apple games,
1-2-3 Come Do Some Fruity Fun With The 5 Senses Activities With Me
Apples are a big deal here in Michigan, so it's one of my first fall themes. As part of our science standards, students need to learn about the 5 senses as well, so I thought it would be fun to teach the 5 senses using an apple theme.
I had so much fun designing these activities, that I made 3 different packets for you to choose from, and am featuring them on the blog today.
First up is the 5 Senses With An Apple Head packet. Completed projects turn out absolutely adorable; and are rather hilarious, so if your kiddos are like mine, you'll hear: "Can I please make another one?!"
Suspended from the ceiling, or use as a border for the top of a hallway wall. I’ve included a “Fun With The Five Senses” apple head poster for your display.
There's a huge assortment of facial feature options. Simply pick a few of your favorites.
Children select a nose, mouth, and some ears & eyes, then glue them to their apple head. (There’s also a pattern for a stem and leaf).
Besides the facial features, I’ve also included patterns for a hair bow/bow tie, glasses, a mask, and a selection of mustaches.
I give the option of adding dangling legs with cute sneakers. (Accordion-folding paper, is a great fine motor skill, which will help strengthen finger muscles.)
To reinforce the 5 senses, there’s a set of labels students cut and glue to their apple head as well; or they can simply label their creation.
Besides the craftivity, laminate a set of apples, along with 3 or 4 facial feature options, plus a set of labels, to be used as a “design an apple head” independent center activity.
Allow children to take a photo of their completed creation, then make small thumbnails of each child’s apple head and put them in a class-made, picture booklet. I’ve provided a cover and album page for this as well.
Because there’s such a huge variety of facial feature options, laminate some and have little ones sort them according to which sense they go with. I’ve included a colorful sorting mat for this.
Children can also use the pieces to create patterns: AB-AB, ABC-ABC etc.
For more practice, there's a BW worksheet, where children cut & glue the facial feature to one of the matching 5 senses, which makes a quick assessment tool.
One of the nice things about these activities, is that even if you don't have time to plug them into your apple unit, they easily fit in during October and November with a harvest theme as well.
Next up is an Itty Bitty Booklet: "The 5 Senses With An Apple." There are 4 pages, on a one-page template, for an easy-peasy, "print & go" activity.
I started out with a simple little apple graphic, but then started diddling around with the idea of making the apple look sort of like a “Mr. Potato Head”.
The result made me laugh. I thought your students would find this silliness fun too; thus there are 2 options for the booklet.
For one use the realistic apple or go a bit wild and crazy with the "apple head" option. You could also give your kiddos a choice.
I’ve included a full color sample of both booklets, so that you can easily make an example to share with your students, to help explain what you want them to do.
Remind them, to not only complete the sentence by thinking up an adjective, but remember to add the end punctuation as well. (Woo hoo for extra teachable moments!)
For more reinforcement, I’ve included a set of Memory Match cards, which you can also use to play the whole-group game “I Have; Who Has?”
There’s also a set of “label me” worksheets, which come in full-color, for you to use as a sample to help explain what you want children to do, then later, hang up for a poster that students can refer to.
There are 2 options for the BW student worksheet. For one, students cut and glue the labels to the matching section of their apple head. For the other worksheet they write in the words.
If you’d like to whole-group assess the 5 senses, have students do the cut and glue one first, then later, as an assessment tool, use the worksheet where they write in the words.
To heighten the experience of using all 5 senses, give each student an apple, or at least a slice of one. They examine it as they complete each page.
Finally, I thought maybe there are some teachers out there who'd like more of a variety than just apples, thus the Fruity-Faced Friend Five Senses packet was born, which is my personal favorite.
Designing one is really quite addicting, so be prepared when your kiddos ask to make another one!
Besides apples, there are 15 black & white fruit head options, plus a huge assortment of fruit-themed facial features to depict the 5 senses.
Completed projects look adorable suspended from the ceiling, or used as a border for the top of a hallway wall. There are 9 posters for your display.
Children look over the options, then snip one from the pattern page.
This way, all you have to do is run off the templates, while children get practice cutting, coloring and gluing together a 5-senses “fruity-faced friend”.
I’ve included “gloved hands” (like Mickey Mouse) for the “touch/feel” sense, but children could also trace one of their hands on a sheet of folded paper, then cut once to make two hands, which they glue (thumbs up) to the sides of their fruit head.
To reinforce the 5 senses, there’s a set of labels students cut and glue to their fruity face as well; or you can simply have them label each sense with a marker.
Besides the craftivity, there are templates for a “Design A Fruity-Faced Friend” independent center.
Choose from 20, colorful fruit head posters, along with 5 sheets of facial feature-fruit options, and colorful hands.
Children arrange the various fruits ’til they come up with a “fruity-faced friend” that they really like. (This activity is also quite addicting, as it’s so much fun mixing & matching to create hilarious fruity little friends!)
Even if children use the same "feature" cards, just by tweaking how you "arrange" them, changes the character entirely. I diddled around to create 6 different fruity-faced friends, then took a photograph to show you what I mean.
Allow students to take a photo of their completed creation, then make small thumbnails of each child’s fruity friend and put them in a class-made, photo album.
I’ve provided a cover and album page for this. Students color the picture, write their name in the blank, as well as the name of their “fruity friend”.
Laminate the pages, collate & put in your center. Keep your collection of photo albums (as you collect them each year) in a basket in this center to give students ideas.
For another center activity, there’s a set of “label me” fruity-faced friend posters. Children place the word labels for the five senses, on the posters.
For further reinforcement, I’ve also included 5 worksheets. Do a “cut & glue” version first, then later, to whole-group assess, do one of the “fill-in-the-blank” worksheets.
As always, there's a FREEBIE in each blog. Today's featured FREEBIE is an apple math mat game.
This apple "craftivity" is a super-fun way to reinforce addition and/or subtraction. If you teach older students, I've also included a template to make a multiplication apple game.
Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. Our son is getting married this Saturday so my feet have hit the floor running this morning.
Still some fun little things to accomplish, as we have family staying with us from out-of-state. Wishing you a love-filled day.
"The best thing in life that you can hold on to, is each other." -Unknown
1-2-3 Come Do An Apple Puzzle With Me
Do you study apples? If so, I think your kiddos will enjoy this quick, easy and super-fun apple game.
Play as an independent center, or as a whole group activity where children plck a partner.
The game will reinforce numbers 1-6 for PK kiddos, while older students can use the 1-12 number puzzle to practice addition.
There are several ways to play:
* Run off the 6-on-a-page pattern and trim.
* There are 3 different apple puzzles for #s 1-6, as well as 3 for #s 1-12.
* Students pick a partner or play in groups of 3, taking turns rolling the dice.
* Whatever number they roll they color in the matching section on their puzzle.
* Older students will play with one dice for numbers 1-6, then use two dice, adding them together, for numbers 7-12.
* To reinforce the fact that apples are 3 different colors, I have my students color with a red, yellow, and green crayon.
* You can give children a choice of how they want to color, or to practice “color by number” following directions, hang up the poster(s) for them to refer to.
* The first child to color in all of the numbers, or the one with the most filled in when the timer rings, is the winner.
To play this as a Center Game:
* Run off the larger apple puzzles on red, yellow and lime green construction paper, laminate and trim.
* Run off the same number of patterns on white card stock, so younger children have a base to place the puzzle pieces on.
* Challenge older students to try and figure out the puzzle without using the base template.
* Children play the same as above, only instead of coloring a section, they find, and place that puzzle piece over the correct number.
* To assist children who are not using a base, print & laminate the “Challenge!” sample posters for them to refer to.
Another Idea:
* I’ve also included “header” cards, if you’d like to make these as an inexpensive gift for a back-to-school treat bag.
* They come in color as well as BW
It’s a super-simple, 1st day activity that children can do independently, which allows you to be freed up. Woo hoo!
Children are happily engaged putting their own personal puzzle together.
When they’re done, they pick a new friend to play the dice game with; using the base that they built their puzzle on, which they’ll now color for the “Roll & Color” dice game.
I’ve included a different “Welcome!” apple pattern for this, where the sections are a bit larger, so that you have room to write the letters of each child’s name if you want.
You can have these pre-cut, or to make the activity last longer have children cut out their own pieces.
Today's featured FREEBIE is an icebreaker activity perfect for the first day or week of school.
The M&M or Skittle Game has been around for a while, and goes by as many names as there are colors. There's also a variety of ways to play.
These are my versions. I hope you find them useful and an intersting and easy way to get to know your new students, as you build community and cameraderie.
Well that's it for today. The grand babes are coming, so it's time to put my beloved "Nana" hat on.
Nothing like grandchildren to make you feel young and old at the same time.
Wishing you a day filled with happy hugs and giggles galore!
"Grandchildren fill a place in your heart that you didn't know was empty."
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
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 Color Activities With Me
It seems that a lot of teachers are still working on apples during October as one big harvest theme. I had a request from one of my preschool teacher friends, to make some apple-themed color activities.
While I was pulling that packet together, Yolanda, a kindergarten teacher in Washington, asked if I could do an emergent reader with the three colors of apples. Thus Apple Colors was born.
Surprisingly, quite a few of my Y5 kiddos thought that apples are simply red, which amazed me, because Michigan is a huge apple growing state.
I designed these color activities so that they would reinforce the fact that apples can be red, yellow & green, while practicing a variety of standards.
The packet includes:
* An emergent reader in color as well as black & white, with options for 6, mini-pages on a one-page template, or 12, mini-pages, so you can make Itty Bitty booklets.
* Posters: Including 9 photo posters featuring pictures of real red, yellow and green apples.
* 4 apple songs with matching posters.
The A-P-P-L-E song includes pocket chart cards.
It’s a super-fun way to practice counting, subtraction, letter recognition, & spelling, as well as listening & following directions.
* An apple color matching game. Students can match color words to pictures, or pictures to pictures.
* 2 graphing activities
* 2 worksheets
* 4, quick, easy & fun apple craftivities. Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to have a look see: Apple Colors.
The FREEBIE today is a quick, easy and fun Apple Matching Game. Click on the link to grab your a copy.
Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. The nights have been cold, so the trees have really started changing colors.
I think fall is my favorite time of year because of the absolutely gorgeous trees.
It's time for a much-needed brain break to take a drive with my husband. Wishing you a relaxing day filled with memorable moments.
"Love doesn't grow on trees like apples in Eden. It's something you have to make. And you must use your imagination too." - Joyce Cary
1-2-3 Come Do Some 4 Seasons-Apple Activities With Me
My apple studies spill into October because of our big Harvest Theme going on.
With all of the rules, “getting to know” you activities, and assessing where my kiddos are at, I simply don’t have enough time in September, to get to all of the interesting apple science I have planned because we don't start school 'til after Labor Day.
So my super-fun apple activities, simply flow into October, along with my other harvest themes: pumpkins and scarecrows.
October is also the perfect time to learn about the seasons because my students can definitely see lots of changes going on outside.
With that in mind, I designed the Seasons of my Apple Tree packet.
It’s chock full of all sorts of fun activities that reinforce a variety of standards.
I introduce these lessons by reading The Season’s of Arnold’s Apple Tree, by Gail Gibbons.
The packet includes:
* An emergent reader booklet, which includes 36 Dolch sight words!
* There’s 6-mini pages on a one-page template, for a “just the right size” Itty Bitty booklet, which saves on paper & printing.
* I’ve included an emergent reader in full-color for teachers, as well as black & white for your students.
* There’s an optional last page, so you can Segway into graphing a favorite season, as well as a favorite color apple.
* My personal favorite, is an adorable keepsake 4-seasons tree.
* You can either have children trace their hand and arm, to make the branches and trunk of the tree, or print off my pattern.
It's one of my kiddos' favorite counting-subtraction songs. For that finishing touch, add a child's photo to the hollow of the trunk.
* The packet also includes posters, some of which are beautiful photographs of apple trees during the 4 seasons.
* I live in Michigan, which is a huge apple growing state, so there are plenty of places you can see orchards.
Use the pictures as posters, a bulletin board display, or simply share with your students before or after reading apple stories.
* I've also included worksheets, & pocket chart cards. 
One of the worksheets gives your kiddos some scissor practice, as they cut and glue the appropriate items for each season to tree branches. 
You can keep it as a one-page worksheet, or get in some more scissor practice and have your kiddos cut the 4 pages, collate, and staple together to make another Itty Bitty booklet. 
There's also a matching set of game cards, so you can play Memory Match and "I Have; Who Has?" games. 
* The puzzles come in full color, so you can use them for an independent math center, as well as black and white, so kiddos can color, cut and make their own puzzle. 
I've also included a mini 5x7 poster to save on printing and paper. Click on the link to grab your FREEBIE today.
Well that's it for today. My grandchildren are coming over and we're going to decorate the house for fall.
I so enjoy doing that, especially with little ones to help energize me with their excitement.
Wishing you a love-filled day.
"Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation." -Lois Wyse
1-2-3 Come Make Two Apple Games With Me
Do your students do centers or stations? Are you looking for some easy-peasy ones to whip off? LaVonne from New York, and Kathy from Wisconsin, were.
They e-mailed me and asked if I had any independent centers with an apple theme. LaVonne was looking for an alphabet one, and Kathy needed one for number words. It was fun designing their requests. I hope you enjoy them too.
Here's a quick, easy and fun ABC game that you can make for an independent alphabet center, which will help reinforce upper and lowercase letter recognition.
Simply run off the uppercase letter apple templates on red, yellow and light green construction paper; add a bit of color, laminate and trim.
I used these three colors, because my Y5's are learning that apples come in 3 colors. Students can also sequence the apple cards and see the ABC color pattern.
So that students can insert the matching lowercase worms, use an Exacto knife to cut a slit to the right of each letter.
As with the apples, run the lowercase letter worms off on (green) construction paper; add a bit of color, laminate and trim.
Students insert the lowercase worm into its matching uppercase apple.
Keep the apples and worms separate, in small Ziplock Baggies, and then put both Baggies in one larger one. Place in your alphabet center.
To make this self-correcting, write the lowercase letter on the back of the apple, or the uppercase letter on the back of the worm.
I've included a certificate of praise that you can give to students when they have successfully completed the center. They can color and take it home to share with their family.
Make a few extra copies of the game to send home with struggling children, to be returned when they have mastered the standard.
If you have the time, you can also use this activity as an interesting option when assessing a child.
This Wormy Apple Alphabet Matching Game will be FREE for an entire year, after which time it will be up-dated and put in Diane's Dollar Deals in my TpT shop.
Finally, the other center game I made reinforces numbers 0-10 and their matching number words.
There are several ways to play the game, as well as some worksheets to further reinforce number to word recognition. Click on the link to view/download the Apple Number Word Fun packet.
Thanks for visiting today. It's rather hot and muggy outside so I'm enjoying the air conditioning. Time to work up a sweat doing a bit of housework and laundry, or not...
I'm wishing you a refreshing day.
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams." -Unknown
1-2-3 Come Do A Few More Apple Activities With Me...
I know that I said I was done designing apples for awhile, but I found a few more notes while cleaning off my desk, and one thing led to another, 'til 4 mini apple packets were knocked off. I hope you enjoy them. The desk is cleared and just waiting to be filled with all sorts of other fall fun . . . where to begin?
I always get a few requests for some worksheets that connect-the-dots for a variety of things. Raesha, from Arizona, wondered if I had any connect the dots with skip counted numbers.
She's reviewing skip counting by 5's and 10's with her firsties and thought these would be fun.
I chose an apple theme for my template and included numbers from 0-10, as well as numbers from 0-30, plus apples for skip counting by 5's and then 10's.
Since I had the template designed, I also made a connect the dots for uppercase letters and another for the lowercase letters. Click on the link to view/download the Apple Connect The Dots packet.
Another request came from Rachel, over in Wisconsin. She wanted a quick and easy way to whole-group assess a variety of standards, to see where her kinders are at.
My favorite way to whole-group assess is with an "I Spy!" game. I designed these with an apple theme. Students spy uppercase letters, lowercase letters, shapes, and numbers.
They trace the letter/shape/number called, and then raise their hand. You can see at a glance who is having difficulty.
Students enjoy this form of assessment, and you know where the majority of your students are, without a whole lot of time invested testing.
Another plus for these worksheet-games, is that students can take them home and use them several more times, as they play with their parents, continuing to reinforce standards in a fun way.
Click on the link to view/download the Apple-Themed "I Spy" packet.
I continued to reinforce name recognition with my Y5's through October, and tried to think of a variety of ways for them to practice finding and writing their names. With a big apple unit in September, it seemed only fitting to do something with apples.
Print a copy of the apple name game template and then write your students' names on the inside.
I also include my own name, so that I had a sample to share and show, as I explained what I wanted my kiddos to do.
Every year some of my little ones were amazed that I had a first name (Diane). They simply thought of me as their teacher Mrs. Henderson.
I guess it was sort of like asking the question: "What's your mom's name?" To which most of them would reply: "Mommy." :-)
Students find and circle their name, write it on the bottom and then, because I was teaching them that apples came in three colors, I'd have them trace their apples with those 3 color markers or crayons. Completed projects make a cute bulletin board. ("The Apples Of Mrs. Henderson's Eyes!" )
I've also included an apple card template for you to use as name tags and/or games. Print a few copies of the apple card master; write your students's names on one set and then run off on yellow construction paper.
Print another set on white card stock and trim. Each child colors their own apple and then glues their photo in the middle. Collect, laminate and trim. Use the photo apple cards with the name apple cards, to play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games.
You could also put both sets of apple cards on a split ring and use them as flashcards, to help your students learn the names of their classmates, as well as how to read their names. Click on the link to view/download the Apple Name Game packet.
Finally, I made some apple puzzles, that make an easy and inexpensive little gift for the 1st week of school, or whenever.
I've included 3 different header cards for your treat Baggies, as well as a black and white template, so that your students can color their own puzzle.
When they are done, have them cut out their puzzle, mix up the pieces and challenge them to be the first one to complete their apple puzzle.
I've also included a blank template to help young students easily put their puzzle together. Click on the link to view/download the apple puzzle packet.
Thanks for visiting today. The sunshine is calling and I'm happily answering. See you later apple-gator.
"We can teach from experience, but we cannot teach experience." -Sasha Azevedo
1-2-3 Come Play Some Math Games With Me
Just when I think I'm ready to move on to another theme, my brain shifts into overdrive and I come up with yet another apple idea that I just have to putz with. Thus the apple math mats came about.
Who'd have thought they'd take 2 days to complete. My husband always tells me that I have no concept of how much time will be involved when it comes to one of my projects. I think it's the driven perfectionist in me that always has to have things "just so".
Any hoo, I hope you and your kiddos enjoy this apple math game as much as I did making it. You can make a class set of apple math mats to use each year, or have your students make their own.
This apple "craftivity" is a super-fun way to reinforce addition and/or subtraction, and if you teach older students, I've also included a template to make a multiplication apple game.
To play, students roll a dice to see if they will work on their addition or subtraction skills. If they roll an even number they will add and use that side of the apple mat. (I made this side red.)
If they roll an odd number, they'll flip the mat over and use the subtraction side, which is yellow. (Note how the leaves and center ovals have to do with addition or subtraction.)
For their 2nd roll, they toss two dice to determine their equation, which they jot down on their recording sheet.
Students can either use the paper seed tiles, some sunflower seeds, or pom poms as manipulatives to show "how many" on their mat.
If students are making their own apple mats, I'd suggest having them color and cut out the seed tiles. This way they can continue to reinforce lessons by playing at home. The paper "seeds" are pictured in the photographs.
If you want to have students do this activity as a whole-group and use your laminated mats, I'd use sunflower birdseed. (As you can see by the picture, the sunflower seeds are just the right size!)
Make sure you explain to your kiddos that these are sunflower seeds and not apple seeds, as sunflower seeds are sold by the bag. Give each child their own Dixie cup full, or sprinkle them on a paper plate in the center of their table.
For more practice, make an extra set of apples and put the game in your independent math center, along with 14 black or brown pom poms in a Ziplock Baggie. (I always add 2 extra pieces to my games incase a few get lost. Saves a ton of time searching for materials to make more.)
Students place the correct amount of seeds on their mat according to the numbers that they roll with the dice. (See photographs.)
After they have written the equation down on their recording sheet, they count up the total number of seeds to solve the addition problem, and take away the appropriate amount, to solve the subtraction one.
Once they have jotted down their answer, they clear off their mat, and begin the game again by rolling one dice.
To help reinforce greater and less than, have students use the math symbol ovals, and place the < or > oval in the middle of their apple mat, which will now cover the plus or minus oval.
Have students write these equations down on their recording sheet as well. Click on the link to view/download the Apple Math Mats packet.
Thanks for visiting today. My grandson's up from his nap and it's time for a snack and stroller ride. Have a blessed day!
"Learn as much as you can while you're young, since life becomes too busy later." -Dana Stewart Scott
1-2-3 Come Do A Few More Apple Activities With Me
Last week I celebrated apple week. blogging about all sorts of apple-themed activities. I had a few more requests, and some miscellaneous apple things that I hadn't blogged about, so I thought I'd toss them all in this article.
To see all of the apple FREEBIES on TeachWithMe click on the link to zip on over to that section of my site. There are over 100 apple-themed goodies to choose from!
Darcy, over in Washington, does a big apple unit with her 1st graders. She said: "I love, love, love your flip for facts file folder idea. Do you have one for apples?" Thanks for your e-mail Darcy. You certainly made my day. :-)
I designed the flip for facts file folders, as a quick, easy and fun way to introduce younger students to doing research. The file folders are a nice pre-cursor to writing a report. I didn't have one for apples, but was glad to whip one together.
If anyone else out there in cyber space would like a file folder on another topic (maybe pumpkins?) feel free to shoot me an e-mail: diane@teachwithme.com and I'll add it to my "to do" list.
Click on the link to view/download the Flips For Apple Facts File Folder. If you need some apple facts to share with your kiddos, click on the link for 125 Apple Facts!
I've also been working on seasonal sets of time cards. Here's the apple set. Use them to review analog as well as digital time to the hour and half hour. (CCSS 1.MD.3a) Great for pocket cards, an assessment tool, flashcards, games, and puzzles too.
The apple number word matching activity, is another quick and easy game. This one will help your students identify numbers and their number word.
Using a clothespin to clip to the correct answer, provides wonderful fine motor practice and helps strengthen finger muscles. So that students can self-check, mark an X in the correct spot on the back of the card.
Besides working on number words, I designed an apple color word matching game as well. This reinforces the 3 colors of apples.
I think that patterning is so important to understanding all sorts of math concepts, so I designed an apple patterning activity as well.
Graphing is also something that I did every day with my Y5's.
I decided to put a collection of 24 apple graphs together. I think I covered everything you could possibly want to graph about apples, but if I forgot something, shoot me an e-mail and I'll add it to the collection. diane@teachwithme.com
Finally, while I was frogging around updating the apple graphing packet, I thought I'd make up some graph paper to do a "magic math" apple picture.
Read the directions to your students and have them color in the number grid appropriately. If they've followed the directions correctly, an apple will be revealed.
This is a quick, easy and fun way to teach, review and assess: number recognition, spatial directions, ordinal numbers, diagonal lines, plus listening and following directions.
I've also included a large numeric grid for the teacher to use in a "monkey see-monkey do" demonstration, as well as a completed grid showing the correctly colored apple.
There are also posters to help explain ordinal numbers, left and right, as well as diagonal lines. Click on the link to view/download the Magic Math Apple
Thanks for visiting today. It's a rainy, sleepy-kind-of day, so I think I'll just pass the time coloring, cutting and pasting; and there's nothing like getting on Pinterest to have the hours fly by. So many ideas, so little time...
"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters and create many ripples." ~ Mother Teresa
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