1-2-3 come do Some Apple Activities With Me
Because apples are a big deal here in Michigan, I've spent a lot of time designing quick, easy and fun apple activities that teach a variety of standards.
I'm featuring 3 of my newest creations on the blog today, along with a special FREEBIE.
“Real Stuck, Way Up”, by Benette W. Tiffault, is my Y5s’ favorite apple stories.
A boy wants to eat an apple “way up” in the tree, so he tosses his baseball to knock it down and it gets stuck; so he tosses his shoe, a baseball glove and a variety of other items ‘til all of them are “real stuck, way up”, including himself when he decides to climb the tree.
It’s a perfect “sequencing” story and super-fun way to practice retelling a tale.
With that in mind, I designed a story “slider” craftivity, along with 4 worksheets to test comprehension, plus 4 interesting writing prompts, that I think your students will really enjoy.
The slider patterns come in BW as well as color, so that you can quickly & easily make a pattern to share. There are also 2 size options: full-page or 2-on-a-page.
For an independent center activity, there’s a set of colorful sequencing cards. Make a double set to use for a Memory Match game.
I’ve also included a set in BW, so that children can color, cut and make their own sequencing game.
You could use these as a whole-group assessment to check comprehension.
Later, have students pick a partner to see who can be the first to sequence the story correctly.
Afterwards, have them add the cover to make an “Itty Bitty” booklet.
To make reading the story especially fun, pass out the picture cards to your students.
When you get to that item in the story, the child holding that card places it on the apple tree poster.
After the story, pass the cards out to different children; challenge the class to put them in the correct order.
You can also use these patterns as an independent math center.
Children roll 1 dice to place picture cards 1-6 on the tree, then roll 2 dice. add them together to place picture cards 7-12 on.
Make a double set and have children play against a partner, to see who can be the first to get all of their items “real stuck”.
Next up is a set of "Life Cycle Of An Apple Number Puzzles", which are a simple way to not only learn the life cycle, but some of that science vocabulary as well.
Students also practice sequencing numbers from 1-10, counting backwards from 10-1, as well as skip count by 2s, 3s, 5s & 10s.
There are 14 different kinds with 65 puzzles in all. Some are vertical, while others are horizontal.
Print, laminate & trim the full color options and use as an independent math or science center.
Use the black & white ones, so that students can color & cut up their own puzzle.
Doing a bit of singing at the end of our day, is something my students really enjoy and look forward to.
One of their favorite songs is B-I-N-G-O. The song is an easy-peasy & great way to practice letter recognition, spelling and subtraction! Woo Hoo!
With that in mind, I made up a little “B-I-N-G-O” song for each month. These apple & cider ones are for September.
My Y5s were recognizing lots of letters and understanding “taking 1 away”, before we even got to specifically studying those letters or the concept of subtraction, all because of the simple BINGO songs!
The A-P-P-L-E one is now there personal favorite. You know you've got a "winner" when your kiddos break out in song while working on their apple-themed morning work!
Today's featured FREEBIE is a super-fun Name Map. It's a nice icebreaker for the first week of school and a great way to get to know your new students.
The completed activity makes a wonderful back to school bulletin board too!
Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.
We've had quite a few record-breaking, hot and humid 90-degree days, so it's time for a dip in the pool.
So in need of that energizing refreshment. Wishing you a fun-filled day.
"It's never to late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot
1-2-3 Come Do Some Apple Activities With Me
The 3 main characters in Dr. Seuss’s story “Ten Apples Up On Top” are a dog, lion & tiger, so I thought it would be fun for children to practice number recognition and counting to 10 with an animal "slider".
After reading the story, have students transition to this whole-group craftivity.
There are 6 BW pattern choices.
Two of each animal, plus I’ve included full-color templates so you can quickly & easily make a sample to share, helping explain what you want your students to do.
Simply run the patterns off on white construction paper or card stock and give children a choice.
They color their animal, then trim around the edges.
There are 4 apple slider strip options.
Two are in BW the others in color.
The apples are numbered as well as blank, so that students can write them in.
So that the "slider" is not pulled out, have children fold and glue the end. Wahla! Instant stop guard.
To play this whole-group game, call out a number.
“I see 6 apples up on top!”
Children gently pull on their slider, counting out 6 apples, then hold their animal pet in the air.
You can see at a glance who is having difficulty.
* 
Save the number 10 for last, then count all of the apples together one more time.
* Children lay their animal down, and point to each number as you count the apples to ten.
* Students exclaim: “Hooray! Ten apples up on top!”
* If you’re also learning how to count backwards from 10, do that next, by having children pull the apple slider back down, pausing at each number, looking at it and saying it.
* When you get to the end, have children crouch down with their critter and repeat the backwards sequence exclaiming:
“No apples up on top. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-0. Blast off!”
* As they yell “Blast Off!” they jump in the air, and can quietly file out to their backpacks to put their animal slider away.
Have older students glue two apple strips together to count to 20 and work on those tricky teen numbers.
This is also a great activity and story to read for a substitute teacher. (Instant lesson. Just tuck in your sub tub).
Today's featured FREEBIE also has an apple theme.
It's an inexpensive little gift you can give your kiddos on that first day of school, or during your apple unit.
Click on the link to pick up your free packet today: Back To School Apple Puzzle Gift Baggies.
Well that's it for today. Hope you are enjoying your summer. Mine is going way too fast.
My mom's coming for a visit next week, so It's time to get some marathon cleaning and shopping done.
Wishing you a carefree day.
"Summer: Rest, Relax, Repeat!"
1-2-3 Come Practice Shapes With Brown Bear And Me
Brown Bear Brown Bear is one of my students' all-time favorite stories.
With that in mind, I designed a super-fun Brown Bear's Silly Nose packet.
It's chock full of cute, brown bear craftivities & games, which practice the following shapes: (3D) sphere, cone, cube & cylinder; plus (2D) circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle, hexagon, pentagon, octagon, rhombus, trapezoid, star, heart & crescent.
The packet includes:
* Pocket chart cards
* A large and small "Bear's Shapely Nose" slider craft, which is also a quick, easy & fun way to whole-group assess.
* Whole-group graphing extensions
* Bookmark writing prompt
* 4 worksheets (graphing, attributes, spatial directions, shape words)
* "Spin & Graph" game.
* "Roll & Color" dice game.
* 3 sets of "Memory Match" or "I Have; Who Has?" game cards.
* "Pin the Nose on the Bear" game.
* "Brown Bear What Do You See?" whole-group chant activity, with different shaped noses, a poster & pocket chart chant cards.
I have two featured FREEBIES for you today. Both have a shape theme as well.
The first one is a set of 2D shape posters. The 2nd is a matching set of 3D posters. I hope you find them useful.
Well that's it for today. I imagine, like most of you, my summer is flying by, with still so much left to do.
Wishing you a productive and fun-filled day; and hoping you have lots of relaxing moments.
1-2-3 Come Do Some Apple Activities With Me
Studying about apples is one of my favorite teaching units, partly because I can teach every subject area using them.
My newest apple packet practices colors, color words and counting, in quick, easy and super-fun ways, with lots of variety & options.
The activities are great for independent centers or done as a whole group; and can also be used for a sub tub, and early finishers.
There are over 20, different sets of (12-on-a-page) apple cards, which your students will enjoy playing with, as they learn and reinforce a variety of standards.
There are apples of all colors, apples with faces, patterned apples with polka dots, chevrons, plaids & stripes, as well as animal prints & other crazy kinds of apples.
Students can use these cards for sorting, sequencing, graphing, counting, making groups/sets, showing equations, and playing games.
What a time saver! Choose your favorites; make your activities and use them throughout the year every year. Woo Hoo!
Games:
* “What’s Missing?” White board game
* “What’s Missing?” On the floor “flip” game.
* “Not All Rotten Apples Are Bad” board game.
* “Fill The Bushel Basket” Spinner/Dice game
* “Pick & Place” Apple Tree Game (Colors & Numbers 1-30)
* Puzzling Apples (red, yellow & green)
* “Stack 'em Up” dice patterning game
* “Roll, Color & Graph” dice game
* “Kaboom!” and a ...
* 1-to-1 correspondence counting game
Plus you can use any of the apple cards to play:
* Memory Match
* "I Have; Who Has?” and
* "Who’s Got The Rotten Apple?" (Played like Old Maid) or other card games like Crazy Eights and Go Fish.
I’ve designed the games so that you can mix & match and interchange pieces & posters, so that you can make up more of your own games.
Some of the games can be played with the Johnny Appleseed spinners or using dice.
The packet also includes:
* 12 sets of colorful mini apple tiles (with 70 on a page): red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black, brown, and gray, plus a wormy apple template too.
Use for the games, as well as counting, sorting, patterning, & making equations.
* Colorful, apple pocket chart cards. Make an extra set and cut them in half to make puzzles.
* A "Crazy Colors!” apple emergent reader flip booklet, chock full of Dolch sight words.
* Several color and color word assessment activities
* An “Itty Bitty” (color, trace & write) apple-color booklet, plus a blank template.
* 4 graphing activities
* 3 worksheets
* A set of color word cards in matching colors as well as BW.
* 21, "Johnny Appleseed-bushel basket" sorting mats
* 9, “Bob For Apples” bucket sorting mats, for practicing colors and counting to 20.
* A set of math symbol cards for making & solving equations (addition +, subtraction -, equal to =, plus greater > and less than <) with a recording worksheet for more practice.
* 15, “Complete the Pattern”, strip cards, with a blank template so that children can create their own pattern strips. And finally …
* 2 certificates of praise (4-on-a-page for easy printing).
To accommodate other countries, alternate grEy and coloUr spellings are also included.
I have 2 featured FREEBIES today. Both are from this whopping, 162-page packet.
The first one is the "Stack 'Em Up" patterning dice game, which reinforces the 3 colors of apples, colors, color words, as well as an ABC-ABC pattern.
The next one is the 1-to-1 apple correspondence cards.
Well that's it for today. I hope you're enjoying your summer and looking forward to getting things decorated and ready for back to school.
Time to get some fresh air as the sunshine is calling me. Wishing you a relaxing and fun-filled day.
"A word fitly spoken, is like apples of gold in settings of silver." -Proverbs: 29:11
1-2-3 Come Do Some More Brown Bear Activities With Me
Do you read the story Brown Bear Brown Bear as part of your back to school activites? If so, I think you'll enjoy these 3 Brown Bear packets, which practice a variety of standards.
First up is a set of number puzzles featuring all of the characters in the Brown Bear story.
Number strip puzzles, are a quick, easy & fun way for your students to practice sequencing numbers, counting from 1 to 10, counting backwards from 10 to 1, as well as skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s & 10s.
There are 11 different character puzzles, plus a grouping of all of them.
Each character comes in a 1-10 numbered puzzle, as well as a skip count by 10s to 100 puzzle, plus an assortment of puzzles that count backwards, plus skip count by 2s, 3s, and 5s.
There are puzzles in full color, so you can use them for an independent math center, as well as black & white, so that children can make their own puzzles.
Next up, is a “Brown Bear’s Colors" booklet. There are two black & white booklet options, which feature all of the colorful characters in the Brown Bear story.
There’s a blank square with lines in one version, where older students can think of 3 items that are also that color, then write them in the space provided, while younger students can simply trace the words with the matching crayon or maker, in the other option.
I’ve provided pages in color as well, so that you can quickly and easily make a sample to share.
Besides using the patterns to make a booklet, you can also cut the 4 sections out and then glue them on a matching sheet of construction or scrapbook paper.
These can be hung up as a single poster or put together like a quilt.
Finally, I made a Brown Bear Literacy Packet. After reading the story, review each sentence using the pocket chart cards.
Don’t have a pocket chart? You can also put magnets or Velcro dots on the back and use on your white board or flannel board.
Make an extra set and use these for a sequencing game.
You can also pass this set out to students while you read the story. When you come to that character, the child holding that card places it on the board.
For more word work practice, I’ve included 6 worksheets where students read, trace, write, color, cut & glue, character and color words.
These are great for Daily 5 word work, homework, or early finishers too. I’ve also included a “Which was your favorite character?” graphing extension.
For an individual center, or whole-group activity, print, laminate & trim the individual word cards. There’s a large set to use for your center, as well as a smaller set, to make for your whole group.
Children play “Build a Sentence” by arranging the cards in appropriate order, which will help reinforce beginning capitalization and end punctuation.
When they’ve “built” their sentence, they record it on their “construction” worksheet. (There are 5 options, which include BW & color versions).
For a job well done, give children a “We read Brown Bear. I can retell the story” bookmark, as a prompt to share the tale with their families.
This is also my first packet that I've made a Spanish version for!
The bundle is just a dollar more, so woo hoo if that helps you out too.
Today's featured FREEBIE includes back to school treats and a bulletin board, as it will "o-fish-ally" be that time all too soon.
Until then, wishing you a super relaxing summer.
Gotta dash; time to go buy some fireworks!
"Our nation will remain the land of the free, so long as it is the home of the brave." -Unknown
