What an exciting week we have had! We were completely immersed in apples and learned so much on our week long journey. One of the lessons we enjoyed was taste testing the different varieties of apples. Did you know that there were hundreds of different kinds of apples? It amazes me that a little seed can grow into such a yummy and healthy fruit that we can eat. We decided to break down our testing to 5 different apples (McIntosh, Royal Gala, Red Delicious, Apple Crisp, and Granny Smith). The children worked together to come up with a list of adjectives to describe each apple. We then voted on our favourite apple (much to my dismay, Apple Crisp did not win the vote). Red Delicious came out on top with 6 votes!! I love how one child described Red Delicious as tasting like cherries (very cute!).
The children continued learning about the life cycle of an apple by placing pictures in order. They cut and pasted photos of each stage in the growth of an apple and then matched words with the photos. They all did a wonderful job!
One of our favourite lessons that we did was a procedural writing about creating applesauce. We began by listing the ingredients for creating applesauce (water, sugar, apples, cinnamon). Then we walked through the steps in order. It was with great excitement that my mom helped us out. When the children first arrived, they began asking her how old she was. I overheard numbers flying all over, such as 80, 70, and an astounding 100!! I always smile when I introduce my mom every year to my class. They are always shocked that she would want to come and help in the class. This week, one little boy was surprised to know that I had my own house. He thought I lived in the school and that was my home. No boys and girls, I do have my own house ha ha. Teachers do not eat and sleep at school ha ha (even though sometimes it seems that I live and breathe teaching). Anyways, back to making applesauce.
Each child was called over one at a time to peel an apple and add it to our crockpot. The smell was so lovely and we couldn't wait to try some of our hard work.
The smell was so yummy, our tummies were rumbly.
The final taste outcome was a mixed reaction. Some children loved the applesauce, while others were not quite sure if they liked it or not. There were also a few that didn't have the heart to tell me that they definitely were not feeling their newest creation. Overall, it was a lot of fun and a great experience for the children to walk through the process, step by step.
Our week was full of so many hands-on experiences; however, by far I think the most exciting was our learning stations. We had 5 different tables set up, each with its own activity.
Station #1 Measuring the height of red, green, and yellow apples
The children used unifix cubes to measure how tall each apple was. They compared the apples and then added all of the heights together.
Station #2 Will red, green, and yellow apples sink or float in water?
Each child began by making a prediction as to whether each apple would sink or float. Most of the class thought the apples would sink (you would think they would sink because of their weight); however, they were shocked to see that every apple floated easily. Their faces were priceless and I can't wait to see what happens when we try out this experiment with pumpkins.
Station #3 How much do red, green, and yellow apples weigh?
This station involved the children in seeing how many rubber counters it would take to make a scale even. Again it was surprising to the children how most apples are different in weight, as well as in height and colour.
Station #4 Art Station
The art station was where the children had the opportunity to colour the different seasons of an apple tree. They then painted apples and apple blossoms on the spring and fall trees.
Station #5 Apple Writing
At this station, the children were asked to write about something they learned during the week about apples. Many wrote about making apple juice (a big hit), and learning the different parts of an apple.
Our apple stations were very exciting and kept the children motivated and interested. Many activities were taken from Kristen Smith's apple lessons (thanks for sharing wonderful resources!).
A few other highlights from the lessons we did during the week are as follows:
- creating wonderful patterns with different types of manipulatives
- increasing our reading stamina and introducing "Read to Someone"
- reading the story "10 apples up on top" by Dr.Seuss and creating our own number lines (photos to come next week)
- creating our own apples from construction paper (labelled parts and all; photos to come)
Character Awards for September: Teamwork
Our whole class worked very hard this month and displayed teamwork!! Congratulations to Salahudean and Kaitlyn for receiving this month's award!! We are all proud of you!!
Character focus for October: Kindness
We had such a great week, I can't wait until tomorrow!! Spiders are spinning their webs in room 109 and waiting for our children to arrive. Have a "spiderific" Sunday!
What do you call 100 spiders on a tire?
A spinning wheel!
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