Cara Carroll

The Littlest Pumpkin

Okay, so I meant to post this earlier this evening, but I’ve been glued to the TV watching the footage from Sandy’s path of destruction!  To all my East Coast friends…I’m praying for you!!!!  PLEASE be safe!!!!!!!  ************************************************************************************************ Just wanted to quickly share a fun little activity we did after reading the book, The Littlest Pumpkin by R.A. Herman.  This is one of my favorite seasonal stories!  There is SO much you can do with it!!!  This year, I decided to use this story to reinforce the concept of making text-to-self connections.  First…we did a little story map action before digging in to our focus comprehension strategy.  Then it was time for a little writing & craftivity. jacko7 This little craftivity was inspired by this art project I found at The Elementary Art Room. Together, we discussed why the littlest pumpkin felt disappointed.  We wrote about it during our whole group shared/guided writing time.  My babies are getting SO good about putting “meatball spaces” in between their words and remembering their *stop signs*!  After writing together, I had my kids independently write about a time they felt disappointed.  Some of their little answers were CRACKING me right up! jacko2  jacko3jacko4 jacko6 Just LOVE the way they turned out and their little text-to-self connections were too cute!  I LOVED reading them!  SO funny to see what makes them disappointed…like this one… jacko5    jacko1 TOO cute!!  We’ve been getting ready for Candy Day with a few little fun things in all sorts of random places.  I found these cutie fingers at the $1 spot at Target, so we’ve been using them as our “magic reading fingers” and pointers as we read around the room.  I used to LOVE these things!!! jacko8 And we’ve been doing a little problem solving, too.  Thanks to Kathleen’s Daily Calendar Bundle, my kids are seriously kickin’ tail with their math skills! jacko9  jacko10 Now I’m off to rest up for tomorrow’s festivities.  Should be an interesting day to say the least…full moon AND Halloween?!?!?!  Enough said!  HA!!!  Happy trick-or-treating to you!

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Comments

  2. Vickie says

    We use those same leveled readers! Your kiddos are way farther ahead than mine though…my high group just started level 3s! Love the pumpkins 🙂
    Vickie

    Reply

  16. Jennifer Romeo says

    LOVE LOVE LOVE these (and everything else you do!) Do you have a copy of the text-to-self pumpkin activity sheet I can download or buy on TPT? Thank you for your awesome ideas and always sharing!! 🙂

    Reply

  17. Jo says

    Hi!
    My name is Joana, I am 24 years old and I am from Portugal (next to Spain).
    I am a primary school teacher in a private college and this is my third year of teaching. Since last year I discovered many blogs like yours through “Pinterest”.
    I implemented some of your ideas and I am fascinated by your creativity, cooperation in classroom, independence and autonomy that you give to the children.
    I’d tried to do many things similar to yours but they were not always well accepted by my director and coordinator, because innovation makes a difference, and in making a difference insecurity is more than often created!
    I wonder if there’s any possibility to do an internship in your school, to learn and see, in practice, what I visualize in your blogs.
    I’d love to get an international experience for about one or two years in your country.
    My partner, Tiago, is also a teacher. He teaches English to Kindergarten and primary school children. He wanted to go to China but for me, it’s too far, and then there is the difference in the culture and language which would cause other types of adaption, which I feel would impede my spontaneity. He would love to learn new approaches and different strategies in his field.
    My e-mail is: joana_mbarbosa@hotmail.com, and I trust that you will be able to assist me in improving my educational skills. If it is necessary to give my contact to another person, please feel free to do so.
    With my best regards,
    Joana Fernandes

    Reply

  18. tzlaket says

    Cara, what camera do you use? I am struggling with posting pictures to my little blog, and am wondering if it is my camera or the blog format I chose? Thanks, tons. I always love your ideas/inspiration! :0)
    Toni

    Reply

  20. Judy says

    Hi Cara,
    I saw that you gave the east coast some love on your post and as a former Jersey girl that truly makes me happy!
    Being that you're way more popular than I am, I wanted to know if you could want to help me out to spread the word about helping a school in Northern NJ. They lost everything due to the floods. If you want to help or know of anyone else that would like to help, please visit my page

    http://teachinglittleapples.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-school-needs-your-help.html

    Thanks so much!!

    Judy

    Reply

  26. Jen Chile says

    I'm wondering the same thing as others. We are working hard on connections right now and I'd love to use this next week. thejenchileatgmaildotcom
    Thank you!!

    Reply

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