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In the barn the children looked for pumpkins which had no stems left on them. Some of them were so large that they made good seats.

"We will put four small seats in the front row," said Polly. "Those are for the four dolls. Then we will have four in the next row. Those are for you two boys and Wag-wag and Collie.

"My chair is out here in front. I shall be the teacher. I shall always be the teacher."

"We do not care," said Peter. "If you are the teacher all the time, we shall be naughty boys some of the time."

"No, you will not," said Polly. "Now, boys, take your seats."

"If you say, 'Take your seats,' I shall not do it," said Tim. "You must say, 'Take your pumpkins.'"

"If you say, 'Take your pumpkins,'" said Peter, "I shall really take mine and go away."

"Oh, dear!" said Polly. "What shall I do with two naughty boys? I know. You get the dogs and make them sit on their pumpkins."

The two biggest pumpkins had been put in the row for the two dogs. Tim showed Collie what he was to do.

Collie is a very smart dog. He knew what Tim meant. He was willing to play school. So he tried to sit upon the pumpkin. He was so big that one of his legs kept slipping off.

When Wag-wag saw Collie on his scat, he jumped up on the next one. He was small, so it was easy for him to sit there. "Now, Collie," said the teacher, "how many are two and three?"

Just then Collie slipped off his pumpkin. Polly played that he meant to stand.

"That is right," said the teacher. "You must always stand, when you answer a question. Now, can you tell me I Then come down here and I will help you."

Collie walked out to the teacher.

"You mind very well," said she. "I will show you about two and three. Speak, Collie!"

Collie barked. His master had taught him to do that.

"Speak again!"

Collie barked again.

"That is right, little boy. That is two. Now do it three times more. Speak! Speak! Speak! "

Collie barked three times more.

"Very good," said the teacher. "You have barked five times. That is what two and three make. Do you understand about it?"

Just then she heard a noise. It was Tim and Peter. They were rolling their seats over the barn floor.

"Children, children, stop, stop!" cried the teacher. "What are you doing? Take your seats!"

"We have taken them," shouted Peter. "We have taken them away. It is recess. We are playing it is winter. We are rolling snowballs. See how big they are."

"I will have a bigger one," said Polly. And she ran to get Collie's seat.

Out of the barn and down the driveway rolled the pumpkins. And that was the end of playing school for that day.

story image

Directions

Study the lesson for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read the story multiple times.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary words.
  • Learn the concepts.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Study the review questions.

Synopsis

Peter, Polly, Tim, their pets, and their dolls decide play school in their barn. The children, the dolls, and the animals sit on large, stemless pumpkins. Polly sits in front and plays teacher. Polly drills them in math, asking Collie what two plus three equals. Peter and Tim announce it is recess and roll their pumpkins down the driveway.

Vocabulary

Teacher: A person who helps students learn through the transfer of knowledge and skills.
Pumpkin: A large rounded orange-yellow fruit with a thick rind, edible flesh, and many seeds.
Vine: A climbing or trailing woody-stemmed plant of the grape family.

Concepts

Pumpkins are the fruit of a squash plant.

Facts about pumpkins:

  1. Pumpkins grow from tiny fruits attached to flowers which grow off long vines.
  2. People eat pumpkin shells, seeds, flesh, and flowers. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, and pumpkin muffins are popular items made from pumpkin.
  3. Many people carve pumpkins into Jack-O-Lanterns for Halloween.
  4. Some people compete to grow 'Giant Pumpkins.' The largest Giants can weigh more than 2000 pounds, close to what a small car weighs.
  5. Other people build machines to throw pumpkins in pumpkin chunking contests. The team with the machine that throws the pumpkin farthest wins.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Story

  • After reading or listening to the story, narrate the story events aloud using your own words.

Activity 2: Pumpkin Formation Comic Strip

Objective:

Draw a comic that shows in sequence how a pumpkin grows (and what it might become at Thanksgiving dinner!)

Materials:

Pencil, crayons or markers, and paper.

Procedure:

  • Examine the picture below. Note the vines, leaves, flowers, and pumpkin.
  • Draw two lines on a piece of paper to divide it into four frames or comic panels.
  • Draw a comic strip that shows how a pumpkin grows and is used by people.
  • In the first panel, draw a vine in a garden.
  • In the second panel, draw a flower growing on the vine.
  • In the third panel, replace the flower with a pumpkin growing on the vine.
  • In the fourth panel, draw some delicious pumpkin pie.

Review

Question 1

What do teachers do for students?
1 / 4

Answer 1

Teachers do many things for students, parents, schools, and communities. Teachers convey knowledge and ideas, demonstrate concepts, and explain things to students. Teachers also lead classes, create and give assignments and tests and grade student work. Teachers also spend lots of time running extra-curricular activities such as sports and clubs.
1 / 4

Question 2

Is a pumpkin a plant or an animal?
2 / 4

Answer 2

A pumpkin is a plant.
2 / 4

Question 3

Describe what a ripe pumpkin looks like after it has been plucked off the vine.
3 / 4

Answer 3

A typical pumpkin has a rounded orange body and a dark green stem.
3 / 4

Question 4

Describe how a pumpkin grows from a vine.
4 / 4

Answer 4

A vine first grows a flower with a tiny fruit attached to the flower. The tiny fruit then grows into a pumpkin.
4 / 4

  1. What do teachers do for students? Teachers do many things for students, parents, schools, and communities. Teachers convey knowledge and ideas, demonstrate concepts, and explain things to students. Teachers also lead classes, create and give assignments and tests and grade student work. Teachers also spend lots of time running extra-curricular activities such as sports and clubs.
  2. Is a pumpkin a plant or an animal? A pumpkin is a plant.
  3. Describe what a ripe pumpkin looks like after it has been plucked off the vine. A typical pumpkin has a rounded orange body and a dark green stem.
  4. Describe how a pumpkin grows from a vine. A vine first grows a flower with a tiny fruit attached to the flower. The tiny fruit then grows into a pumpkin.

References

  1. 'Pumpkin.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

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