Writing: How to Carve a Pumpkin

Hey everyone! It has been way too long since my last blog post. For the past two weeks, I have been giving assessments, and then grading those assessments. Now, I actually have this whole week off for Fall Break, so I get time to blog, work on report cards, and create some more Teachers Pay Teachers products. These last few weeks have had a lot of really fun events! For now, I wanted to share the pumpkin carving writing that we did last week. My teammate found the activity, and honestly I am not sure where she got it. I think that it may have been a freebie. If anyone knows, let me know because I would love to give credit to whomever created this.

First, I had the students write their own paper on how to carve a pumpkin. We have been learning about time and order words, so this was a great activity to review. Once they were finished, I picked a few of their papers, and had them read me the directions. I tried to follow their directions, but they quickly realized that they hadn't been specific enough when I tried to carve the eyes with my finger, or to scoop out the insides without cutting off the top. We decided that we needed to try again, one step at a time.

As we discussed the steps needed to carve a pumpkin, I actually carved the pumpkin in front of them. There were a few students who had never seen a pumpkin carved before, so it was a great experience for them.

A word of caution: make sure that you have a good quality pumpkin carving knife that is long enough. Mine broke in front of my students, and then I heard one child say, "Mrs. Berga, are you bleeding?" Yep, I sure was. I definitely sliced my finger. Lessons never go exactly as you planned, but after putting on a band aid, we were able to finish carving the pumpkin with a different knife.

 We started our writing together, but had to finish on another day because we ran out of time. If you plan to do a project like this, I would plan it out over two days. I think that the final product turned out adorable, and the students now have a better grasp on "how to" write a "how to" paper.

 One last random thing: my students found a grasshopper outside of our classroom. Since we study insects at the end of the year, I have a little cage that we use for praying mantises. I took the cage outside and caught the grasshopper. The students quickly named him "Alex" (I don't know why), and they had so much fun taking care of him and studying him over the course of the week. We let him go on Friday. Don't you love the random unplanned parts of teaching?

Happy teaching!

Owl Moon, Fall Leaves, and Pumpkin Writing

Hello teachers and blog followers! Wow, last week flew by so quickly, and I was definitely not planning on posting this so late. This will need to be quick, because I need to get some rest before the week begins tomorrow morning. 

This week, we had a lot of fun with some more fall activities. Every year, I love reading Owl Moon to the kids. I know that it is kind of a winter book, but I love how the owls look in my classroom for fall. Anyway, they have a version on YouTube, which is great because it really engages the students, and you don't even have to have the book. After they "watched" the book, we transitioned into a directed draw activity. First we used pencil, and then we traced with crayons. Students used their watercolors for the brown owl, and then I mixed some blue tempura paint with water for the background. I think they turned out really cute!

I really like my classroom to be decorated for each season, so we made fall leaves this week. I cut up a bunch of tissue paper, and my students stuck it onto a leaf made of brown construction paper. My room feels like a fall forest!

This week, we started learning about the writing process. By Friday, my students were finally working on their rough drafts. Sometimes they got restless and just want to skip all of the steps, but I reminded them how important it is to organize all of their thoughts and ideas beforehand.

Finally, just wanted to post some pics from this weekend. It is nice to have a restful weekend after going so hard during the week. On Saturday, my husband Jarek and I got to go to Julian, a cute little town about an hour east of San Diego. We bought freshly picked apples and ate delicious apple pie. Today, we went to a festival in Little Italy, a section of San Diego. These chalk artists were incredibly talented!

Hope you all have a great start to your week!