We are ALL about apples this week because we are celebrating Johnny Appleseed Day which is on September 26. Our book has some different facts about who Johnny Appleseed was and what he did. We even have a couple of our students on the front and the back of the book looking like they are enjoying some time in an apple orchard.
Check it out to find out about Johnny Appleseed!
Here is a link to the book: Lets Celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day!
Johnny Appleseed Day is September 26 so we decided to learn a little more about him this week! Our sensory groups explored boxes that were all about apples. The fine motor groups made apple themed art projects and the language group made a yummy apple snack.
SENSORY GROUP
We turned one of our umbrellas into an apple tree this week and it was a total hit with the students! There were 3 different apples to find and a voice output with the song “Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me”—–an oldie but a goodie!
The math access point associate quantities with number names can be addressed here.
As we said, this umbrella tree really captured the students’ attention.
So we couldn’t resist adding a few more super cute photos 🙂
A is for APPLE——the students searched for letter A’s in green rice with black bean “apple seeds”. There was also a map of his home state to find at the bottom of the box.
Identify objects by observable properties, such as shape, is a science access point.
Apples come in lots of different colors but mostly RED, YELLOW, or GREEN. In this box the students sorted colorful “apple” pompoms into matching plates.
The science access point identify objects by one observable property, such as color, and the math access point recognize objects with three-dimensional objects, such as balls (spheres) can be addressed here.
The students used apple shaped cookie cutters to make BIG and LITTLE apples in red moon sand. We didn’t actually have apple cookie cutters so we used the pumpkin cutters we had on hand since they are a pretty similar shape—–sometimes you just have to make do with what you have 🙂
Recognize similarities and differences in size of common objects is a math access point.
Apple seeds are kind of black and brown so we thought these small beans would work as a nice stand in for them. There was a little dish to fill and a measuring spoon for fun scooping practice.
The math access point recognize when an object or person is added to or is taken away from a situation, can be addressed here.
We added some green food coloring to shaving cream this week. We encouraged the students to draw apple shaped circles or straight line stems.
Recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes is a math access point.
Hands were rinsed in apple scented water with a floating plastic apple, watering can, scoop, and an apple shaped sponge. Lots of different things to interact with here and the students had a blast.
The math access point recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids, can be addressed here.
The watering can was especially fun and
the students were fascinated by the streaming water!
Our apple scent this week was country apple from Bath and BodyWorks.
It was a pretty yummy scent that left our students smelling like delicious little apples 🙂
Recognize one or more external body parts is a science access point.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On ‘Tuesday we made apples using this template: apple
We started by identifying the color of our paper shred.
Identify objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.
Next the students painted glue (watered down a little bit to make it easier to spread) with a sponge brush.
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move, is a science access point.
Then came the fun part—–dropping handfuls of paper shred onto their apples! They really liked this part.
Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.
A little green leaf was added and ………..Ta DA!
Just delicious!
On Wednesday the students made apple trees. We used green plates from the Dollar Tree (a whole stack for $1, how can you beat that!) and leftover corrugated cardboard for the tree trunks. This was a really cheap craft—–and we like that 🙂
First the students identified the shape of the plates and the color of our “apple” pompoms
Recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape such as a circle, is a math access point.
The science access point identify objects by one observable property, such as color, is addressed here.
Then they practiced eye hand coordination skills by dipping red pompoms into glue and then gluing them onto their “trees”. Of course, we counted the number of apples on each tree!
The math access points recognize when an object is added to a situation and associate quantities with number names, can be addressed here.
Ta Da!
Look at our apple orchard!
LANGUAGE GROUP
This week we made our own applesauce! We also learned a lot about patience since the food processor was acting up a bit during group. Here is a link to the recipe we used: Let_s Make Cinnamon Applesauce
We started out by peeling the apples. We got to use an apple peeler which was pretty cool to our students. They helped us turn the handle to make the peeler work.
We found that the peeler also cored AND cut the apple so we got to skip that step 🙂
Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.
We checked out the string of apple peel!
Some of the students thought it was pretty fascinating but others weren’t quite so sure about it.
Next, we had to add some lemon juice. Each of our students got to try a little taste of the lemon juice. We talked about how it tasted SOUR.
Then we added some lemon juice to the food processor.
Our students helped turn the food processor on. We found that we had to add a little bit of water to help get the mixture going.
Recognize a way to stop an object from moving is a science access point that can be addressed here.
We poured the mixture into a bowl. Next, we added some sugar and cinnamon. Our students smelled the cinnamon and we talked about how it smelled sweet.
We stirred everything up and voila! No-cook applesauce!
The math access point solve problems involving quantities of objects or actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more, can be addressed here.
Yummy deliciousness
this was a hit 🙂
Hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about Johnny Appleseed.
Join us again next time for more fun and learning——Group by Group!