Pearson
Reading Street 2010
Grade 2
Unit 4/Week 2
Title: Life Cycle Of A Pumpkin
Suggested Time: 5 days (45 minutes per day)
Common Core ELA Standards: RL.2.1, RL.2.2, RI.2.7; W.2.2; SL.2.1, SL.2.6; L.2.1, L.2.6
Teacher Instructions
Before Teaching
1. Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description
for teachers, about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task.
Big Ideas and Key Understandings
The life cycle of a pumpkin begins with seeds and ends with seeds, which are then planted to produce a new generation.
Synopsis
The pumpkin is a fruit, and a kind of squash. Each year there is a new crop of pumpkins. Pumpkins begin as seeds,
which grow into plants. The plants develop yellow flowers that are male and female. It takes both male and female flowers
to make a pumpkin. Bees move the pollen from male flowers to female flowers, and the fuzzy, green balls at the end of the
female flowers begins to develop into pumpkins. As the pumpkins grow bigger and bigger, they form seeds and pulp on the
inside and turn orange on the outside. When the pumpkins are ripe, the vines turn brown and the farmer harvests them. It
takes four months for the seeds to grow into pumpkins ready to harvest. Many people cook pumpkins and use the pulp to
make pumpkin pies, cookies, soups, and bread, and some pumpkins are fed to farm animals. Of the seeds the pumpkins
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Pearson
Reading Street 2010
Grade 2
produce, some are roasted and eaten as snacks, while others are saved to be planted in the spring. They will grow into next
year’s pumpkins.
2. Read entire main selection text, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings.
3. Re-read the main selection text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching
Vocabulary*.
During Teaching
1. Students read the entire main selection text independently.
2. Teacher reads the main selection text aloud with students following along. (Depending on how complex the text is and the
amount of support needed by students, the teacher may choose to reverse the order of steps 1 and 2.)
3. Students and teacher re-read the text while stopping to respond to and discuss the questions and return to the text. A
variety of methods can be used to structure the reading and discussion (i.e.: whole class discussion, think-pair-share,
independent written response, group work, etc.)
Text Dependent Questions
Text-dependent Questions
Page 64
According to the text, what are the characteristics of
pumpkins?
Page 65
How do new pumpkins begin?
Evidence-based Answers
The text on page 64 says that pumpkins can be bumpy or
smooth, large or small, long or round, orange, white, yellow, or
red. They are also fruits, and they grow on a vine.
Pumpkins begin as white, oval seeds. There is a tiny plant curled
up inside each seed.
Page 65
What happens after a pumpkin seed is planted?
According to the text on page 65, in about ten days a root grows
down into the soil. Tiny leaves push up into the sunlight.
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Pearson
Reading Street 2010
Page 65
What does the root supply to the plant?
Page 66
What do the leaves supply to the plant?
Page 67
Using the information in the text and illustration on page 67,
what is a tendril?
Page 67
How does the pumpkin plant grow?
Page 68
What are the characteristics of male flowers?
Page 69
What do bees supply to the plant?
Page 69
What happens to the female flowers after bees bring pollen to
them?
Page 71
What do pumpkin plants need to grow well?
Grade 2
The root supplies water and food for the plant.
The leaves use sunlight and air to supply food for the plant.
The text says that a tendril is thin, and that it grabs and curls
around other vines. The illustration shows a green, curly stem.
Tendrils support vines as they grow.
First it grows more leaves. Next, it becomes a vine. The vine
grows along the ground. It sends out tendrils that grab and curl
around other vines and fences.
Male flowers have long stems. They have yellow pollen inside the
flowers.
Bees move pollen from male flowers to female flowers. The
pollen sticks to its body and legs, and rubs off onto flowers.
After bees bring pollen to the female flowers, the fuzzy, green
ball at the end of the flower begins to grow into a pumpkin.
Page 72
When do farmers harvest pumpkins?
Pumpkin plants need just the right amount of water and sun to
grow well. They need to be protected from too much rain, sun,
and insects.
Farmers harvest pumpkins when the vines turn brown. Inside the
pumpkins are seeds and pulp.
Page 73
What do people produce with pumpkins?
According to the text, people cook pumpkins and make pie,
cookies, soup, and bread from the pulp.
Pages 74-75
What happens to the seeds that pumpkins produce?
Some seeds will be roasted for snacks. Other seeds are saved and
planted in the spring. They will grow into next year’s pumpkins.
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Pearson
Reading Street 2010
Grade 2
Vocabulary
STUDENTS FIGURE OUT THE MEANING
sufficient context clues are provided in
the text
TEACHER PROVIDES DEFINITION
not enough contextual clues provided in
the text
KEY WORDS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTANDING
Page 71 - protect
Page 72 – harvest
Page 64 – crop
Page 68 – stem
Page 68 – bloom
Page 70 – all (all summer)
Page 72 – pulp
Page 75 – plow (verb)
Page 75 - unpicked
WORDS WORTH KNOWING
General teaching suggestions are provided in the introduction
Page 64 – fruit (fruits have seeds)
Page 64 – vine
Page 67 – tendril
Page 70 – underneath
Page 71 – wither
Page 71 – insecticide
Page 72 – form
Page 74 - roasted
Page 65 – oval
Page 65 – moist
Page 66 – jagged
Page 66 - prickly
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Pearson
Reading Street 2010
Grade 2
Culminating Task

Re-Read, Think, Discuss, Write
Using information from the text and illustrations, complete the Life Cycle/Flow Chart Graphic Organizer (
the five steps students will write about.

@Loving2learn.com )
to show
Writing Task
Write about the five steps in the life cycle of a pumpkin. Name the text and use evidence from the text to explain the five
steps, and include at least two page numbers that show where you found evidence.

Answer (responses may vary)
The book, Life Cycle Of A Pumpkin, describes five steps in the life cycle of pumpkins. First, pumpkins begin as seeds. After the
seeds are planted, roots and two seed leaves grow. The seed leaves use sunlight and air to make food for the new plant. (Page
66) Then the plant grows into a vine and produces flowers. Female flowers get pollen from bees. After that, the fuzzy, green balls
at the end of the flowers develop into pumpkins. (Page 69) After four months, the pumpkins are big and orange, and farmers
harvest them. They have seeds and pulp inside. Some of the seeds get eaten, but farmers plant the other seeds. Those seeds grow
into next year’s pumpkins.
Notes to Teacher:
Additional academic vocabulary to teach: characteristics, produce, supply
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Pearson
Reading Street 2010
Grade 2
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