Fall Apples Activities!

"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn."

   

- Elizabeth Lawrence

Fall is one of my favorite seasons! I love going to Nashville, Brown County State Park, Musgraves Orchard, eating fall foods, wearing sweaters... my list could really go on forever. 

This week our class did a TON of fun fall activities. We discussed the apple's life cycle, created a concept map of apples, did apple patterns, graphed apples by color followed by questions, completed 10 -ag words with 10 apples up on top, and made apple sauce in the crock pot!

               
                  {Apple Sauce}

Cook on high for 4 hours in the crock pot.

Combine the following ingredients:

• 20 apples (mixed, half peeled)
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 6 TBSP cinnamon 
• 2 TBSP honey
• Splash of lemon

Easy, delicious, and healthy!

"I love apple sauce!"

Graphing Apples!

Before bringing out the bucket of apples, we checked out our graph. We discussed that the title of our graph is what we are graphing, the different groups of apples we are graphing, and the questions related to our graph so we could "look" for those answers as we graph. 

Once we understood what we were graphing, I brought out the bucket of apples. We graphed each apple one at a time until the bucket was empty. Then we answered the questions based off of our graph. 

Autumn: noun. British Isles used the term autumn 

in the 1300's as the phrase "the fall of a leaf."

Favorite Little Teacher Moments...

I absolutely ADORE seeing my kids play school! It cracks me up when I hear them repeat what I say in class. When they "catch" me watching them, they stop and have a huge smile on their face. I now have to act like I'm doing something else in order to watch them play school! One of my favorite little teacher moments. :)

Watermelon Math

Watermelon + Math = THE BEST

A week before introducing this activity we talked about the characteristics of a watermelon (shape, size, color, etc.), how to pick the juiciest watermelon, how to cut up a watermelon safely, and enjoyed the taste of a very juicy watermelon!

This week we used the "seeds" from a watermelon to understand the basic concept of addition. For this activity, students received a Watermelon Addition worksheet, a Watermelon Addition Mat sheet, watermelon "seeds", and Watermelon Addition cards. Students worked in groups of four to complete this activity. To start this activity they choose a Watermelon Addition card. Then they would look at the digits within the equation and grab the correct number of watermelon "seeds" for each digit. Students would add the watermelon "seeds" together and record their equation and answer on their Watermelon Addition worksheet!

Literacy Stations Part II

(4) Eyeball Stew: Students reach into the eyeball stew and grab an eyeball that has a word wall word written on it! Students then sound out the word, write the word in thier writers notebook, and sound out the word for the second time! 

(5) -ab Word Family Sliders: Students put the popsicle stick into the slider. Students then slide the popsicle stick up and down to form -ab words! Once they stop on a letter, they are expected to sound it out and write it in their writers notebook. 














Once I believe students understand the concept, I allow them to work with partners and "quiz" each other! Students love to play the teachers role! It's so fun to watch them. 

Gumball Phonics: Long Vowel Words

Gumball Please...

A few weeks ago I was browsing on Pinterest (story of my life) and came across an awesome activity for long vowel words. I adjusted the activity to match the levels of my kiddos and it ended up working out SO well! 

To begin the Gumball Long Vowel activity we discussed that a long vowel word is a word that you can hear the actual sound of the letter. We then brainstormed some long a words. After we thought of a few, I introduced the Long Vowel Gumball Machine! I had several gumballs that had long a words and non long a words. I called on students to come to the front of the room, pick a gumball, ask the class to say what was on the gumball, and decided if it was a long a word. We did this until all the gumballs were either in the machine or in the non long a word pile. 

Students then had the opportunity to create their own Long Vowel Gumball Machine! They started the activity by coloring their gumball machine and gumballs. Then had to decide which gumballs were long a words. Once I checked if their gumballs were in the correct spot, they glued them on, and then I hung their final work!

Do you see the Pattern?

123 123 123...

Understanding patterns provides a clear basis for problem solving skills, develops mental skills, and allows my kiddos to make educated guesses. It's extremely valuable to be able to tell the relation between two things in order to predict and understand how they are interrelated. 

Two activities that I introduced this week to develop an understanding of patterns was Ordering Numbers and Ordering Letters. 

(1) Ordering Numbers... Students received 30 number cards, Ordering Numbers mat, and a Ordering Number Recording Sheet. To start this activity, students turned over their 30 number cards and chose four random cards. With those four random cards, they had to order them from least to greatest on their Ordering Numbers Mat. Students then recorded their numbers on their Ordering Numbers Recording Sheet! 

(2) Ordering Letters... Students received a bag filled with picture cards (glue, backpack and scissors), eight pattern cards, and a piece of paper to record their findings. To start this activity, students had to choose a pattern card. Based off their pattern card they had to make a pattern with the picture cards. For example, this student chose the ABAB pattern card. They then made a pattern with the glue and backpack picture cards. The pattern he chose was glue, backpack, glue, backpack, glue, backpack, etc. 

Community Helpers: Kindergarten at the Fire Station

* If you want any individual copies of a picture, please e-mail me at Kylieg@theprepschool.net! :)

Community Helpers: Firefighter

Literacy Stations

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go."

-Dr. Seuss

For my literacy stations I wanted to make sure they were engaging and effective. I researched different educational blogs, websites, and books to find creative ways to create rich literacy stations. Here are three literacy stations introduced this week!

(1) Keyboard Word Work: Students have index cards with word wall words written on them, a keyboard, and their writing notebook. They pick an index card, put in on their keyboard, say the word, type the word, and then write the word in their writers notebook!    

(2) Spaghetti with Meatballs: Students have two plastic forks, yarn, meatballs with word wall words written on them, and their writers notebook. They use their forks to grab a meatball, place the meatball on the table, say the word, and then write the word in their notebook. Sometimes I also give this group a keyboard so they can practice typing.

(3) Bean Search: Students have a bag full of beans with some beans having word wall words written on them and their writers notebook. They pick a bean that has a word wall word written on it, say the word, and then write the word in their writers notebook.

Community Helpers: Field Trip to Police Station

"Are we in trouble Ms. Kylie?"...

On our way to the police stations our kiddos were chatting away, giggling, skipping, smiling, etc. That quickly changed as they walked through the police station doors. It was serious time... well at least for a few minutes. HAH. 

Learning about what happens to people who drink a little more alcohol than they should... 

Learning about the police car... gadgets, sirens, etc.

In the police car!

Kindergarten Academy 2012

HELP! ;)

Rhyming with Dr. Suess

One of our goals for language arts this week is rhyming! I absolutely LOVED reading books that rhymed when I was younger, so I was super excited to share my love for rhyming with the kiddos. One of my favorite authors who is known for his exciting rhyming books is Dr. Seuss! Before beginning this activity, I read several Dr. Seuss books and completed our -at word family house. For this rhyming activity, we focused on -at word family words! I gave each student a pre-traced hat on red construction paper, white/yellow stripes, and a paper plate. Students cut out the hat, found six words that belonged to the -at word family, stapled the hat to the paper plate, and drew facial expressions! They were all very proud of their work... which definitely put a smile on my face! 

Storyhour Extravaganza at MCPL

Storyhour Extravaganza at the Monroe County Public Library (MCPL) was a complete blast! We listened to stories, songs, and films related to dogs. One of the kiddos favorite books was Harry and the Dirty Dog. You can find this book by clicking here. :) 

Marshmallow Math

Using Marshmallows in Math...

 To introduce the concept of place value to my students, I decided to use a manipulative that was familiar and delicious- Marshmallows and Fruit Loops. Each student received marshmallows, Fruit Loops, toothpicks, Marshmallow Math worksheet, and a Place Value Holder worksheet. My students assembled the marshmallows and toothpicks on the Place Value Holder worksheet. Then, I called out 1-, 2-, and 3-digit numbers for them to create using Fruit Loops on the toothpicks. Students quickly figured out that order (value) was extremely important! Once students grasp the concept of 1- and 2-digit numbers, I geared them up to using 3-digit numbers. After we did this successfully several times, the students enjoyed a delicious little snack! :)