My Perfect Pumpkin Writing and Stumpkin

It’s that time of year again- pumpkin time! Pumpkins are everywhere, Halloween is right around the corner and I am excited to share my PERFECT PUMPKIN writing activity with you all.

Literature Link

I found this amazing new book last week. I ordered it and the day it arrived, I immediately read it to my first graders. They loved it! I love it! I knew it was the perfect jumping off point for a great writing activity.

Stumpkin

by Lucy Ruth Cummins

“Stumpkin is the most handsome pumpkin on the block. He’s as orange as a traffic cone! Twice as round as a basketball! He has no bad side! He’s perfect choice for a Halloween jack-o-lantern.There’s just one problem—Stumpkin has a stump, not a stem. And no one seems to want a stemless jack-o-lantern for their window.As Halloween night approaches, more and more of his fellow pumpkins leave, but poor Stumpkin remains. Will anyone give Stumpkin his chance to shine?” (Amazon)

As you can imagine, my students immediately fell in love with Stumpkin and with his story.

My Perfect Pumpkin Writing Activity

We began by brainstorming what we each think defines the perfect pumpkin. We talked about size, shape, color and the stem. I then gave each student a plan sheet to fill out based on what we had just discussed. I love the variety of answers I got. Here are some examples of my studednts’ plan sheets.

The bottom circle on the plan sheet has a spot where students can add their own unique idea. Some examples are the perfect amount of seeds, ribs or bumps.

After planning, I had modeled how to use the planning sheet to write about their perfect pumpkin.

But first, my students drew a picture of their perfect pumpkin on the top of their writing paper.

Their pictures were amazing!

Then it was time to write!

And finally, the end product! Some really great descriptions of my first graders PERFECT PUMPKINS!

Templates for this writing activity is available here.

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