This is a book to teach children about fruit, especially pears.  Pamela the cow just can’t seem to get enough pears.  This is a fun book to help the children try to problem solve how to stop Pamela from eating all the pears!

Materials

•  Several pears and a plastic knife to cut.
• Pretty bowl
• One-inch strips of colored paper in read, yellow, and green
• Many pear shapes cut from yellow, green, and red paper. (Approx 15 per child)
• 5-10 paint sticks (free where you buy paint) and string/yarn to hang them outside

Vocabulary

• Orchard (a place where fruit and or nut trees grow.)

Before Reading the Story

            Begin a discussion about favorite foods.  Ask the children what happens if they eat too much food (I throw up, my belly gets hurting, I burp really, really loud).  Show the children the cover of the book.  Ask them how they think Pamela is feeling? Slowly read the cover of the book sounding out the words.  Watch to see if any children are able to recognize beginning letters and their sounds.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas, and tasks.

Reading the Story

            Stop when you get to the page where Pamela is tied to a tree.  Ask the children to help think of ways to keep Pamela from eating all the pears.  Write their ideas down on chart paper.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction and poetry.

After Reading the Story

            Bring in a pear so that the children can try a small piece.  How does it smell and taste? Make a graph that shows I like pears/I do not like pears.  The children can write their name on the corresponding side after they taste the pear.  After all the children have put their name on the pear graph, ask them if more or less children liked the pears.  How many children in total said they liked pears?

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships. AND Mathematics/Number & Operation; begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with such terms as more, less, greater than, fewer, equal to.

Discovery

            While you are preparing a pear for the children to taste test, pass one around so that the children may smell it and feel it.  Open it up and show the children the seeds inside.  Are there a lot of seeds or just a few?  What color are they?  Bring in two different kinds of pears, are they the same inside?

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.

Music and Movement

            Do the Pear poem with the children.  As you say the poem make up simple actions for the children to do.

Way up high in the pear tree,

Two yellow pears smiled down on me.

So I shook that tree as hard as I could

And down fell the pears and were they good!

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and poems.

            Sing Where Oh Where Are All the Children?, to Way Down Yonder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVeFvSs9FTo

Where oh where are all the children,

Where oh where are all the children?

Where oh where are all the children,

Way down yonder in the pear orchard.

Picking pears, put them in the basket,

Picking pears, put them in the basket.

Picking pears, put them in the basket

Way do yonder in the pear orchard.

(Cutting cabbage, pulling carrots, picking strawberries, lifting watermelons, etc.)

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and poems. AND Science/Science Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, living things, materials, and natural processes.

Blocks

            Attach 5-10 yellow pear shapes, orange orange shapes, and red apple shapes to blocks and ask the children to sort by kinds or make a pattern.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; enhances abilities to recognize, duplicate, and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials. 

Art

            Cut out large fruit shapes and put them at the easel for the children to paint.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; progresses in abilities to use writing, drawing, and art tools, including pencils, markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various technology.

Library and Writing

            Give each child a cow shape.  Ask them to glue it too the paper and draw a picture about their idea to stop Pamela.  Dictate.  Use the chart paper from rug time to review and get the children started.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story. AND Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Sand and Water

Put the strips of colored paper into the sensory table today along with scissors. The children practice snipping squares. Gather the squares and make a class collage on a pear shape from the easel.

Physical Health & Development/Fine motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.

Dramatic Play

            Put all the plastic fruits into a large bowl today and put it out on the kitchen table.  As the children play in dramatics today, ask them if they can name all the fruits in the bowl.  Do they know where the fruits grow, a tree, a vine, or a plant?

Science/Science Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, living things, materials, and natural processes. AND Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; uses an increasing complex and varied spoken language.

Math and Manipulatives

Put the many pear shapes out on the table with glue or paste. On a piece of per, one per child, write the numbers 1-5 going down the side. The children then glue the corresponding number of pears beside each number. Making simple number charts 1-5.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Outdoor Play

Hang paint sticks from tree branches on your playground. The children can jump to try to hit, throw balls at them, or use sticks to bat them.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; demonstrates increasing abilities to coordinate movements in throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing balls, and using the slide and swing.

Transitions

Play, What would you do? Give the children scenarios that they may encounter at school or home and let them tell what they would do. (What would you do if you saw a strange dog running around your yard? What would you do if you were hungry? What would you do if you wanted a toy that your friend has? What would you do if you saw a water bottle on the table and you were thirsty? What would you do if your friend was playing with matches? What would you do if you were playing outside and you heard thunder? What would you do if…)?

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities. AND Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Resources