Fall Trees and a Pumpkin

Today we finished up our fall trees.  We used the same pattern as our apple trees, but use red, yellow, and orange to make fall leaves.  I call up to four kids at a time to a table to paint while the rest of the class is working and playing at traditional kindergarten centers.  This is what we do the last 30 minutes of the day and it allows time to do individual assessments and to get everyone packed up to go home.

So last week we did a class pumpkin.  Every class did one and they were auctioned off at our Fall Carnival.  Well we kind of ran out of time to really spend time on our pumpkin so I thought we should do something simple.

Presenting.... Our Pumpkin

It's "pumpkin pie."

These are the things I come up with when I am under a time crunch.  Lol!  I wonder if they were able to make money off my pumpkin.  I didn't glue anything down, so they could have carved anything they wanted.  I missed out carnival because I fell asleep and woke up the next afternoon.  No kidding.  I couldn't believe that I was that tired and my son didn't bother waking me up on a Saturday.

In other news (I always wanted to say type that.), I have had this little organizer sitting on my desk and I have been wondering what I should do with it.  Any ideas?  Leave your comments below.

Leaf Week

This week we will be learning about leaves.  We are going to start by going on a fall scavenger hunt.  My students have a scavenger hunt sheet so they know what to look for.  Then we are going to sort our collections and graph the results as a class using our document camera.

Since it is leaf week, we are going to finger paint.  Then we are going to trace and cut out a leaf after our paint dries.  Here is what the leaves looked like last year.  I would share the pattern, but it was hand drawn and it's too large to scan with my printer.

  We are also going to paint our trees in fall colors using our fingers.  We are going to use the same tree pattern as our apple trees, but use red, yellow, and orange to make fall leaves.  Here is what our apple trees looked like.  They are still hanging in my room so I will take them down when our fall trees are finished.

So we will collect, sort and graph leaves this week and we will talk about symmetry.  I think leaves are a good example of symmetry.  We have talked about symmetry before so this will be a little review.  I am working on a symmetry sorting activity for them to do during math stations.  I hope I have it done by Wednesday.  Yep, the kids are off Monday and Tuesday, but the teachers have to go for staff development and parent-teacher conferences.  I wish I was a kid.  No, not really.  I'm still the big kid in the class though. Lol!

Well, if you haven't heard, TPT is having a flash sale.  Everything is 10% off through midnight Hawaii time tonight.  I am throwing a sale to give you an additional discount.  Everything in my TPT store is 20% off.  Click here to head on over and check it out.