Ms. Henson and the Pumpkins Journey Into Reading

[williamjackson]

Ms. Henson and the Pumpkins

Is it a fruit or a vegetable was stated several times by the kindergarten class
of Ms. Henson at  Andrew Robinson Elementary School.

Cross curricular integration of subject matter ranging from science, nutrition, and literacy
made for a day of fun and discovery.

Ms. Henson, a veteran kindergarten teacher had students, parents and volunteers involved
in the art and intricacies of pumpkin art work.  The smiles, laughter and giggles mainly from
the parents in attendance showed that there is still a little kid in all of us even as parents.

The students had a chance to get their hands gooey from digging out the “innards of pumpkin
guts” as the students called it when the adults cut open the tops of pumpkins so they could be
cleaned out of seeds and gooey stuff then artistic designs could be made.

The literacy (reading and comprehension) element began weeks before as the students took
a reading journey through books such as “Apples and Pumpkins” (Anne Rockwell), “It’s Pumpkin
Time” (Zoe Hall) and “The Biggest Pumpkin Ever” (Elizabeth Bennett).

The discussions, laughter and at times serious looks displayed the concentration to detail
students took in the design and execution of pumpkin artistry.

According to Wikipedia the pumpkin is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin

Pictures can be found at: http://photobucket.com/hensonandthepumpkins