A Treat of a Blog Hop!

The wonderful ladies and I from A-Classy Collaboration are having a treat filled blog hop starting today and lasting until Halloween!

My treat for you today is my October Word Work pack of activities!  Included are three different spelling and vocabulary activities that will promote learning all while celebrating the Halloween season!

One of the things I love about these activities is that they can be used over and over with new spelling words and vocabulary lists.  It is geared towards intermediate grades but some of your little kiddos might enjoy the enrichment as well!  Included are three different activities: Candy Corn Clues, Spell Recipe, and Witch's Hat.  Click on the any of the images to grab your freebie!

I hope you enjoy this little treat!  Don't forget to head on over to A-Classy Collaboration to see what all the other lovely ladies are giving away this week!

Trick or Treat: Math Games!

I'm linking up with my girl Jivey from Ideas by Jivey for Workshop Wednesday!  Today's (really yesterday's) theme is Math Games.

As some of you know, this is my first year teaching EVERYTHING.  We've always been departmentalized so teaching Math and Science is a whole new adventure for me but I'm loving it!  My kids really enjoy having math games during our Math Workshop because they get to reinforce their skills in a fun and inventive way or they get to apply their learning to real life situations.  Here are just a few of the games you will find in our station tubs right now:

Division Error Analysis and Task Cards by Teaching with a Mountain View

(TWAMV has some AMAZING products and my kids love them)

 

What I really like about this product is that the kids know right off the bat that the problem is wrong and they have to analyze and explain why it is wrong and how to correct it.  There are 9 problem cards and a blank one where students (or you) can make their own.

 

 Trick or Treat: Order of Operations, Two-Digit Divisors, and Multi-Digit Multiplication

(We are just finishing up Division and moving into Algebra)

 

 

 

 

 

When I first created these games and added them to our math centers, I thought they would be a nice review of skills and a little "treat" to go with the holiday season.  Little did I know what big of a hit they would be!

 

Students are given 14 equation cards and they have to figure out if the equation is correct (treat) or incorrect (trick).  Once they figure it out, they place the equation card in the right space on the graphic organizer (Trick or Treat).  When they have figured out all equation cards, they check their graphic organizer against the answer sheet.  The kids were hysterical when figuring out whether the answers were "tricks" or "treats."  You could hear them whisper, "It's a trick!" or "Oh!  It's a treat!" HAHA needless to say I will apparently be making more of these as my kids love them!  If you would like to add them to your math centers as well, click on any of the images above to take you to them.

 

At the moment those are the "top math games" in our math centers.  I know because I had my kids vote, lol!  Don't forget to head on over to Jivey's site and see what other people are doing in their math centers.  I've already checked it out and there are some great ideas that I will be implementing soon!