A little fun with The Ugly Pumpkin

Happy Fall!
It's Gina from Beach Sand and Lesson Plans here

I wanted to share a fun artsy project my class did based on the book The Ugly Pumpkin by David Horowitz. (Look at that face!)

I love this story and the it's surprise ending! The kids enjoyed it, too. They felt so sad for the pumpkin. This book is perfect for Pumpkin Day on October 26th, Halloween, or even right into the month of November for Thanksgiving.

I decided we would just have a little fun with it in October.  First, I read it aloud (No front loading involved). After, I asked if the story reminded them of any other books they had read. A few students came up with The Ugly Duckling and only ONE student could give a summary of that story. I decided I had to read it to them right then and there! (Shouldn't ever child know the story?) I read this version:

After it was revealed that the Ugly Pumpkin was really a squash, I shared different types of the vegetable with them. I was very surprised to see that so many kids were not familiar with this vege.

The students were excited to take a break from our regular reading time to create their own Happy Squash. They had SO much fun cutting, creating, and using their imagination. I did not give them a pattern and I offered very little directions.

We did a little research (which inspired their squash shape and color), looked at other varieties, and learned some squash facts which they wrote on the back of their creations. The kids came up with the idea of making signs with a fact that the Happy Squash could hold. They did a great job and had FUN!

If you want a more academic lesson to do with these two books try text comparison. I created these graphic organizers for another pair of books (read about those HERE), but they would work perfectly for the above or any other text you might want to use. Click HERE to download this freebie.

Enjoy some pumpkin stories with your class and don't forget the FUN!