To
Our
Wild,
Wacky Watermelon Unit
These facts taken from the National
Watermelon Promotion Board
•
Throughout the years, watermelon has found itself in many
pickles, jams, and other interesting situations. Here is a list of fun facts
you many not have known about watermelons:
•
Watermelon is grown in over 96 countries worldwide.
•
In
•
In
•
Watermelon is 92% water.
•
Watermelon’s official name is Citrullus
lanatus of the botanical family Curcurbitacae
and it is a vegetable! It is related to cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash.
•
By weight, watermelon is the most-consumed melon in the
•
Early explorers used watermelons as canteens.
•
The first cookbook published in the
•
Food Historian John Martin Taylor says that early Greek settlers
brought the method of pickling watermelon with them to
•
A watermelon was once thrown at Roman Governor Demosthenes during a political debate. Placing the
watermelon upon his head, he thanked the thrower for providing him with a helmet
to wear as he fought Philip of Macedonia.
•
In 1990, Bill Carson, of
•
In 1999, over 4 billion pounds of watermelon were produced in
the
•
Watermelon is an ideal health food because it doesn’t contain
any fat or cholesterol, is an excellent source of vitamins A, B6 and C, and
contains fiber and potassium.
•
Contrary to popular belief, eating watermelon
seeds does not cause a watermelon to grow in your stomach. Actually, in
some cultures it is popular to bake the seeds and then eat them.
•
Over 1,200 varieties of watermelon are grown worldwide.
•
Every part of a watermelon is edible, even the seeds and rinds.
•
The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred nearly 5,000
years ago in
•
The word “watermelon” first appeared in the English dictionary
in 1615.
Opening Activities for Unit:
Circle Time
Activity: Put a whole watermelon in a canvas bag with handles. Cover the top so that the watermelon cannot
be seen. Tell the children that you
have put a fruit in the bag. Have each
child come up and pick up the bag. After
everyone has had a turn, ask for ideas of what type of fruit it might be.
Watermelon KWL (Know; Want to learn; Learned) Chart
- Ask the group what they know about watermelons and record their answers on a
large watermelon shape. Then ask what they would like to learn and record
their answers. At the end of the unit, go back and have them tell what
they have learned.
5-Day
Kindergarten Shared Reading Lesson: The
Enormous Watermelon By Brenda Parkes and Judith
Smith (Rigby, 1986) -
(Adapted
from Shared reading with big books: Using Building Blocks™ and Four-Blocks™
strategies By Hall and Fuhrman.
Carson-Dellosa Publishing Company, Inc.
Story
Synopsis: Old Mother Hubbard plants a watermelon seed that grows and
grows. It is so enormous that she must
enlist the help from some familiar nursery rhyme characters, including Humpty
Dumpty.
Day 1
Purpose – To build background knowledge and read for enjoyment.
Preparation/Materials
Needed – Chart
paper with “Old Mother Hubbard” nursery rhyme written on it.
Before –
•
Building
background knowledge and making connections – talk with class about eating
watermelon. Allow students to share
their own experiences.
•
Cover
talk – ask, “What do you notice? Who is
that lady?”
•
New
idea – introduce the nursery rhyme “Old Mother Hubbard.”
•
Picture
walk – start a discussion of each page with the questions, “What do you
notice?” and “Who do you think the new character is on this page?” Talk about some important
words and how pictures and sound helped you figure them out.
During –
•
Read
aloud – read the big book aloud to the students with full expression.
•
Shared
reading – invite students to join in and share the reading of the story.
After –
•
Discussion
– talk about who Old Mother Hubbard is and what she does in this story. Then choral read the nursery rhyme “Old
Mother Hubbard.”
Day 2
Purpose – Discuss the characters of
the story and highlight each of the characters names.
Preparation/Materials
Needed – Highlighting
tape, pocket chart, index cards
Before –
•
Retelling
– allows students to retell the story during a picture walk.
•
Reviewing
– ask, “Who was pulling the watermelon?”
Write the students’ responses on index cards and place the cards in the
pocket chart.
During –
•
Choral
reading and highlighting - the whole class reads the text with you or you can
assign parts to be read by different children.
Stop after each two-page spread and allow students to highlight any
character names. Write and post any
names that were not already in the pocket chart.
After –
•
Discussion
– talk about the characters and what they do in the story.
Day 3
Purpose – Identify the beginning,
middle, and end of the story.
Preparation/Materials
Needed – beach
ball with questions, three sentence strips, and a pocket chart with cards
labeled: Beginning, Middle, End.
Before –
•
Retelling
– use the cover as a catalyst for retelling the story.
During –
•
Echo
reading – read a line and let the children be your echo, repeating the line
after you.
After –
•
Discussion
and writing - ask, “What happened at the beginning? In the middle? At the
end?” Write student responses on the
sentence strips and place them in the pocket chart under the appropriate
heading.
•
Beach
ball questions – toss the beach ball and assist the student who catches the
ball in reading one of the questions.
Allow students to answer the question.
Encourage the students to refer to the pocket chart and/or book cover
when giving answers.
Day 4
Purpose – Summarize and draw what
happened in the book.
Preparation/Materials
Needed – Pocket
chart from Day 3 and 9” X 12” drawing paper or notebooks.
Before –
•
Reviewing
– using the pocket chart created in Day 3, talk about what happened yesterday
in the story. Then, choral read the
pocket chart. (The whole class reads the chart with you or you can assign
different parts to be read by different children or groups of children.)
During –
•
Choral
reading – the whole class reads the big book with you or you can assign parts
to be read by different children.
After –
•
Summarizing
and drawing – have the children tell you in a sentence what happened to the
watermelon seed. Write them down on the bottom of the drawing paper. Then, let
them draw a picture to illustrate their sentences.
Day 5
Purpose – Participate in doing the big
book.
Preparation/Materials
Needed – Story
props (illustrations of Old Mother
Hubbard, Little Miss Muffet, Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, and Wee Willy Winkie), a ball to use as a
watermelon, and fresh watermelon for students to eat.
Before –
•
Presenting
the props – discuss how to use them in doing the book.
•
Picture
walk – confirm the actions and their sequence for doing the book.
During –
•
Doing
the book – pass out the story props. As
the class choral reads the text, the characters pantomime the actions. Repeat allowing every child to participate in
the pantomime.
After –
•
Discussion
– Talk about the story and then let everyone eat watermelon and save the
seeds. Send the seeds home in a
snack-size, resealable plastic bag along with directions on how to grow a
watermelon plant.
Extensions:
•
Predictable Chart Idea – I
want to grow a big ______________ to eat.
I want to grow a big tomato
to eat. (Mrs. Beckett)
I want to grow a big carrot
to eat. (John)
I want to grow a big apple
to eat. (Sally)
Additional
Literacy Lessons and Activities:
1.
Using the pattern from the book, Brown, Bear, Brown Bear (John Archembault)
write a watermelon book:
Cover (color
to look like inside of watermelon) “Watermelon, Watermelon” - Title
Page 2- Brown dirt, brown dirt what do
you see? (put real dirt on this page)
Page 3-I see
black seeds looking at me. (glue real seed)
Black seeds, black seeds what
do you see?
Page 4-I see
blue water looking at me.
Blue water, blue water what do
you see?
Page 5-I see
a green vine looking at me.
Page 6- Green vine, green vine what do
you see?
Page 7-I see
a flower looking at me.
Page 8-I see
a watermelon looking at me.
Page 9-watermelon, watermelon what do
you see?
I see (teacher's name) class
looking at me!
2.
Let students
act out The Enormous Watermelon
by pretending to be the nursery rhyme characters from the story. As each
character is introduced in your class’ play, have them sing the accompanying
nursery rhyme!
3.
Brainstorm
other words for “enormous.” What does enormous mean? (large,
big, huge, gigantic, etc.)
4.
Chart a list of the
characters from the story in order.
5.
Brainstorm
other words that begin with the /w/ sound as in watermelon.
6.
Draw a large
watermelon. Ask students to orally describe the watermelon. Then
let the students help write the characteristics of the watermelon on the
cut out. (large, juicy, black seeds, green rind,
etc.)
7.
Have a rhyming
seed sort! Use watermelon shaped notepads and black watermelon seed
cut outs to have students match rhyming pictures. For example, on one
watermelon place the picture of a cat. On several different seeds, place
pictures of a hat, bat, mat, rat, etc. Students match the rhyming seed
pictures to the corresponding watermelon!
8.
Watermelon Alphabet Game - Make a green long vine garden. Make 26 Watermelons. Laminate the
green long vine on the floor with clear contact paper, but before contacting it
put on the vines big capital letters. Just letters in different positions
of the vine and contact it down. The letters have to be big. On the watermelons
have the lowercases, make 26 of them, and have them laminated for
sturdiness and durability. Give the kids a mixed up number of watermelons and
have them match them to the floor.
9.
Pocket Chart
Story:
Watermelon Happy
This is
watermelon happy.
This is
watermelon sad.
Now you see
him sleepy.
Now you see
him mad.
This is
watermelon in pieces small.
But in my tummy,
he’s best of all.
Math Lessons and Activities:
1.
Counting Seeds:
Teacher cuts
the watermelon, revealing all the seeds.
In groups of 3 or 4, groups will be given a
piece of watermelon with a bowl. Groups
begin to take out the seeds and place them in the bowl. At the end of the seed pulling {give time
limit; if needed}, groups count their seeds.
The teacher will go to each group, asking what number they had
gotten. A graph of the seeds will be
made, and class will discuss who had more, less, same.
2.
Estimation:
Teacher will
place seeds in a jar, and ask each child to make an estimation of the number of seeds. Discuss why you chose that number. Count and see who was the closest, furthest, right on point.
How much
does a watermelon weigh? {If possible,
have different sizes of watermelons
and compare} Graph the results.
3.
Simple Fractions:
Children
will each make a watermelon out of construction paper. The teacher will then ask them to cut it directly in the middle. How many pieces do you have? Is it
whole? Discuss. Keep going, depending on the appropriateness
of the students.
4.
Counting/patterns:
How many
stripes does a watermelon have? Are they
all the same or different? Do you see a pattern? Create your own watermelon pattern on paper,
or create a paper mâche watermelon
to paint a pattern of stripes.
5.
Graphing:
Create a
graph on if you like watermelon. Discuss
the graph.
6.
Number Matching:
Children
will make 2 slices of watermelon {out of paper plates}
and draw seeds on one slice. They will take the other slice and write the
number of seeds that were shown on the
first slice. At the end, a matching game
will have been made, for the children
to match the numbers to the seeds. Use
the appropriate numbers, 1-20 or higher,
depending on the level of the children.
7. Measure: Use a tape measure to
measure the size of the watermelon. Discuss why you used a tape measure instead of a ruler or
yardstick. Discuss as well how you
could have used any length of something flexible (belt, ribbon, yarn, string, twine, rope, etc.) to measure it.
Then tape the tape measure on the board or a chart,
making sure to indicate in a big way the size of the watermelon (ex. a piece of red tape at 23" if that's how
big it is). Then have the students either come up individually and measure their yarn against the length of the
tape, or measure their yarn with a tape
measure, and then record their answers on a graph. Once everyone's yarn had been measured and
the results graphed, discuss the results of
the graph.
Then you
might want to give the students an opportunity to practice measuring the watermelon using other non-standard
units of measurement (paper clips, linking
chain, etc). They may also want to explore measuring the height or length
using cubes, blocks, and even rulers
or yardsticks.
Science Lessons and Activities:
1. Experiment: Sink
or Float:
Predict if
your watermelon will sink or float. Then put your watermelon in a tub of water to see. Graph student predications.
2. Suggestions for Investigation:
• Estimate the diameter of a watermelon using yarn or string to confirm measurement.
•
Copy textures and seeds of various types of watermelons
•
Have children taste various types, graph which is juicer, sweeter,
etc…
3. Planting: Grow a Watermelon
Plant your own
watermelon either from a store bought package or from your own melon slices. Here's how...
- Place the seeds about
1 inch deep in dirt in a plant pot. Or, you can
plant the seeds outside in dirt where they will get a lot of sunshine.
- Water your seeds
right after planting, and then water your seeds once a week. You should
notice plants in about 10 days.
- Weed out (remove) the
weakest plants.
You may not
grow a watermelon, but you should begin to grow the watermelon vine. If you do
grow a watermelon, it might not taste as good as the kind you buy at the
grocery. That is because watermelon growers take extra special care of the
watermelons they grow.
Art Lessons and Activities:
1.
Watermelon Playdough
2 ˝ cups
Flour
1 Tbsp. Alum
˝ cup Salt
3 Tbsp.
Vegetable Oil
2 cups Boiling
Water
1 pkg.
Watermelon Jell-O
Directions: Combine
flour, alum, and salt. Add oil and
boiling water. Stir or kneed to
mix. Add package of Jell-O and mix until
the consistency of playdough. (Make on the first day and have out in
Art Area/Center during the week. Send home on Friday.)
2.
Scented Watermelon Counting Book:
Day 1: Take 10 small white paper plates and have the
children paint the middle of the plate a dark pink (mix paint with
package of watermelon Jell-O) and paint the outside (ribbed edge)
green. Let dry.
Day 2: Cut the plates in two. Using a hole punch,
punch a hole in the left side of the watermelons. Make booklet and use string to secure. Use seeds or a black marker and place one seed on the
first page, two on the second (and so on).
Watermelon
Poems/Songs/Fingerplays:
Watermelon Time
Now watermelon time is
here.
And when the day
Is warm and clear,
Our uncle thumps the green
balloon
And says it’s ripe
And very soon
A splash of pink
Comes into view.
We know exactly
What to do.
We take a bit.
We take a bite.
We eat and eat
And taste the summer,
Pink and sweet.
Leland B. Jacobs
Watermelon
ABC’s
A-B-CDE
Watermelon is good for me.
F-G-HIJ
I can eat it everyday.
P-Q-RST
Ripe and very juicy
U-V-WXY
You will like it if you give it a try.
Z-Z-ZZZ
Author Unknown
The
Watermelon Song
(Sung to Frere Jacques)
Watermelon, watermelon,
Tastes so yummy, taste so
yummy,
Green on the outside,
Red on the inside
With black seeds, with
black seeds.
Author Unknown
Watermelon
Song
(Sung to: Are You Sleeping?)
Watermelon, watermelon,
See how it drips, see how
it drips.
Up and down my elbow, up
and down my elbow,
Spit out the seeds,
(phooey!)
Spit out the seeds,
(phooey!)
Author Unknown
(Also sung
to: Are You Sleeping?)
Watermelon, watermelon,
On the vine, on the vine,
Green and ripe and juicy,
Green and ripe and juicy,
Please be mine,
Please be mine.
Author Unknown.
Down By The Bay
Down by the bay
Where the watermelon grows
Back to my home
I dare not go
For if I do
My mother will say,
“Did you ever see a bear
Combing his hair?”
Down by the bay.
Down by the bay
Where the watermelons grow
Back to my home
I dare not go
For if I do
My mother will say,
“Did you ever see a bee
With a sunburned knee?”
Down by the bay.
Down by the bay
Where the watermelon grows
Back to my home
I do not go
For if I do
My mother will say,
“Did you ever see a moose
Kissing a goose?”
Down by the bay.
Down by the bay
Where the watermelon grows
Back to my home
I dare not go
For if I do
My mother will say,
“Did you ever see a whale
with a polka dot tail?”
Down by the bay.
Watermelon Fingerplay:
A watermelon is round
(make a circle with arms and hands)
And as hard as your head
(knock lightly on head with fist)
The RIND is green
(clasp hands together to show melon)
and the FLESH is red.
(open hands to show inside)
A watermelon tastes good
(take a pretend bite from a watermelon slice)
And is a juicy treat
(rub tummy)
But the SEEDS inside
(point to inside of cupped hand)
You do not eat.
(shake head no)
Flannel
Board Activities:
Watermelon Flannel Board Poem - Cut a large circle out of green felt, a slightly smaller circle out of white felt, a still smaller circle out of red felt, and several seed shapes out of black felt. Place the felt shapes in front of a flannel board. As you read the poem below, put the appropriate shapes on the flannel board.
Great big green ball
Sitting in the sun.
Inside, a white ball
Just for fun.
Next comes a red ball
Just for me,
Filled with black spots.
What can it be?
Black spots, black spots,
Spit 'em at the sun.
Spitting black spots
Is lots of fun.
Red ball, red ball,
Juicy and sweet.
Watch out now
While I eat and eat.
White ball, white ball.
Green ball, too.
I throw them away
When I'm through.
Can you guess
What I'm tellin'?
My great big ball
Is a watermelon!
Dramatic Play Ideas:
1.
Watermelon Stand - Set up a
“Watermelon Stand” or a “Farmers Market” in your dramatic play area similar to a lemonade stand... only the kids can pretend they are
buying and selling watermelons. Dress up clothes, cash register, play money, and things
like that should be included. The children can help make signs!!!
2.
Watermelon
Patch - Create a watermelon patch/ watermelon stand using “watermelons”
made from stuffed paper sacks painted green tied at both ends to make it round.
You could also cut paper plates in half and color or paint them to look like
watermelon slices.
3.
Plastic Watermelon - Go to the
local dollar store and get some fruit; there are watermelon slices there for
fruit. Buy a ton of them and put them in the kitchen area of the house center.
4.
Watermelon Aprons - Buy children
sized aprons. Get watermelon pictures, copy them to the apron, and have the
kids color them and wear in the kitchen area.
Note: You can buy transfer copy fabric paper in the sewing section at
Wal-Mart. (Note: Parent/Adults must
iron on the pictures. Do not let the child iron it on.)
5.
Watermelon Farmer - Pretend to
be a watermelon farmer - this could be done at the sand & water table. Have
them make the rows, plant the seeds, water the seeds, etc.
6.
Watermelons
Grow - Pretend to be a growing watermelon - have one child be the
watermelon and one child be the farmer.
Watermelon
Games:
•
Seed Spitting
Contest: Have a seed-spitting contest outdoors. As an extension you could have the kids
measure how far they spit the seeds.
•
Watermelon Hop Scotch: Draw watermelon halves or slices on the sidewalk. Put a different
amount of seeds in each one. Either have the children hop from one to another
as in hopscotch or call out a number and have the children hop across all
the slices until they land on the slice with that many seeds.
•
Enormous Watermelon: Play the “enormous watermelon” game.
Use an old 6” square cube that holds pictures. Place a picture to
represent
some of the five of the children’s favorite nursery rhymes, make sure you
include the ones from The Enormous
Watermelon. On the last side place a picture
of an enormous watermelon. Sit in chairs and roll the dice. Sing
whatever
nursery rhyme appears on top. (Most
nursery rhymes can be sung to “99
Bottles of Beer”.) If the watermelon
side appears everyone yells, “The Enormous
Watermelon!” and scrambles to find a new chair.
•
Watermelon Roll: You divide
the class into 2 or 3 teams, and each team has a watermelon in front of
them. With a cone placed at the end of the team line (like 50-100
feet away) the first child rolls the watermelon around the cone and to the next
child! Keep going until everyone gets a turn and the first team wins!!!
•
Watermelon Bowling: May be a
bit messy, but it’s fun! Using bowling pins, a
child rolls a watermelon to knock them down! (There are smaller
watermelon’s out there!)
•
Pin the Seeds on the Watermelon: Use a large
watermelon shape made from bulletin board paper. Give each child some black construction paper
seeds or real seeds and have them attach them to the watermelon.
Watermelon
Theme Related Books:
•
Watermelon Day ~ Kathi Appelt
•
The Berenstain Bears & the
Missing Watermelon Money (Step Into
•
Down by the Bay (Wright
Group Publications)
•
One Watermelon Seed ~ Celia B. Lottridge
Watermelon
Resource Websites:
www.punkyschildcare.com/preschool/water_melon_theme.htm
www.thevirtualvine.com/watermelons.html
www.pickens.k12.sc.us/hesteachers/laboonac/web%20pages/watermelons_poems
www.myschoolonline.com/page/),1871,24742-146190-27-2095,00.html
http://www.preschooleducation.com/anursery.shtml
http://www.first-school.ws/activities/nrhymes.htm
http://www.watermelon.org/index.asp?a=dsp&htype=kids&pid=219
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