1-2-3 Come Do Some SHAPELY Apple Activities With Me

Apple week wouldn't be complete without doing some shape activities.  I found that the most successful way to get my students to be able to recognize, as well as name the various 2D and 3D shapes, was to immerse them in all sorts of hands-on activities, where they could work with all of the shapes.  I had a variety of different activities to keep interest high, but it was that consistent repetition that helped turn the light bulbs on.

Since I've had a few requests for some more activities involving Johnny Appleseed, I thought I'd design some shape games using Phillip Martin's cute Johnny Appleseed character.  The first one is entitled: Where Is Johnny Appleseed?  It reviews the 2D shapes: circle, oval, triangle, rectangle, square, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, trapezoid, rhombus, star and heart. 

Choose the shapes you want to work on.  Print, laminate and trim those apple cards and put them on your white board using a magnet, or on your flannel board using the scratchy side of a square of Velcro. 

There are two Johnny Appleseed Card options.  Choose one, print, laminate and trim.  Before your students get to school, put Johnny behind one of the apples. 

When students are gathered on the carpet, call on a quiet child to guess which apple shape they think Johnny Appleseed is hiding behind.  "I think he's behind the hexagon."  Lift up the card to take a peek and see if he's there. 

If not, that child calls on another to take a guess.  Play continues 'til someone has found Johnny Appleseed.  The simplistic beauty of this game, is that it only takes a few moments of time, and reviews shapes and the shape word in an interesting and fun way. 

I've also included a set of mini cards, so children can play Memory Match and "I Have; Who Has?" games.  Click on the link to view/download the Where's Johnny Appleseed Shape Game. 

The other Johnny Appleseed game involves spactial directions. As you know, part of the Common Core State Standards for shapes involves placement of the shapes. 

This "Where's Johnny's Apple?" game is a quick, easy and fun way to help reinforce that vocabulary, as well as whole-group assess students' understanding of the directional words. 

To play the game, run off the black line master of Johnny Appleseed.   (There are 2 on a page for easy printing.)  Children color their Johnny. (I've included a large one that's in color for teachers to use.) Print and trim the apple manipulatives and give each student one. 

Choose a child to pick a direction card, (there are 21 + a blank one to fill in with whatever). Show it to the class and then read it together. 

Children place their apple in the appropriate position (over, under, on, between, beside ...) on their Johnny Appleseed mat.  You can see at a glance who's having difficulty and jot a note to yourself. 

After you have quickly assessed your students, place the teacher apple on your Johnny Appleseed poster in the correct position.  (I put my poster on the white board.) 

Children look at their Johnny mat to see if they have the correct answer and adjust if necessary.

After the game, pass out a certificate of praise to help build self-esteem.  Click on the link to view/download the Where's Johnny's Apple?  Spatial Direction Game.

The Apple Shape Matching game provides a wonderful independent center for early finishers, or more practice for struggling kiddos.  Picking up and placing the various shapes also provides great fine motor practice.  

For a sweet "oldie but goodie" apple shape easy reader, click on the link for The Shape of Apple Annie.  It was one of my first apple stories and serves up a nice lesson about being content and happy with who you are. 

Annie, however, is not happy with her apple-shape 'til she turns into all sorts of other shapes.  Children trace the various apple shapes and then write the shape words in the spaces provided. 

Finally, since all of the silly shaped animals (penguins, owls, chicks rabbits)  have been so popular, I decided to make some silly-shaped apples. 

They can be used as anchor chart posters, large flashcards, a bulletin board, and assessment tools.

Make extra sets and use them for independent centers and games. 

Children can also choose their favorite shape and make a shapely apple of their own.  A shape attributes worksheet is also included.

As you can see by the photo, some of the apples have the various shapes as their "core" (I think they turned out really cute, if I do say so for myself.)

Others are big and the entire apple takes on that shape. The shape word is a little hard to see in the photos, but they appear on all of the apple shapes.

I've included all of the 2D shapes, as well as four 3D shapes.  There's also directions for a fun "Four Corners" apple game that my students just LOVE.  Click on the link to view/download the 41-page Shapely Apples packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  I'm about appled out.  If you'd like to see all of the other apple FREEBIES to help celebrate your apple week, simply scroll down.

It's time for a much-needed break.  I'm off to get some clothes on. (Don't you just love relaxing jammie days?) It's date night with my hubby, and that requires some makeup.  Wishing you a wonderful weekend. 

"If it weren't for the last minute, I wouldn't get everything done!"

1-2-3 Come Do Some Apple Alphabet Activities With Me

If you've been following the various blog articles for "apple week" you know that I've covered apple art, apple science, and apple math.  (Simply scroll down to grab all of those FREEBIES in the articles that follow.) It seemed only fitting to design some Apple Alphabet Activities... Wow! Try to say that alliterative tongue twister three times.  Any hoo, you've come to the right place if you're looking for some apple-themed activities that help students practice their alphabet skills.  

You've probably seen all the wonderful clothespin matching games all over Pinterest.  They were my inspiration for this upper and lowercase letter apple game. 

Whenever I design something, I make samples, so that I not only have a photo of what a completed project looks like, but as a way to jot down specific steps, so you can easily follow my directions.  Making something, also irons out any kinks I may run across that I can share, so things run smoothly for you. 

The big one here is to clip your clothespins onto the apple BEFORE you  write the letters on the tips.  I learned that the hard way.  Because my Y5's are just learning letters, they are easily confused when the thing they are matching doesn't look exactly like the mate. 

By clipping the clothespins first, you are able to write the letters in the proper direction.  As you can see by the photo, sometimes the letter needs to be written vertically on the clothespin, other times horizontally  You also won't have any letters appearing upside down when a child clips them. 

Here's another TIP: When I got the uppercase set done, I thought it would be a good idea to write the lowercase letters on the back, so that there were several ways to play the alphabet apple game (uppercase to lowercase, as well as lowercase to lowercase etc.)  So that children aren't confused, write the uppercase letters using a different color permanent marker, than the lowercase letters. 

This will be easy for students to sort, and see which side they should be using for whatever game you want them to practice.  Click on the link to view/download the wonderful fine motor skill game: apple alphabet clothespins.

While I was making the numbered apples from 1-100, in yesterday's article, it was easy to use that same template to make apple alphabet cards.  (I really like when things match!) There's a set that shows the upper and lowercase letters on each apple, as well as a set with just the uppercase letters, and another for the lowercase letters. 

Use them as a border, flashcards, and for a variety of games.  I've included a tip list of ideas.  Click on the link to view/download the apple alphabet cards.

I've had quite a few requests for simple alphabet worksheets.  Some teachers need them for an option for early finishers, or their sub folder, while lots of visitors need them for "homework!"  It amazes me that some schools make homework mandatory for such a young age.   The caramel apple coloring worksheet has been very popular as a fun home-school connection. 

To reinforce the 3 colors of apples, students color the uppercase letter A's red, the lowercase a's yellow and the rest of the apples green.   Click on the link to view/download a copy of the caramel apple coloring activity.

The "I spy" an apple letter on the apple tree, is a quick and easy way to whole group assess upper or lowercase letters in a fun way.  Teacher starts the game by calling out a letter. Children search for that "apple" on their paper, and then trace it.  When they are done they raise their hand. 

You can see at a glance who is having difficulty.  Play continues 'til all of the letters have been traced.  Students can play this game again at home, by coloring the "spied" letters.  They can play it a 3rd time, by X-ing out the letters. Click on the link to view/download the Apple Tree I Spy game.

Finally, for a variety of other apple-themed activities and games, including ones involving the alphabet, click on the link for a 33-page Apple Activities packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you found something useful here, to help get your kiddos excited about learning.  Just a reminder, if you're looking for an activity that I don't have, feel free to e-mail me at diane@teachwithme.com  Some of the things I design are special requests, and I'm glad to help out.

I'm off to meet a friend for lunch.  Will be nice to catch up and share our excitement over teaching.  I hope you have a lovely day too.

"What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child." - George Bernard Shaw

1-2-3 Play An Alphabet Matching Game With Me!

The Dollar Store is one of my favorite stores.  My mantra when I go in one is: "What can I do with this, that will help my students learn?"  so when I saw that they carried clip-on clothespins, I designed all sorts of games that students could "clip and match."  I did this for colors, numbers, upper and lowercase letters, shapes, and even glued my kiddos' photo on the front and back, so they could clip it to a yes or no answer for Question of the Day. 

I used another photo clip for attendance. This clothespin could also be used on your behavior board. i.e. Children all start out on the green apple for "good" behavior, and move to a yellow apple when they've been warned, and finally to a red apple if there's a consequence.

Because my little ones needed help recognizing and writing their names, I wrote them on clothespins for them to "find".  These were kept in a bucket and were sometimes used when I graphed something.   Children could also pick a clothespin out of the bucket and have that child be their partner. 

My clothespin craftiness started 13 years ago.  Creative minds must think alike, because I've seen clothespin activities all over Pinterest, with similar ideas.  One gal used yellow alphabet clothespins as "rays" that were clipped around a sun.  This gave me the idea to make several themed alphabet clothespin games. 

I started with an apple and then made a pumpkin. I'll fool around with a turkey and its feathers for November. Hopefully by then, all of your students will be able to identify upper and lowercase letters.

Here are some tips to help you make the apple/pumpkin alphabet games.  Directions for the pumpkin are similar and included in the packet.

If you are making multiple games, so that more students can play, make a template for the leaves and stem. Print, cut and trace onto an old file folder to make a pattern that’s easier to trace.  Using the template, trace the leaf once on green construction paper and then cut several at a time. Do the same for the stem, only on brown construction paper.  Glue to the back of your apples then laminate.  Children will clip the Aa clothespins on the stem, and the Z or B clothespin on the leaf, depending on where you glue the leaves.  Run off the apples on red, yellow and lime green construction paper.

I suggest you clip all of the clothespins onto the apples BEFORE you write the letters on.  Since little ones are just learning about letters, it’s less confusing for them, if you print on the clothespins, so that a letter doesn’t appear upside down.  i.e. I printed letters E, F, G, H, I, J, sideways with the “pinch” end of the clothespin going to the right, and letters Q, R, S, T, U , V and W sideways; with the “pinch” side going to the left. Letters A, B, C, D, Z, Y, X with the “pinch” side up,; and L, M, N, O, P with the “pinch” side down.

Another help for younger children, and allows for quick sorting, is to print the uppercase letters in red permanent marker, and the lowercase letters on the flip side, in black.   Bag up this particular set of clothespins and mark them Apple Clothespins.  

Children can also play with a partner, dividing the clothespins so that each child gets 13 to clip. Teacher chooses the partners, so that a stronger student can help a child who’s struggling.  There's an apple and pumpkin alphabet anchor chart, so that children can self-check their work when they have completed clipping their clothespins.

Make a few extra games to send home with children who need more one-on-one help.  Inform parents via a note (There's one included in the pack) that they may BORROW the game for one week and need to return it on a specific day.  Jot yourself a note as to who has the game. I've also included a reminder note to send home, in case a child fails to return the game on time.

Click on the link to view/download the Apple Alphabet Clothespin Game and/or the Pumpkin Alphabet Clothespin Game.

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"I was asked to memorize what I did not understand; and, my memory being so good, refused to be insulted in that manner." -Aleister Crowley

1-2-3 Come Study Antonyms and Synonyms With Me!

Since vocabulary building is such a huge part of learning to read and write, I try to think of interesting ways to do that.  Puzzles and games always grab students' attention, so I thought I'd design some with an apple theme for September, and because of the many requests for antonym and synonym activities, I decided to incorporate those. 

Run off on red, yellow and green construction paper; laminate and trim the 66 antonym apples to make puzzles.  Use them for games too, such as Memory Match or toss them in a basket and have students choose several to play "I Have; Who Has?"   The apples provide 132 words to help build student vocabularies.  A blank apple template is also included.

Be sure and check out my list of 290 antonyms + a cover so students can make their own antonym word booklets.

I've also included 80 synonym leaves with 2 blank leaf templates.  Run off on green construction paper, laminate and trim.  Encourage students to write in synonyms of their own.

These activities are wonderful for Daily 5 Word Work.  Click on the link to view/download The Antonym Apples packet

I also whipped together a little activity to help build apple-themed vocabulary specifically.  Students cut off the apple word list bookmark on the left of the page, and then write the apple words in alphabetical order on the right. Click on the link to view/download the Apple Word activities.

Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN anything from my site.  I truly appreciate your sharing. To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top of the page; it will turn black, now click on the "Pin it" button on the menu bar.  If you'd like to take a look at all of the terrific educational items I spend way too much time pinning, click on the big heart to the right.

"America's future, walks through the doors of our schools each day." -Mary Jean Le Tendre

1-2-3 Have A Buschel Of Fun Doing Apple Activities With Me!

This 32-page packet covers quite a few Common Core State Standards, that involve math and language arts.

The packet includes:

• A bushel basket sorting activity for odd & even numbers, as well as vowels & consonants.
• Numbered apples from 1-120
• Apple math symbols so students can make addition or subtraction equations + show greater and less than.
• Red, green & yellow apple tiles to use as counting & sorting manipulatives or to make patterns.
• An upper and lowercase apple alphabet anchor chart.
• 6 "What's Missing?" upper and lowercase letter worksheets with matching letter tiles.
• 2 assessments for upper and lowercase letters, with a "note home" to inform parents of the results.
• Pre-writing trace the lines activity.
• Trace and write the letters and numbers worksheets.
• Trace and write apple word vocabulary worksheet.
• "I Spy" upper and lowercase letters.  Students become ABCDe-tectives, find and then circle the letters and then add up how many they found.
• "Connect the Letters" to make an apple worksheet, as well as "Connect the Numbers" (by 1's, 5's and 10's.)

Click on the link to view/download the Apple Activities Packet.

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"The world is but the canvas to our imagination." -Henry David Thoreau

1-2-3 Come Make An Apple Puzzle With Me!

A quick, easy and fun way to get your kiddo’s sequencing numbers is via a number puzzle, which is also great for fine motor and higher level-thinking practice.  One of my Y5 report card standards was to be able to put a puzzle together, so this was especially beneficial.

Here's How You Make A Puzzle: Choose either apple puzzles with number strips from 1-10, for younger students, or skip counting apple puzzles, with number strips that count by 10's to 100.  Print off the apple puzzles on white construction paper or card stock, laminate and cut out the individual numbered strips. 

Keep each puzzle in its own Ziplock Baggie.  Pass the Baggies out to your students and set a timer.   Challenge them to complete their puzzle before the timer rings.   You can also partner students up, who have the same puzzle, so they can play "Speed" against each other, to see who can put their puzzle together the quickest.

When students are done with one, they may exchange theirs with another child who has a different puzzle.  You can use these each year, or skip the lamination and give each child a puzzle to take home.   They can cut their own strips, mess them up and put them together.

Another thing you can do with the puzzles, is make a puzzle flip book. I used 4 apple puzzles for my booklet.  Print the puzzles and cut out the strips. Each puzzle should have a pile of strips 1-10.  Lay the number strips for each puzzle on top of each other, so that the number one strip is at the top.  Now make piles of all of the number ONE pieces, then a pile of the number TWO pieces etc. 

Arrange the pieces so that when you make your flip book, the pages will show a mixed up puzzle. (See photo.)  Glue just the number portion of each strip, to the top of the 1-10 puzzle template.  Children flip the pages, to find the matching pieces, to complete each puzzle.

Click on the link to view/download the Apple Number Puzzle Packet.

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"There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds." -G.K. Chesterton

1-2-3 Play An Apple Game With Me

Games grab your students' attention and keep them focused, while they learn a variety of life skills and standards.  I enjoy dreaming them up, many based on old favorites with a twist, to help reinforce different concepts.

Apples were a favorite unit for September, so I wanted to whip together a quick and easy game with that theme. To make the "Spiral To The Orchard" apple game, print, laminate and trim the game board template and apple playing pieces.  I "test run" everything I do, and bless my husband's heart, he plays the games with me.  It was his idea to include a simpler version for younger kiddo's, as well as the bit more complicated set of directions, for 1st or 2nd graders.

Briefly, the simple version is played like this:  The object of the game is to get to the apple orchard in the center of the board.  Children play in groups of 3.  Each child picks a different colored apple: red, yellow or green.  Students take turns rolling a die and moving that many spaces forward.

If children land on a rotten apple, apple core, or apple with a worm, they move backwards 2 spaces.  If they land on a pretty red apple, or apple basket, they move ahead 2 spaces.   I switch things up in the more complicated version for 1st or 2nd graders, as they can change places with an opponent, or are sent back to start, along with other "pit falls" that are a bit too complicated for younger students to remember.  Older students also have to roll an exact number to get to the orchard. i.e. As students near the orchard, if there is only 1 space left, they must roll a 2 to get into the orchard and win the game.   A roll of 1 lands them on the last square, which is the entrance.  Any roll other than a 2 is too many.

Click on the link to view/download the Apple Game.  Thanks for visiting today.  As always, feel free to PIN anything from my site.  To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black; now click on the "Pin it" button located at the top on the menu bar.  If you'd like to take a look at all of the terrific educational things, that I spend way too much time pinning, click on the heart button to your right.

If you're looking for more FALL FREEBIES, click on the link to zip on over to my teacher-friend Charity's blog, over at Classroom Freebies.  She had a wonderful link-up. To make things super-easy, she grouped the free items according to grade levels.  Enjoy and Happy September!

"A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Exercise Your Brain, and Play Some Apple Games With Me!

Yesterday I shared "Apples on a Roll" to help reinforce numbers and math skills.  Today I have 2 more freebies: an apple maze and an apple word find.   I designed several mazes according to skill level, from super simple for PK kiddo's, to difficult for older students, or something to challenge "early finishers" with. 

I enjoy designing mazes and word finds, within a themed object, like the apple.  These are quick and easy table top activities, or something to plug in, for those students who manage to get everything done in a short amount of time, and are forever asking: "What can I do now?"   Mazes are great practice for spatial awareness, and higher-level thinking with logic, plus a wonderful fine motor skill, as children navigate from beginning to end.

Click on the link to view/download the Apple Mazes.

For more "a-maze-ing" fun, click on the link to view a plethora of online mazes; suitable for a computer-center activity.

My students also enjoyed word finds.  I made them for every unit, as they are a quick and easy way to reinforce letter recognition and spelling.  Kids love them and they are an excellent way to review the vocabulary that you want to build for that particular theme.

For our apple unit, we started by labeling the parts of an apple; these provided our new vocabulary words, which went up on our word wall.  Searching for them in a word find was a fun way to reinforce them.  Click on the link to view/download the Apple Labeling "craftivity".

There are zillions of word finds available online, as well as a nice selection of word find generators. I used to create my own word finds, by typing in all of the words first, and then filling them in with letters before and after.  This was pretty time consuming, so I switched to using a generator to make an "instant" word find. Simply type in a list of words, and then click submit. 

A downfall of most of the automatic programs, is that they create only using CAPITAL letters.  This is not how teachers want students to search for a word, that they have learned to spell appropriately.  This also proves near impossible for little ones who are just learning how to match upper to lowercase letters.     A-Z Teacher's Stuff     is my favorite program. It offers both upper and lowercase options, shapes, fonts and spatial find options.  In my apple word find, I have included Johnny Appleseed.  I have not found a program that allows me to do both upper and lowercase in the same word find, so I use the result as a "teachable moment" by asking students: "What's wrong with johnny appleseed's name?"  Looking for: "It should be capitalized."  Click on the link to view/download the Apple Word Find.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything from my site.  To ensure that other pinners are able to read THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top and it will turn black; now click on the "pin it" button, also at the top.  If you'd like to see all of the excellent educational items that I pin, simply click on the heart button to the right.

"The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery." -Mark Van Doren 

1-2-3 Come Play An Apple Game With Me!

When I design a game for my kiddo's, I try to involve a variety of standards, so that I'm really making great use of time.  Using dice to play games, helps students subitize (pretty soon they are able to recognize that 5 spots = the number five, without having to count the dots).

Besides subitizing, Apples On A Roll helps students with number recognition, putting together a puzzle, 1-to-1 correspondence, basic life skills of getting along with others, and waiting your turn etc.  By running off the apples on red, yellow and green construction paper, you can also review that science fact.

Print off the apple template on white construction paper, laminiate and trim; and then print out the apple "puzzle pieces" on the various colors, laminate and cut the individual numbered pieces.  I keep each puzzle in a separate Baggie, and then put all of the smaller Baggies into one large one.

Children choose a partner and take turns rolling the dice.  Whatever number they land on, they put that piece on their apple puzzle template.  The first one to complete their apple, or the one with the most pieces on their apple when the timer rings, is the winner.

If you'd like to throw in some addition practice, add black lines to make 6 more "slices".  Write in numbers 7-12.  Children now use a pair of dice and add numbers together, placing the higher numbered puzzle pieces on their apple.

Click on the link to view/download the Apple Puzzle Game.

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I blog every day, so I hope you can pop back tomorrow for more apple freebies.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the bearty of their dreams."  -Eleanor Roosevelt