Stories Are Seeds
Photo by Brian LaPeter / Chronicle
Pupils in Theresa Young?s fifth-grade class at Rock Crusher Elementary School create a pumpkin Friday in the likeness of storybook character Ida B, from the book of the same name by Katherine Hannigan. From left are: Austin, Julian, Amanda, and Cody.
By Keri Lynn McHale
It takes craft and creativity to turn pumpkins into people. On Friday, students at Rock Crusher Elementary School used art supplies, such as pipe cleaners and paint, to bring storybook characters to life.
“The kids are excited about it. It’s just awesome,” said Elaine Laga, the school’s media specialist.
For the past three years Laga has organized the pumpkin project. She believes the entertaining activity promotes reading.
This year, Laga purchased 40 large pumpkins to be distributed to classrooms throughout the school.
She wrote to Publix Super Markets Inc. about the project and received a $100 gift certificate. Also, she used her Florida Teachers Lead Program stipend — state dollars allocated to teachers for classroom materials and supplies — to purchase the pumpkins.
In Theresa Young’s fifth-grade classroom, the students busily worked together on their huge pumpkin, Ida B, a character from author Katherine Hannigan’s fiction book “Ida B … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World.”
“I’m painting Ida B. It’s pretty much fun,” fifth-grader Julian Vanegas said.
His classmate, Amanda Taylor, was confident the Ida B pumpkin project would be a success. As she painted, Amanda talked about the story.
“It was a good book and I would recommend it to other people,” Amanda said.
In another classroom, some of Melissa Gore’s third-grade students concentrated on individual mini pumpkins, while others collaborated on one big pumpkin.
Googly eyes, glue, yarn and tissue paper were scattered on the newspaper that covered the round tables.
The students worked on creating the characters from author Louis Sachar’s fiction novel “Sideways Stories From Wayside School.”
“I love it. It’s a great way for them to extend what they read in class,” Gore said about the pumpkin project.
Third-grader Scotty Desimone formed spiked hair near the pumpkin’s stem and fastened ears to its sides in order to transform his pumpkin into a character named Paul.
Nearby, a few students worked on a large green pumpkin, which sat on the middle table.
“I’m painting Mrs. Gorf,” third-grader Sarah Paar said. “We think she’s green because she’s mean.”
The students placed cotton around the stem of the pumpkin in a heap.
“It’s like a big bun,” third grader Hannah Madera said.
Third-grader Tysen Stone fastened eyes onto Dameon, his little pumpkin. He reached for the tissue paper.
“I put some yarn for hair,” Tysen said.
After the children finish their creations, they will take them to the school’s library and put them on display so students and faculty members can check them out.
