Pumpkins (Scholastic Time-to-Discover)

Calabazas Pumpkins is a book about when and how to grow pumpkins in English or Spanish. The farmer explains that pumpkin seeds need to be planted in the spring and they go through a growing process and will be ready to pick during the fall after they are orange and ripe.

I enjoyed reading this book because my kids are always asking if we can grow our own fruit and vegetables. If I had a large area I would plant some pumpkin seeds for the kids, but I don’t. I did plant this year some honeydew seeds and they have flowers on them just like the pumpkins do. The kids are having fun watching the process.

In the classroom, I would ask the principal if I could take an area of the school grounds and have students plant a pumpkin patch. I would show more use this for the kids to watch the process throughout the year and when it was time to pick them, I would let each kid take one home and maybe if the pumpkin patch was successful, the school could use it as a fundraiser during the fall. If of course the principal would not allow for a pumpkin patch field, I would buy a pumpkin from Wal-Mart and bring it to the school and let the kids dig all the pumpkin seeds out and then carve a pumpkin for our classroom. I would also give them a construction paper and let them make a jack lantern face with many different shapes for the eyes, nose, and mouth to choose from. show less

This is a bi-lingual book about the pumpkin growing process. The book talks about when to plant the seeds and when they will be ready. It also talks about the different uses of a pumpkin. In example, bake a pumpkin pie and carve a pumpkin.

I liked the book because it's a simple way to talk about how a pumpkin is grown. I didn't know you had to plant the seeds in the spring. I carved my first pumpkin this week and I thought about that book while I was taking the seeds out.

In the classroom, I would buy a few pumpkins and put the students in groups. They will be given art supplies and they should paint a design on the pumpkin. I don't think we would be allowed to carve a pumpkin in school so that would be a good alternative. When they were show more finished the pumpkins would be displayed in the class. Also, I would read this book to the the students when we were doing a fall/pumpkin theme. Then we would do a study of the life cycle of a pumpkin. show less

Summary: This book is a bilingual book about pumpkins. It is writing in English and Spanish. It informs the reader on the process of growing pumpkins and what they can be used for,

Personal Reaction: I think this book would be a great thing to have in the primary grade level classroom especially with bilingual students. It gives them confidence to help the other students learn the language and it also helps them to understand the material. It also is a great way to introduce the Spanish language to students.

Classroom Extensions:
1. I would read a fictional book first like Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin, then I would follow up with this book to give the kids more factual information on the topic.

2. After reading this I would show my show more students pictures of jack-o-latterns. I would have a small pumpkin for each student for them to paint and display in the classroom. show less

This book is about growing pumpkins. It begins with how the farmer plants a pumpkin seed in the spring and in the summer the plants grow into flowers and the fall the the flowers turn to Pumpkins. It takes four months to grow a pumpkin . In the fall some pumpkins are taken to market while other are used for baking and carving.

I liked this book since it is easy for young children to understand and it has beautiful color pictures.

Extension Ideas 1. In the classroom I would read this book to the students and bring a pumpkin to class and carve it , the seeds can be roasted .

2. i would read this book to the students in the fall and then take the students on a field trip to a pumpkin patch.

This is an informational book about growing pumpkins. It takes you thru the processes of planting the pumpkin and harvesting the pumpkins.

This book didn’t really appeal to me, but I can see that it would be useful in teaching about pumpkins.

Extension Ideas:
I would have my students make a chart of different fruits and vegetables. They would have to categorize them correctly. I would also carve a pumpkin with my students in class and let them see the seeds. We would discuss how seeds are how pumpkins begin and with the right nourishment they turn into pumpkins. We would then roast the pumpkin seeds and eat them

This book is all about pumpkins. It explains the life of a pumpkin in not only English but also Spanish. The book explains how and when pumpkins grow. It also explains the different things people do with pumpkins. It also explains how the pumpkin patch looks in all of the different seasons. It shows that many different cultures use pumpkins for various things.

Growing up I always loved Halloween because we got to carve pumpkins in class. I had never carved a pumpkin before so it was very exciting for me. Not to mention we got out a day of lessons to play with and show off our pumpkins.

In the classroom, around Halloween, we can take out a day or half a day to carve pumpkins. It can be a day to bring in the parents to have them not only show more help but show them what we are doing in the classroom. Another idea could be to possibly visit a pumpkin patch so the students will be able to see how they grow and develop. show less

Summary:
This book is all about pumpkins. This book starts off first by saying informative things about pumpkins like where they grow, their size, and when they are grown. The book goes on to talk about the whole cycle of how pumpkins are grown. It ends talking about how people use pumpkins and where they go after they are grown.

Personal Reaction:
I thought this was an okay book. It was pretty generic. I did like however that they included very good pictures that helped depict the situation. I also liked that the book was bilingual.

Classroom Extension:
1. In our class we would have the really small pumpkins and we would decorate them and then display them outside in the hallway.
2. We could also cut the top off of a pumpkin and get all of show more the seeds out and then roast them. show less