(upbeat music) - Hello, little learners.

Welcome back to our pre-K and TK classroom.

My name is Mrs. Lara and I'm going to be your teacher today.

Can you tell me your name?

Oh, I love hearing your name.

Let me see if I can guess your special letter.

And of course, all letters are made with big lines, little lines, big curves, and little curves so today I'm making a letter with a big line and a little curve.

What letter have I made?

The letter P. If that's your special letter, it's the first letter of your name.

And if it's not, don't worry, I'm gonna add more letters as we go on.

So today is day four of the five days that we're going to be together so let me add another magnet here.

Ooh, see?

Four, no matter where I put them, still four.

One, two, three, four.

That means we have one more day together to talk about today's theme, which is pumpkins.

Now, October is the time for pumpkins, bats, spiders, you may see them all around wherever you go and visit so I hope that during our time together today, you learn just a little bit about pumpkins and that you go out looking for more pumpkin adventures wherever you are.

So we're gonna start off with a little pumpkin finger play.

Now for this, you need your five little pumpkins right here.

One, two, three, four, and one fat pumpkin makes five.

And you're gonna need your gate because our pumpkins are gonna sit on our gate and you're gonna need a spooky face.

All right, ready?

Five little pumpkin sitting on a gate, the first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late."

The second one said, "There are witches in the air."

The third one said, "But we don't care."

The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run."

And the fifth one said, "But I'm ready for some fun."

Here comes this spooky face.

Ooh went the wind and out went the light, and the five little pumpkins rolled and rolled and rolled out of sight.

So what'd you think of our pumpkin finger play?

Keep practicing, we're gonna do it again tomorrow for the last time.

Right now, it's time our letter because we have to get some clues about the book we're gonna read.

So here's our letter.

Of course, I always like to point out that when you're reading, you track, and you can use your pointer finger, which is the one right next to your thumb.

When you track, you start at the left and go to the right.

♪ When I read books, I read left to right ♪ ♪ Left to right ♪ ♪ Left to right ♪ ♪ When I read books, I read left to right ♪ ♪ That's how I become a strong reader ♪ So let's see what we say here in our letter today.

"Dear Mrs. Lara, can you tell me more about pumpkins?"

I can.

I wonder if our book is gonna be about pumpkins today?

Hmm.

"I went to the pumpkin patch this weekend and saw so many pumpkins!"

Ooh, the pumpkin patch.

We have a few around where I lived too.

And they put up big scarecrows and they have piles and piles of pumpkins.

Have you visited a pumpkin patch?

"I can't wait to carve my pumpkin!"

Ooh, carve your pumpkin into a Jack-o-lantern, where you add eyes and a mouth.

We're gonna be doing something with that a little later in our project place, but for now, let's see what book Mrs. Maria left in her box because I think our book tells us a little bit more about pumpkins and what they can become.

So here's our book "Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie."

It is a National Geographic Kids book by Jill Esbaum.

Now, what I want you to notice about this text is it's nonfiction.

That means all the words in here are true words and there's big real pictures that we're gonna take a look at.

Okay, so let's open up our book and learn more about pumpkins.

So it says here, "Have you picked your pumpkin?"

Have you picked your pumpkin?

"A pumpkin seed is tucked into sun-warmed earth.

Spring rains soften its tough coat."

So take a look at this.

You can see they're planting the seeds.

"A root reaches up for nutrients and a sprout grows towards the light."

So there's a sprout and the roots.

Now you'll remember from our book earlier in the week, that roots actually (slurps) suck up the water from the soil.

"Soon jagged leaves rise from twisty vines wandering in all directions."

Look at those twisty vines all over the place.

Remember, I gave you some homework.

If you go to a pumpkin patch, put one finger on the leaf and see how jagged or rough it is.

"Bees visit golden blossoms, spreading pollen from flower to flower."

Now remember in our book it said that the orange or yellow flowers, they wither away and they become green pumpkins.

And here is an example of our green pumpkin, right up here.

See how small they are?

"Here and there, tiny green knobs replace wilted flowers."

So wilted means the flower's dying, and then the green pumpkin rose.

"The knobs change colors and slowly swell, growing heavier by the day.

Cooler nights arrive.

Vines shrivel."

When something shrivels, that means it shrinks up.

So here's our pumpkin changing colors.

"Left behind are pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!"

Look at that!

It reminds me of our book from yesterday, "Too Many Pumpkins" and Rebecca Estell must've seen this when she left her porch, pumpkins everywhere.

"Pumpkins are a type of squash.

They can be green, red, tan, yellow, white, or even blue."

Whoa, I've never seen a blue pumpkin.

These look blue right here, don't they?

"The pumpkins we know best are bright orange.

There are tall pumpkins, short pumpkins, smooth or bumpy pumpkins."

It's right here.

"Wee ones," which means small, "only inches wide or giants you can sit inside."

Now, look at these guys.

Those are not boats, those are pumpkins.

They carved them out because pumpkins float and they're sitting inside and they're making them into boats to cross the river.

You ever seen such a thing?

"Thump, thump, thump.

A pumpkin sounds hollow, but inside is stringy, wet pulp and oodles of slippery white seeds.

Seeds might be saved to grow next year's pumpkins or dried for a crunchy snack."

I love this picture because look at the little girl.

It reminds me of when we made our oobleck inside of our pumpkin.

That's kind of the face I wanted to make.

It was slimy.

"Pumpkin pulp smells sharp and tangy, but can be made into delicious spreads, desserts, and soups.

Sugar pumpkins go into the spicy pies that we bring to our Thanksgiving table."

So there he is, eating a beautiful pumpkin pie.

And I like that he's so well-dressed.

Look, he has a tie on.

Well, so fancy to eat a pumpkin pie.

"Unless, was there something else pumpkins might be used for?"

I want you to think really quickly, what else might pumpkins be used for?

Pies, breads, boats.

Hmm.

Let's see.

"Oh, yes, Jack-o-lanterns!"

Look at these scary Jack-o-lanterns.

This one has super sharp teeth.

Ooh.

"Will you give yours a funny face or a creepy one to send shivers up your back?

Will it be the head of a straw-filled scarecrow?"

(Mrs. Lara giggles) I like the scarecrow.

He's asleep and tired, he looks very peaceful.

"Will your Jack-o-lantern decorate your kitchen table among striped gourds and sunset-colored leaves?

Or will it set your porch aglow on a spooky Halloween night, lighting the way for a curious cat?"

Now, here's a black cat crossing.

And look, there's five little pumpkins, just like in our song.

One, two, three, four, five.

They're not sitting on a gate though, they're sitting on a porch.

"Unused pumpkins are fed to farm animals or left in the field to nourish the precious soil."

There's a cow eating a pumpkin, something I never thought I would see.

And look, they feed the soil because they decompose, they rot, and then they become nutrients for the ground that we plant other things in.

"They're awaiting spring under a wintry blanket."

So look, there's some pumpkins rotting away, ready to go through their life cycle again.

So I hope that you enjoyed this book, "Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie."

I love reading nonfiction texts to you because we learn a thing or two about our subject of the week.

So I'm gonna put this down and we're gonna take some time to review our pumpkin life cycle.

Do you remember how a tiny seed becomes a pumpkin?

Let's see if you remember.

In our book, it talked about it.

So here's our seed.

Let's see.

♪ Our seed becomes a pumpkin ♪ ♪ Our seed becomes a pumpkin ♪ ♪ Hi-ho the derry-o, the seed becomes a pumpkin ♪ ♪ But first it is a sprout ♪ ♪ But first it is a sprout ♪ ♪ Hi-ho the derry-o, but first it is a sprout ♪ Now remember, it's a tiny sprout that has roots that get water from the soil and it also needs sun and water to grow.

♪ And then it becomes a plant ♪ ♪ And then it becomes a plant ♪ ♪ Hi-ho the derry-o, and then it becomes a plant ♪ ♪ Soon it is a flower ♪ ♪ Soon it is a flower ♪ ♪ Hi-ho the derry-o, soon it is a flower ♪ Now pumpkin flowers are beautiful, this yellow-orange color, but they wilt and die, don't they?

And then they become, ♪ Then they're a green pumpkin ♪ ♪ Then they're a green pumpkin ♪ ♪ Hi-ho the derry-o, then they are a green pumpkin ♪ And last, they become the big, fat, orange pumpkins that we know today, right?

♪ And then it's an orange pumpkin ♪ ♪ And then it's an orange pumpkin ♪ ♪ Hi-ho the derry-o, and then it's an orange pumpkin ♪ Now it could be orange, white, blue, yellow, just like our book said.

And then what happens?

It rots and goes into the soil, and the process starts all over again.

That's why it's called a cycle because it happens over and over again.

So right now we're gonna move on to our project place because I have a fun activity for us.

We're gonna study pumpkin emotions using our Jack-o-lantern face, so let's walk over there and we'll get started.

So here we go.

For this activity, you are going to need some Play-Doh.

So you can get this at the place where everything costs $1.

That's where I got this, it's confetti Play-Doh, or you can make your own using flour, water, some food coloring, and you can mix it up at home and you can keep it for up to a month in an airtight container, just look up a recipe if you don't happen to have Play-Doh.

After that, you're going to need a picture of a pumpkin.

Now I printed my picture of a pumpkin, but you can actually just draw one.

You can draw one, you can have your child draw one, you can draw one yourself if you're watching and you're a little, and then I put it in what's called a page protector.

So it's just this plastic right here that I put it in that protects the page because the Play-Doh has some oils that can make our pumpkin kind of oily.

If you don't wanna reuse it, you don't have to use the plastic.

If you don't have a page protector, get a Ziploc bag or a plastic bag, you can use that as well.

All right, so here is our assignment.

We're gonna make a Jack-o-lantern just like in our book, except we're gonna do it with different emotions.

Right here, I'm gonna pull a card and we're gonna see if we can make our pumpkin look that way.

So let's see, first we're gonna pull a card.

Ooh, what emotion or feeling is this?

Angry.

Can you make an angry face out there?

Hm.

That's right.

What things get you angry?

Whew.

I know something that gets me really angry.

When I am outside and I want to go take a nice long walk and all of a sudden it starts raining, oh, I get so angry.

So let's see, to make our Jack-o-lantern look angry I'm gonna take a little bit of my Play-Doh and the first thing I'm gonna do is make some eyes.

So I'm gonna make some round eyes.

So you'll notice I put the Play-Doh in the palm of my hand and I just started moving it around like this, and this helps get it a nice, round ball right there.

And I'm gonna do the same because how many eyes do we have?

We have two eyes and our Jack-o-lantern's gonna have two eyes as well.

All right, here we go.

And I'm gonna smash them down a little bit.

Now you'll notice when a character in a book is angry or when you're angry, your eyebrows kind of come together so I'm gonna give him some eyebrows like this.

Let's see if that makes him look a little angry.

Ooh.

(Mrs. Lara giggles) What do we think so far?

He's looking angry.

Now we're gonna give him a nice, mean, angry smile.

Let's put some Play-Doh between our hands and we're gonna kind of smush it into a snake shape like this, and then maybe we'll get him like this, down.

Well, what do we think?

Does our Jack-o-lantern look nice and angry?

I think so.

Oh, he lost an eye.

He needs to take some belly breaths and calm down, doesn't he?

All right, what's your next emotion?

All right, gonna put that away, Play-Doh away, now teachers, if you're doing this at a center, you would talk about, oh, you know, what things make children angry, maybe reference a book, bring one out and look at the characters and look for a part of the text that would make them feel angry so students can begin to make those connections to the text.

Oh, next one, I love this feeling.

Ah, calm.

Do you ever feel calm when you're four years old?

Kind of hard, isn't it?

(Mrs. Lara giggles) I feel calm when I'm reading a book and drinking some tea, oh, that makes me feel so calm.

So let's look, what kind of characteristics might make someone look like they're calm on their face?

So if you're calm, you might be smiling a little, your eyes look relaxed, your whole face looks relaxed, so I think that we're gonna make a nice smiley face on our pumpkin to be calm.

So I'm gonna make a big snake, if you're following along, make a snake and put some smiles on, then we need some eyes.

Here we go.

Nice and calm, and I may give him a nose too.

I'm gonna give them a triangle nose, a little triangle nose to make him feel nice and calm.

What do you think a Jack-o-lantern would have to do to feel calm?

Probably not get carved.

That's my hunch.

(Mrs. Lara giggles) A nice non-carved Jack-o-lantern, what do you think?

Does that look calm?

I think so, our Jack-o-lantern looks calm.

What kinds of things make you feel calm?

I wonder.

All right, let's pick another emotion, maybe we'll do two or three more.

I love squishing Play-Doh and if you don't already know, when you play with Play-Doh, you are strengthening your hand muscles and your hand muscles are what help you write.

So you're not just playing, you're learning and you're growing and getting ready for school in the best way.

Oh, I like this one, but I wonder, we kind of did this one.

Oh, here's a good one.

A feeling of being scared.

Oh no!

What scares you?

The things that scare me are, oh, big insects like if you're in the house and all of a sudden you see something moving on the floor and it's a big, giant insect.

I get scared and sometimes I even scream, ah!

And then I scare everyone around me.

Are you scared of big insects?

I wonder.

Let's make our Jack-o-lantern feel scared.

Okay.

I think I'm gonna give him an expression of shrinking like that.

Okay.

So let's see, when I go, my mouth is kind of an oval shape, so I think I'm going to use that same method of rolling the Play-Doh between my hands and smushing it down like this to give him an expression of feeling scared, then I'm gonna make my two eyes.

Here we go.

Okay.

And if you wanna get super fancy with your Jack-o-lantern expressions, you can make them have earrings and ears and a fancy nose, maybe some glasses.

(Mrs. Lara giggles) All right, here we go.

What do you think?

Does our Jack-o-lantern look scared?

I think so too.

Looks like someone came at it with a knife and said, "I'm going to carve you!"

(Mrs. Lara giggles) I would be scared too.

All right, maybe let's do one more, rolling our Play-Doh, one or two more here.

Reaching in, oh, this is a feeling you might have quite often, but not know how to label, and that's feeling frustrated.

Oh, frustrated is a feeling when you want something or can't have it and you kind of get angry and sad all mixed up.

Look at her expression, she's like, hm.

I'm frustrated.

I want you to think about a time where you've been frustrated.

Maybe you have a brother or sister at home and you wanted to play with their toy, but they didn't let you, or you wanted to spend more time on your tablet and your parents or grandma, grandpa said no way, you can't.

You might feel frustrated.

So let's see if we can make a frustrated face, kind of like a frown.

A frown is like a sad face, like an upside down rainbow, so again, making the snake between my palms, doing that and two eyes, And I'm gonna make them kind of go down like this because they're frustrated.

A lot of people were frustrated when school started because they had to wake up early.

(Mrs. Lara giggles) But then they realize school's actually fun and don't mind waking up.

Look at that, there a frustrated Jack-o-lantern.

(Mrs. Lara giggles) Okay, I think that was our last one so I hope that you get to try that at home when you carve your pumpkin.

Think about the emotions you have left.

We're gonna do our recommended books and then we'll sing our long alphabet song, okay?

Let me put this away.

I wanted to show you another book that we're not going to get to read, but that you might wanna check out if you're at your local library.

It's called "The Pumpkin Book" by Gail Gibbons.

We almost read this one, but what I like about it is that it is again, a non-fiction text so it gives you lots of true facts about pumpkins.

And it even talks about pumpkins throughout history so you get an idea of the history of pumpkins and why we carve Jack-o-lanterns.

I like the other one just a little more, 'cause it has the realistic pictures.

And the why of Halloween night, so I hope that you check this one out.

And again, lots and lots of facts at the very end.

It's called "The Pumpkin Book" by Gail Gibbons.

And then, if you haven't re-read our story, remember "Spookley the Square Pumpkin?"

I wanted to tell you that online, there's actually a "Spookley the Square Pumpkin" movie.

So once you read the book, you can check out the movie.

All right.

Looks like we have just enough time to sing our Alphabet Song and then say goodbye.

So here we go.

♪ A is four amazing, that's what you are ♪ ♪ B is for brave that'll carry you far ♪ ♪ C is for caring and community ♪ ♪ D is for determined to be the best I can be ♪ ♪ E is for empathy, caring for all ♪ ♪ F is for friends that'll catch you when you fall ♪ ♪ G is for grateful for everything around ♪ ♪ And H for hopeful there's more good to be found ♪ ♪ I is for imagine all the fun things we could do ♪ ♪ J is for joyful, how I feel when I'm with you ♪ ♪ K is for kind to people and animals too ♪ ♪ L is for love, put it in all that you do ♪ ♪ M is for mindful, be present every day ♪ ♪ N is for nice words in everything you say ♪ ♪ O is for original, always be you ♪ ♪ And P is for persevere until you make it through ♪ ♪ Q is for quiet those bad thoughts ♪ ♪ R is for remember all the greatness that you've got ♪ ♪ S is for strong, body and mind ♪ ♪ And T is for talent, why not make yours being kind ♪ ♪ U is for unique, special and loved ♪ ♪ V is for victorious, always rise above ♪ ♪ W is for worthy and wonderful too ♪ ♪ And X, don't X out those mistakes, ♪ ♪ They're what make you you ♪ ♪ Y is for yes, for getting to the end of this rhyme ♪ ♪ And that's the alphabet ♪ ♪ I'll Z you next time ♪ That's right, boys and girls, I'll Z you next time where we're gonna have more pumpkin fun together.

Until then, Mrs. Lara sends you have a big squeeze and a big smooch, and reminds you to read and play, to use your five senses and explore like a scientist every single day.

We'll see you again tomorrow.

Goodbye.

(upbeat music)