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

Studying apples is a great way to plug in some science and interesting math activities into your day.

Today's blog features 3 of my newest apple packets that are a quick, easy and fun way to do that.

First up is Apple Fraction Action. 

I had a request for some easy fraction activities for kinders, so I thought I'd use apples because you can easily cut them in half and then quarters to show children. An apple pie is also a perfect example of this math concept.   

The packet includes:
* games

* worksheets, which can also double as whole-group assessments

* 4 craftivities
* lots of posters plus . . .

* puzzles
* graphing activities

* pocket chart cards
* 2 emergent reader flip booklets and...

* 2 “Itty Bitty Fraction Action” booklets, all with an apple or apple pie theme.

Use the numerous sets of (12-on-a-page) apple & apple pie cards, for explaining, sorting, sequencing and playing games like Memory Match and “I Have; Who Has?”

The bulk of the packet reinforces whole, half and quarter fractions; however, there are a few items which also include higher fraction options (up to 8ths & 12ths) to challenge students and add diversity.

Next up apple-themed "Fix the Sentence" cards.

These 39, pocket chart-sized cards, are a quick, easy and fun way to review a variety of apple related facts, while practicing capitalization and end punctuation.

Read the cards together as a whole group to practice a lot of sight words. This activity not only helps improve students writing (proofing & editing) skills, but recognizing those Dolch sight words as well.

Choose a student to come up and using a dry erase marker, circle letters that should be capitalized and then add end punctuation. (period, question mark & exclamation point).  You can do this on a whiteboard, with a pocket chart, or pass a card out to each child to correct.

For more practice, as an individual activity, have students choose X number of mini cards and rewrite the sentences correctly on the worksheet provided.  I've included 2 sizes of mini "fix the sentence" cards for this, which makes a nice Daily 5 word work activity too. 

Finally, my simple and fun Apple Investigation packet covers a variety of math standards (particularly measurement), with a splash of science, as children use all 5 senses to learn about apples and record their findings.

To make this easy-peasy, I’ve purposely set up the 9, “print & go” pages of the booklet, so that they act as a single worksheet for that particular skill/standard/vocabulary, which students can do independently, with a partner, in small groups, or as a whole group.

For beginning or non-readers, complete each page as a whole group as a “monkey see-monkey do” activity.

Teacher reads the sentence of a numbered activity, demonstrates it, then pauses for students to complete the task with their apple, and record that information in their workbook.

To use with preschoolers, have one investigation booklet, which you work on together using one or two apples, then call on children to participate, as you investigate and do the activities on each page.

I’ve included a KWL to introduce the lesson.  There’s a template in black & white for students to fill out, as well as one in color to use as a whole group to list your findings.

The booklet is a great way to teach a variety of measurement vocabulary and how to find out height, weight, width, circumference, as well as the tools used to do that. (ruler, scale, measuring tape), along with non-standard units of measurement (blocks & apples).

Children use guess-timation while analyzing their apple, then investigate to find the result, then compare their guess with the correct answer, using more math vocabulary (equals, less than & greater than).

They also use observation & comparison techniques as they study the outside as well as the inside of their apple.
Students trace and write vocabulary-building words, predict, answer questions, + collect & analyze data.

Grab that teachable science moment, to discuss the 5 senses, as students use all of them while completing their apple investigations.

The “pick a partner” and find out "how many apples tall" you are, as well as the “Does my apple sink or float?” are 2 of my students’ favorite activities.

Finally, there are 5 whole-group graphing extensions for more math practice, which you can do after children finish their booklet.
I've also included a mini-certificate of praise children glue to the back of their cover. 

"I Spy a . . ."   is today's featured FREEBIE, which also has an apple theme. 

Teach, review, practice and whole-group assess with these game sheets. 

The packet includes worksheet-games for uppercase letters, lowercase letters, shapes, numbers 0-10, numbers 0-20, plus a blank template to fill in with higher numbers. 

Students enjoy playing the game and you can see at a glance who is having difficulty. 

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

Fall is in the air here in Michigan, and I've really been enjoying the cooler, sweater weather.  Wishing you a fun-filled day. 

 "Use your imagination to not scare yourself to death, but to  inspire yourself to life." - Adele Brookman

1-2-3 Come Play Some Number Games With Me

As things are winding down, for a much-deserved Thanksgiving break, you may want to plug in a few educational, yet quick, easy and fun games on that last day.

The Easy As Pie Learning packet, reviews all sorts of standards, with a cute little turkey game that's easy to differentiate, for a variety of learning levels. 

Use the 10-sectioned pie pattern, to simply make a 10 piece puzzle, for younger students to practice counting and sequencing numbers 1-10. 

Older students can practice numbers and their number words, if you cut the puzzle slices into numbers and number word pieces, making a 20-piece puzzle.

You can also review colors with your little ones, by running off the number wheel pattern, on 10 different colors of construction paper; mixing and matching pieces 'til you have 30-mini puzzles, each with 10 different colored pie slices.  It only took me a few minutes to make 10.  Store them separately, in Ziploc Snack Baggies.

 Reinforce life skills, by playing with the puzzles as a partner game.  You can use dice and practice addition, or use the spinner (3 are included) to play that way. 

Students take turns rolling one dice, to fill in pie slices numbered 1-6, then use two dice and add them together, to play puzzle pieces 7-10.

If your kiddos are also studying fractions, they can play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games, with the turkey's pumpkin pie fraction cards. There's also a larger set to use as flashcards.

For more fraction practice, I've included a set of black and white pocket chart cards that you can run off, so your students can make an Itty Bitty fraction booklet.  Click on the link to grab this fun fall FREEBIE:  Easy As Pie Learning Thanksgiving Game packet.

Thanks for visiting.  It's really started to snow outside, so I'm off to go find the snow shovel, as it is tenaciously sticking to the ground. 

Sigh... I am so not ready for winter yet, but then I don't think I'm ever happy when it truly arrives either. 

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

1-2-3 Come Do A Halloween Craftivity With Me

Are you looking for a few quick, easy and fun activities to do on your Halloween party day, but still need to cover some standards? Then I think you'll enjoy this candy corn craftivity. 

It's very versatile.  Use it to reinforce circles, the concept of small, medium and large; or  have students write whatever you want them to practice, on the individual sections of the candy corn pieces. 

Students can get a lot of cutting practice in with this activity, or to expedite things, pre-cut the 3 sizes of circles on orange, yellow and white construction paper, then choose which fraction template you want to use and run it off. 

Students trim their fraction circle, then place it on the top of their candy corn circle, that they've glued together.  Holding the two circles together, they cut on the black lines to quickly and easily make individual pieces of candy corn!

I've made samples to give you some ideas of what you can do with the pieces of candy corn.  Have students write CVC words, or upper and lowercase letters on the sections. 

You can also review shapes, breaking down a number or counting to 30.  Students can also practice writing the orange, yellow and white color words, then writing down examples of things that are those colors.

If you're working on fractions, I've included pocket chart cards for a quick review.

You also have the option to have your students cut their candy corn circle into 1/4ths, 1/5ths, 1/6ths, 1/8ths, or 1/10ths.  (I've included templates to run off so they can place them on top and cut on the black lines.)

Click on the link to view/download the Common Core Candy Corn Craftivity.

Well that's it for today.  Dinner's in the oven and smells yummy; the timer's ringing so it's time to fly. 

Thanks for visiting.  Hope you can pop by tomorrow for another fall FREEBIE.  Wishing you a delicious day.

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."  - Unknown 


1-2-3 Come Do Nine Fine Pumpkin On The Vine Math Activities With Me

I have so many fun pumpkin activities to share, that I thought I'd feature 9 of my favorites that I use to teach all sorts of math standards.

A quick, easy and fun way to review numbers from 1-30, counting backwards from 20 or 10 to 0; plus skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's & 10's is with the pumpkin slider. There are 3 different pumpkin patterns for children to choose from. 

So that you can also review upper & lowercase letters, I included those traceable strips as well.  Sliders are a great way to whole group assess as you play an "I Spy!" game.

If you're working on telling time with your kiddos, the Pumpkin Time cards are perfect for a pocket chart or use as flashcards.

They review analog and digital time to the hour as well as time to the half hour.   Make extra sets for students to play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games. I've included a tip list of other things you can do with the cards, plus a Kaboom game.

For more telling time reinforcement, your kiddos will enjoy the  "It's Pumpkin Time!" games.  There are dice as well as spinner games. 

Both reinforce digital as well as analog time.  I've included blank templates to use as an assessment tool, or for students to make mini time booklets.

Have you started working on money?  Then I think you'll enjoy Pumpkin Payment. 

Several standards are covered in this easy-reader pumpkin coin booklet that reinforce coins and shapes. 

Students trace and write the coin word, the value of the coin, plus the shape word.  They trace the shape and then draw it on the pumpkin; cutting and gluing the coin(s) to the matching numbered boxes.

Are you looking for some measurement activities? Help students practice measurement, by using apples and pumpkins.

You can run this packet off as an entire booklet for each child to work on, or use one worksheet each day during your math or science time. 

I have pages where students measure with blocks, and other worksheets where students measure with a real scale and a yardstick.  Click on the link for Pumpkin & Apple Measurement Activities

More measurement activities can be found in the Pumpkin Investigation Booklet. 

Students measure height, weight, width and circumference of a pumpkin. They trace and write vocabulary-building words, predict, answer questions, + collect and analyze data.

I think most teachers cover the life cycle of a pumpkin to add a bit of science into their day. 

With that in mind, I designed From Seeds To Pumpkin Pie: a quick, easy and awesome looking life cycle of a pumpkin craftivity.  Ever mindful of standards, I included some shape & fraction fun to go with it. 

The front of the pumpkin reviews all of the 2D basic shapes, including the hexagon, as students design their Jack-O-Lantern. (K.G.2)

The back of the pumpkin converts into a pie and is divided into quarters that show the pumpkin's life cycle. To make it look like a "real" pie tin, I covered a paper plate with aluminum foil. 

Two fraction worksheets are included, to work on dividing circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares. Students describe the sections using the words halves, fourths & quarters. (1.G.3) Completed projects look terrific suspended from the ceiling.

Finally, the Seed Sorting packet, helps you to continue with a bit more science, while covering all sorts of math standards:  Data collection & analysis, sorting, comparing & contrasting, predicting, guess-timating, counting, sequencing, greater than, less than & equal to, plus graphing. 

You can do these activities as a whole group, or set things up as a center and have students work independently on their own seed worksheets.

The easy reader My Seed Booklet, is a matching activity. You can simply make a booklet to share with your students, so that they can see the different kinds of popular fall seeds, or have each child make their own booklet by drawing the seeds. 

Since you can buy packages of popcorn, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, you may want your students to glue some real ones to their booklet as well.  You can always use the leftovers for all sorts of counting and sorting activities.

If you're looking for a few more math-related pumpkin activities, scroll down to another blog article filled with even more fall FREEBIES.

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you found a few things to get your kiddos excited about math, while learning a bit of science too. 

I'm off to the farmer's market to buy a few small pumpkins and gourds; I love decorating for fall.   Wishing you a colorful autumn day filled with ed-venture!

"Those who live in the past limit their future."  -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Spy Some Apple Fractions With Me

Whenever I do a theme, I try to incorporate a variety of standards, that encompass all of my subjects.  Because fractions are sometimes difficult for younger kiddo's to understand, it's very important to SHOW these math concepts, and then to reinforce them, by having students follow up with several hands-on activities.  If you teach first grade, these fraction lessons will help with the Common Core State Standard: 1.G.3

There's nothing like food to grab a child's attention, so I suggest showing children a variety of apples, explaining that they are not only red, which many of them think, but yellow and green as well.

Display an uncut apple and explain that it is a WHOLE apple, then cut the apple down the middle and explain that now the apple is cut in half, and that 2 halves make a whole.  Show this by putting the two pieces back together. 

Ask children if any one knows how many pieces you'll have, if you cut the apple in quarters, then show them, by cutting the apple in half and then in half again.  Count the 4 pieces; review that one of the 4 pieces of an apple is called a quarter or 1 fourth.  Rubberband the 4 pieces together, to show that 4 pieces equal a whole apple.  Ask your students to choose a partner and explain what they have just learned to each other. 

While they are doing that, cut up the apples so that everyone can have a little bite of each kind.  Tell them to remember which colored apple was their favorite, so you can graph the results.  If you'd like a copy of this apple graph as well as all sorts of other apple graphing templates, (22 different apple graphs) click on the link.

Later, to reinforce and practice fractions, students put together an apple flip-up booklet.  To make one, run off the printable on red, yellow and green construction paper. 

Children choose a color and fold it in half horizontally.  This is another opportunity to review the word half with them, as well as what horizontal means.  Students cut the top "doors" so that they will "flip up."  Remind students to open their paper, so they are less likely to cut the bottom one at the same time they are slitting the top.

Children write their name on the front of their apple flip up booklet and glue apple pictures under the "doors" to match the fraction words on the top.  When everyone has completed their "flip up" review as a whole group. 

Included in this packet, is also a trace and write apple fraction booklet, so that the math vocabulary is reinforced in yet another way.  This is a great activity for your Daily 5 Word Work. There are matching apple fraction pocket or word wall word cards as well.  Click on the link to view/download the Apple Fraction Packet. 

If you feel students need more practice, or you'd like a quick review, follow up the next day by having them do the apple pie flip up or the apple pie trace and write booklet.  Click on the link to view/download the Apple Pie Fraction Packet.

At the end of the day, I review things that we've learned, using anchor charts.  After we go over the concepts, I let children help decide where we should hang the latest posters.  Click on the link to view/down load the Fraction Anchor Chart Posters.

Because my Y5's especially enjoyed "craftivities" (great for fine motor skill practice) I often set up a more "artsy" center, for students who completed their table top lesson. 

These independent centers were highly motivating for students to get down to business and complete their work, so they could make "something special."  To avoid hurt feelings, children who ran out of time, got to collect the "pieces" and materials for the project to take home.

The Fraction Apple Flip craftivity is perfect for these independent centers. Click on the link to view/download it. 

To make one, simply run off the templates on red, lime green and yellow construction paper.  Students cut and collate their apple so that the 1/4 is on the top, followed by the half and then the whole apple.  Staple the corner and review.  I've included a stem and leaf template to make the fraction sections look like an apple.  Pre-cut these for students to glue to the top-back of their apple.

Finally, games are a terrific way to practice life skills, as well as reinforce standards, in an interesting and fun way.  This "Spin to Win" game, is called Apple Fraction Action. 

Students can play indepently, or in a group of 2 or 3. Whatever apple they land on, they mark an x under the matching fraction apple on their graph.  When the timer rings, students total up their columns and circle which apple they have spun the most. 

I've included a whole class graph as well, so you can review, by charting everyone's answers. Click on the link to view/download the Apple Fraction Action game.

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I blog and design every day; hope you can pop back tomorrow for the newest freebie(s).

"Treat a [student] as he is, and he will remain as he is.  Treat him as he can and should be, and he will become, as he can and should be." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe