First Grade Teacher Uses Pumpkins For Multi-Curricular Lessons

The Jackson (MI) Citizen Patriot (11/1, Wheaton) reported that Sue Allen, a first grade teacher at Townsend Elementary School in Vandercook Lake, Michigan, is teaching her students to count by having them gut pumpkins and number the seeds. The activity was one of several activities at various stations throughout the classroom. The students "also guessed the weight of their pumpkins, and then weighed them on a scale" and "measured the pumpkins' circumference and height using a tape measure." The Citizen Patriot adds that "At other stations the students also learned about the lifespan of a pumpkin, made books, and practiced their handwriting with a pumpkin poem." Allen said that she has been teaching the pumpkin-centered lessons for about 13 or 13 years.