How Bout Them Apples?

I know it's October and my mind should be all about pumpkins, but with all of the interruptions activities going on at school, our apple activities stretched a out a little longer than I planned.  Of course, my kids did not seem to mind.  They really loved getting a chance to learn with apples.

Most of our apple fun took place during our math time.  One day we practiced ten frame addition using Apple Jacks.  We had plenty of cereal left over, so a couple of days later be practiced making addition equations and solving them with a part/part/whole chart.  As you well know, kids love working with food.  They were as happy as could be when they got to eat their cereal at the end of the activity.

If you would like a FREE copy of these handouts, click on one of the picture below.

We also spent time with Cara Carroll's math and science journal, The Great Apple Investigation.  I tried to snap lots of pics of this activity.  It provided practice with different types of measurement, estimation, and focused on observations.  (As luck would have it, someone forgot to charge her camera battery.  I took two shots and then iPad to the rescue.)

To start, all the students picked an apple and I prepped our table for small groups.  After that we were off.  We observed, predicted, estimated, and measured.  All apples were throughly investigated by the end of the day.

Math with apples wouldn't be complete without a tasting and graphing activity.  This year I moved away from my normal apple tasting and tried out Sarah Cooley's Apple Tasting Party.  We sampled apples, apple muffins, Apple Jacks, apple juice, and apple sauce.  We then graphed our favorites and completed a recording sheet.  My firsties loved it.

Besides all the math skills we hit using apples, we also learned a little history by reading some books about Johnny Appleseed.  We made these cute Johnnys to brighten our hallway.  Students colored his apple their favorite apple colors.

I love teaching with apples and the students love learning with them.  There are so many directions you can go.  What we were able to fit in is just the tip of the iceberg (or maybe it is just the stem of the apple).  But now it's time for all things pumpkin, so stay tuned.