This unit has been written to meet the objectives of this curriculum. The theme Pumpkins was chosen to allow you to integrate within the strands of mathematics and other Required Areas of Study. This unit, which is more appropriate for the fall season, allows teachers to familiarize themselves with the strands of the mathematics curriculum and their objectives. It focuses mainly on Data Management, Problem Solving and Measurement, although numerous activities from the Numbers and Operations strands are included. Teachers can easily develop these kinds of activities for their particular grade level. Considering that when teaching an integrated unit many objectives are not fully developed, they should be revisited throughout the school year.
This unit consists of three parts:
a) Integrated Unit Web: This is intended to be used for assisting you in brainstorming activities, ideas, and materials which can be integrated with the mathematic strands and other Required Areas of Study. Only some of the ideas from the web are developed in the unit. The Common Essential Learning checklist indicates the number of activities which support each C.E.L.
b) Integrated Lesson Plans: Plans which may include more than one lesson are intended to enable you to communicate this unit of study. It is anticipated that you will continue using the web and planning instrument in further lesson development of this unit.
c) Appendix: This includes sample student activity sheets, evaluation instruments, and other resource materials.
Note: This Appendix requires Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing and printing.
Although this unit was developed at a Grade Two Level, it can be easily adapted for Grades One to Five. At the higher grade levels teachers can use standardized measuring units as well as develop many problems involving the feasibility and economics of farming pumpkins, recipes for large groups of people, and research into the history of pumpkins and jack o' lanterns. The study of plants in science and the study of Cinderella can also be taught in conjunction with this unit.
For student assessment please refer to the appendix as well as the individual lessons. This is an activity-based unit, therefore much of the assessment is done by observation throughout the lessons. Please see the appendix for helpful hints on using "sticky notes". These can be very helpful and will save you a lot of time. A student grid (also see Appendix - requires Acrobat Reader) has been included so that you can adjust it to your needs.
Our intent is to incorporate many different teaching strategies to accommodate varying student learning styles. This unit is not meant to be prescriptive. You should adapt and change it to meet the needs of your students and yourself.
