FALL…in Love with Apples!

It’s officially upon us- fall is here, well in most states (sorry Florida folks)! While I do love lazy summer days, fall brings a refreshing change of cool breezes, new shades of nature, sweaters/boots, and pumpkin spice lattes!

For the kiddos that means nature hikes to add to Sean’s growing nature collection, apple picking, pumpkin patch, trick-or-treating, and all the goodness fall has to offer.

This week we kicked off fall with a fun apple thematic unit that will end with a trip to the apple orchard in north Georgia. In the classroom I absolutely loved using thematic units to integrate subjects, apply learning to everyday life, and include fiction and nonfiction books to our lessons.

I headed to some of my favorite blogs and Pinterest  for some fresh ideas and free printables, and filled in the rest with some homemade goodies. This post contains the first 3 days of activities, a later post will contain the last 2 days. These activities are targeted for preschoolers and kindergarteners but can be adapted for younger and older children. I complete the activities with Sean providing assistance as needed.

Skills we are learning and practicing are: cutting, gluing, coloring, counting, measuring, writing, labeling, comparing/contrasting, graphing, reading comprehension, patterns, and investigating.

Introducing the apple:

 

We read Apples by Gail Gibbons and talked about why we label things. I made an easy cutout of an apple shape on red construction paper and a smaller shape on white paper. Glue the white on top, draw a core and seeds in the center, add a leaf and stem. I hand drew some labels and Sean cut and glued them on the apple. We also made some homemade applesauce. I peeled, cored, and large chopped the apples, Sean used a plastic knife and cut smaller chunks, added the cinnamon, and when it was cooked and cooled he mashed it. It was a hit with both Sean and Olivia.

 

 

 

Day 2:

 



 

 

We read Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Wallace. Today was my mini scientist’s favorite day, investigation! I found a cute booklet on the teacherspayteachers website, but  I knew I could quickly whip up my own for free. I choose to have Sean measure the apples height and width with legos, pegs, and a tape measure, guess and count how many seeds were inside, and predict and test whether it will sink or float. I hand drew the pictures and stapled a cover page on the front.

 

While we were doing the investigation Sean decided to test the other fruits in our fruit bowl (orange, kiwi, and peach) for size comparison and whether they sink or float as well.

We also completed an investigating apples flip book you can find HERE! Sean colored and cut and as we completed each section I recorded.

 

Day 3:

This was a math focus day. We read the book Ten Apples Up on Top by Theo LeSieg.

I folded a sheet of construction paper into 8 and drew a tree in each box with a random number. I gave Sean some paint and q-tips and he stamped the correct number of apples on each tree. Sean completed this by himself while I cooked dinner but for younger children you could do smaller numbers and count out loud with them while they stamp, for older children you can use larger numbers or write addition sentences for them to solve on each tree.

 

He also completed  an apple  pattern sheet you can find HERE!

 

Sean used the extra paint to paint an orchard, this was one of the first non-abstract paintings he’s done!

 

*Check out The First Grade Parade blog for more great ideas!

 

Still to come:

Venn Diagram comparing apples and tomatoes (cut and paste), apple color graphing, apple taste testing, and making mini muffin tin apple pies.