(playful music) - Hello, little learners, welcome back to our pre-K and TK classroom.

My name is Mrs. Lara, and I'm going to be your teacher today.

I'm so excited to be here, and I'd love to hear your name too, so wherever you are, as loud as your able, say your name for me as soon as I put my hand to my ear, ready?

Oh, hello there.

Let's see if I have your special letter.

Do you recognize this letter?

It's the letter O.

Is that your special letter?

Yes?

No?

I still didn't get it right for some of you, huh?

I guess I can't get it right for all of you, but don't worry if I don't get your special letter this time I'll be sure to bring more letters out so I recognize yours.

Okay, today is actually day five of the five days that we're going to be together this week.

So let me add a magnetic to my bottom here.

And look on my tin frame I have five.

I have two on top and three on the bottom and two plus three makes five, that's right.

No matter where I move them still five.

And all this week we're talking about things that scare us, some spooky things, like an old lady who eats a bat, imagine that.

And yesterday we talked about a big pumpkin, and there were some fictional characters in there that helped a witch pull it out of the ground.

Today we're going to be discussing a pumpkin that's not so cute.

I can't wait to read that book to you.

But first, speaking of pumpkins.

We have to sing our pumpkin song.

Now remember, I have different pumpkins here with feelings, you can make those feelings with your face as I pull them out.

Here we go.

♪ Where's my pumpkin, where's my pumpkin ♪ ♪ Here it is, here it is ♪ ♪ Happy jack-o-lantern, happy jack-o-lantern ♪ ♪ Looks like this, looks like this ♪ Maybe you can carve your jack-o-lantern into a happy face like this.

♪ Where's my pumpkin, where's my pumpkin ♪ ♪ Here it is, here it is ♪ ♪ Angry jack-o-lantern, angry jack-o-lantern ♪ ♪ Looks like this, looks like this ♪ Oh, so angry.

I'm almost scared and angry looking at it.

You need to change your eyebrows.

♪ Where's my pumpkin, where's my pumpkin ♪ ♪ Here it is, here it is ♪ ♪ Love jack-o-lantern, love jack-o-lantern ♪ ♪ Looks like this, looks like this ♪ Oh, I think some of you might be blowing him some kisses, that's why he feels so loved.

♪ Where's my pumpkin, where's my pumpkin ♪ ♪ Here it is, here it is ♪ ♪ Surprised jack-o-lantern, surprised jack-o-lantern ♪ ♪ Looks like this, looks like this ♪ So surprised.

Last one.

♪ Where's my pumpkin, where's my pumpkin ♪ ♪ Here it is, here it is ♪ ♪ Sad jack-o-lantern, sad jack-o-lantern ♪ ♪ Looks like this, looks like this ♪ That's right, the jack-o-lantern is crying, he's so sad.

Maybe after reading our book he'll feel better.

So we need to find some clues about the book we're going to read, don't we?

Let's see what letter Miss Maria left us.

(doorbell rings) Here we go.

Now we know that we've learned left to right, so now we're practicing tracking.

Do you remember what pointer finger we use?

This one.

The one right by our thumb.

So we're gonna get it out and start at the left and go to the right.

And right when you think you're finger is about to fall off, you return sweep back to the left and go the right, and return sweep.

Remember, your homework is to practice this with books even if you can't read the words.

So let's read together.

"Dear Mrs. Lara, "I have been waiting all October "to be taken home by somebody, anybody!"

Hmm, what would wait in October to be taken home?

Let's start thinking.

"I long to leave the pumpkin patch "and find a place where I belong."

So something that hasn't been taken home that lives in a pumpkin patch.

A pumpkin.

Why wouldn't a pumpkin be taken home?

Let's see what book we have here.

"The Ugly Pumpkin."

Look at this poor pumpkin.

He looks like a little deflated, maybe that's why they called him ugly.

Ugly is a not nice word, isn't it?

Let's see, this book is by Dave Horowitz, that's the author and illustrator of this story.

That means Dave Horowitz wrote the words and drew the pictures.

So there he is.

"The Ugly Pumpkin."

I hope that this story has a happy ending.

I just can't bear when stories don't.

Let's start reading it here.

Some leaves, the title page, and you can see our pumpkin walking away.

"I am the ugly pumpkin, as you can plainly see.

"Of 100,000 pumpkins, none are quite like me."

So look at all these pumpkins in the patch, and there's the poor, skinny, ugly pumpkin, like he calls himself.

"Since early in October, I've been waiting to get picked.

"But each time things start looking up..." Look, it looks like they're gonna pick him, they're even pointing at him.

That's the one!

"I end up getting tricked!"

They're like, ha ha, not you.

Poor ugly pumpkin.

"A skeleton came for pumpkins one bright and crispy day."

So there's the skeleton with his truck and he's piling all the pumpkins inside and our ugly pumpkin has a sign that says, "Going my way?"

And he's wanting to be picked, isn't he.

"I asked if I could get a ride, "he laughed and said, 'No way!'"

Oh no, he's left behind right here.

And the skeleton has a little tattoo right here, if you get the book, you'll have to read that and tell me what it says.

"And when I said, it's getting late, "I don't have a home, he rolled his eye and said goodbye, "and left me all alone."

So there's the skeleton driving his truck.

He's rolling his eye and the pumpkin is in the rear view mirror all lonely and by himself.

Poor ugly pumpkin.

"So I walked into November, "where I happened on some trees.

"I asked if I could stay a while, "and this time I said please!"

Look at that tree.

Does it have a friendly face, what's your prediction?

Is that tree gonna help our ugly pumpkin?

"The trees all started smiling "and then one finally spoke, "'Take off your boots and spread your roots.'"

He's taking off his boots, he's so excited.

I think he thinks he finally found a home.

"Another cruel joke."

What did they end up doing?

The trees ended up throwing apples at him.

Why is everyone being so mean to this poor pumpkin?

Is it because he doesn't look like any of the other pumpkins?

What a sad story.

"'I am the ugly pumpkin!'

"I shouted to the sky."

In some nice big letters.

"And then of course, it started raining, "so I began to cry."

Oh no, I almost want to cry with the ugly pumpkin too.

How sad.

"I took shelter in a garden "that was overrun with squash."

There he is snuffling his nose.

Bootless and alone.

"I noticed something very odd, "and then thought, oh my gosh."

What do you think he's noticing?

Look at the shapes of the other squash.

"Oh my gosh, I'm a squash!

"At last it was Thanksgiving "and I found where I fit in.

"Now you know my story, so let the feast begin."

So there he is with all his squash friends.

"Happy Thanksgiving."

The end.

So what did you think of the story, "The Ugly Pumpkin?"

In this story, the pumpkin could not find a place to live and people were playing tricks on him and not picking him because he didn't look like the other pumpkins.

Turns out he was a squash the whole time, he just had to find his place.

Now for our foundational skill, we're gonna do some shared writing and we're gonna talk about how the pumpkin felt throughout the story.

Now remember feelings are things you feel in your body and they can change all the time, just like the weather.

And in this story, the ugly pumpkin's feelings change from happy to sad to lonely to happy.

So let's go over to our shared writing spot and we'll do some writing around feelings.

So let me put my book down here on my chair and I'll walk over to "The Ugly Pumpkin."

And I have some prompts here that are gonna help us remember different parts of the story.

So you'll remember in the very first part of the story, the ugly pumpkin was the only one that was not picked out of the whole pumpkin patch.

You can see in this picture he's even shedding a tear.

How do you think that made him feel?

That's right, he was lonely and sad.

Let's see if we can write those words.

Will you help me with the beginning sound?

Lonely, L. Oh, that's my special letter.

Lonely 'cause nobody would pick him.

And sad.

Sad is one of those words that you might be able to write at home.

Let's see, S, ad, so he was lonely and sad when nobody would pick him, right?

And then hmm, let's see.

He met some trees, and those trees, they had kind of a mean face and said, "Take off your boots, you can stay with us," but was he able to stay there?

No, it was just a trick, and they started throwing apples at him.

How would you feel if you were tricked like that?

Maybe sad or maybe a little scared?

Yeah, maybe he was scared because he was being hit by the apples.

Maybe confused.

Confused is when you don't know what is happening.

So maybe I'll add confused here.

Why would they trick him?

Let's see, beginning sounds, C, con, C-O-N, F, confused.

He's just confused.

Why would they trick him?

Maybe a little sad here too?

Let's put our word sad.

Sad.

Confused and sad when those nasty trees threw apples at him.

And there he was, taking off his boots with those trees.

Now before they tricked him they were telling him, you belong with us.

How do you think that made him feel?

Maybe relieved or happy.

He thought he'd finally found his spot, didn't he?

And at the end, when he went to the garden, he did find his spot.

He said, "Oh my gosh, I'm a squash."

How is he feeling here?

Maybe happy?

Let's try writing out that word happy.

Happy.

And maybe he feels like he belongs.

When you belong somewhere, you feel like you're around the right people.

I'm gonna write that word belong.

Belong.

Right up here, he feels happy and like he belongs.

So "The Ugly Pumpkin" is a great story to review emotions with children, because there's the feeling of being made fun of, being left out, feeling happy when you finally fit in, and find the spot where you're meant to be.

So I hope that you check it out.

Right now we're gonna go over to our project place because I'm gonna leave you with a fun activity that you might be able to decorate your house with.

Let's see, how many steps to get there.

I'm gonna guess six, ready?

One, two, three, four.

That was four.

Was that more or less than six?

That was less than six, right?

I need to take smaller steps, I really don't like being wrong.

All right, for our project today we're gonna make a big ugly pumpkin out of recycled materials.

Well, a nice pumpkin.

We'll see how it turns out.

What you'll need for this activity is a paper bag, maybe some green paper, a stick that you found outside, something to stuff your pumpkin with, I'm gonna use some plastic bags that I recycled, and some paint, whatever color you want your pumpkin to be.

I picked orange, kind of a deeper orange, so it can really stand out.

Now when you get your paper bag from the store, you're going to notice that it has a design on it, if you don't want your design to show, what you're going to do is you're going to cut down the sides of the bag, like I have here, and then you're gonna flip it over like I did, like this so that you don't show your designs.

The next thing you're gonna do, and it's gonna get a little bit loud, is you're gonna want to stuff your pumpkin.

It's gonna get loud, you're gonna hear some crinkling noises.

All right, let me stuff it with some plastic bags.

This is a great way to use recycled materials at home, and you can make these pumpkins absolutely gorgeous.

Some people even add ribbon to them.

Here it is, getting stuffed.

I'm just gonna crinkle it, are you ready for the noise?

Here it goes.

There's the noise.

Gonna crinkle it up.

I'm just gonna add some tape where I put my openings.

I have some tape here.

And of course you can just leave the design however you want it.

Here's some tape.

And here's some tape to close up the edges of my pumpkin.

You can see right here on the edge.

And that's because I did not want the design to show.

But you can leave it so that the designs shows and you won't have to struggle with putting it back together.

All right, let's put it there.

There we are.

Next I'm gonna take a big piece of tape and tie it around.

But first I'm gonna put my stump in there.

And it's just a stick that I found outside, I'm gonna put him in there.

There we go, now we can tape it up.

There it is.

I'm gonna take a long piece of tape and tape up the top about as long as I can get it.

You have to hold it still, so this might be a two person job.

You might need some help from a grownup.

See, it's already starting to look like a really cool pumpkin.

Just wait 'til we paint it.

What do you think, ugly pumpkin, nice pumpkin?

I'm gonna fluff it up right here.

I noticed this is kind of caved in.

There, you can fluff it up however you'd like.

Here we go.

And that's what it's looking like so far.

I'm gonna add just another piece of tape just to really make sure that it stays on there.

And then for the next part I'm gonna paint it, and I'm not gonna use a feather duster like earlier in the week.

No, we're gonna paint with a regular paintbrush.

So I'm gonna put some orange paint on a plate.

And you can use anything that you have around the house.

Normally what I like to do is keep some primary colors in stock because they sell them at the place where everything costs a dollar, and you can mix any color with those.

And I'm gonna start painting my pumpkin.

Let's see, you might need a couple of layers to get just the color that you want.

And I'll show how we're gonna add some leaves and make a beautiful, nice pumpkin.

Now I added lots of stuffing to mine, but if you want yours to resemble the character in the book or look like the character in the book, you don't have to stuff it quite so much.

You can make a skinny, long pumpkin, or you can make it like "Spookley," remember reading that book?

A square pumpkin.

All right, let's keep painting some more.

And just time to paint it all up.

It's really fun to get in the nooks and crannies of it.

And make sure that we paint over here on this side.

Now wouldn't it be fun to decorate your house with some of these?

I thought it would be nice to make a whole pumpkin patch, and then you can pretend that you're selling pumpkins and then make sure that people buy all the pumpkins, not just the really round ones.

The ones like the character in our story.

When I was in my classroom, we used to make a pumpkin patch with pumpkins that were made out of paper like this.

Each child would make their own and then we would get a cash register, and somebody would be at the register charging for the pumpkins.

We would weigh the pumpkins, we would measure the pumpkins, put them in baskets.

I'm gonna finish painting a little bit more and I'll show you how to add the leaf for the finishing touch.

Here we go.

So this would be a fun project to do in a classroom and at home.

Okay, let's see, how's that looking?

It's getting there.

Once it dries, it'll dry just a little bit lighter and you'll be able to see the orange of the pumpkin.

All right, next thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna add some leaves.

So we're gonna cut out some leaves here with my green paper.

You can use white paper and just color it in green.

I just happen to have some green paper because you know I save every scrap that I use.

I'll show you how to add the leaf.

Just need one leaf here.

I'm gonna cut around.

Now your leaf does not have to look like my leaf, but this is what my leaf is looking like so far.

And then I might make just some vines.

So to make a vine, you take some green paper, or like I said, white paper that you've colored, and you kind of go like this all around, crumble it up to make a vine, and you're gonna glue your leaf to your vine before adding to your pumpkin.

So I'll show you how to do that very quickly.

I hope you make your own pumpkin patch and don't forget to charge your parents like $20 a pumpkin, what do you think?

(chuckles) That'll be fun, huh?

And I'm gonna wrap my vine around like this.

Do it however you want, and then you can just tape it down, so it looks like a vine on a pumpkin.

And I'll show you the finished product.

Of course you can use glue.

For time I'm gonna use tape.

So this is what my pumpkin is looking like.

What do you think, a nice pumpkin?

I hope that you give this a try and I'm gonna show you some books that I didn't get to read with you this week, that I recommend you checking out.

So I'm gonna put my pumpkin here to the side, and show you one that's a favorite.

It's called, "Room on the Broom."

And it's great for practicing your rhyming skills.

Let's take a look inside.

You can try to guess who the characters are.

A witch and a cat.

And there's lots of other fun characters, like a bird.

And they do some really funny things, and they cast a spell.

So I hope that you check this one out at your local library.

And there's one more hot off the presses that just came out.

Do you know that book, "The Bad Seed," if you haven't checked it out that book, it's about this guy right here and he's a bad seed.

He wasn't always like that, but he does bad things until he's not.

And these are some of the other characters as well.

Well, they just came out with a spooky version of that story.

So you can go and check this one out.

It's brand new.

Look at him, he's in a sunflower field.

If you know the original story, you know he does like sunflowers and a scarecrow.

Let's see how it ends.

I'll give a little bit away.

Oh, it looks like the dress up and have a huge jack-o-lantern.

So I hope that you check out this story as well.

All right, boys and girls, we have just enough time to sing our alphabet song and say goodbye.

We won't have time for the long one, but here's the short version, ready?

♪ A, B, C, you later ♪ ♪ D, E, F, G, I'm gonna miss ya ♪ ♪ H, I have to go now ♪ ♪ J, K, bye bye now ♪ ♪ L, M, N, O, I had a good time ♪ ♪ P, Q, R, you gonna miss me ♪ ♪ S, T, U, are my best friend ♪ And you are, you're my very best friend.

♪ V, W, X, Y, Z ♪ That's right, Z, that's for Z you next week.

And actually next week we're gonna have Mrs. Readwright back and she's gonna do some art lessons with us.

I think that she's gonna focus on polka dots if I remember correctly.

So I hope that you check out her episodes and stories that she reads as well.

I'm gonna come back the week after and we're gonna read stories all about feeling grateful.

So I can't wait until I see you then.

Goodbye, boys and girls, have a wonderful day.

We'll see you next time, goodbye.

(upbeat music)