Green Family

In the fall of 2008, the Green Family spent five weeks learning about and exploring Apples.  During this time we did a variety of activities and covered a number of content areas.  Some example activities are:

PRE-LITERACY Reading stories.  We read many stories about apples and how they grow. Spelling the word “apple” and “apples”:  We learned to identify the words “apple” and ‘”apples.”  During circle time, children took turns telling me anything they knew about apples.  I charted their responses on a piece of chart paper and then gave them the opportunity to come to the front of the room, find either “apple” or “apples” written somewhere on the page and underline it.  The children loved this activity!  Chart songs:  We introduced a number of chart songs to the children.   The favorite of which was called A-P-P-L-E and was sung to the tune of “Bingo.” Reading and following a recipe
	MATH For story time one day we read the story Ten Apples up on Top by Theo L. Lesieg.  We then used apples as a unit of measurement to see how many apples long we all were.  We talked about which children were the same length, who was the most and the least apples long, etc. The children made to the realization that the person who was the most apples long was the tallest person in the class and the person who was the least number of apples long was the shortest.  We then used the information gathered to create a chart that we then hung in the hallway.  Another important math concept explored during our curriculum stemmed directly from many of the recipes we were able to try out.  During this time we became familiar with many of the measurements involved and we talked about what they meant (i.e. ¼ cup, ½ cup, 1 cup, 1 tea/tablespoon, ½ tea/tablespoon, etc).   Cooking with children always provides an awesome opportunity for counting as well, as children take turns counting stirs, etc. We learned through our reading that each apple can have up to ten seeds in it.  For family time one day we first predicted how many seeds would be inside each apple, then we cut them open, counted the seeds and charted our findings.  The best part was we got to eat the apples when we were done!
Science We learned about the different parts of an apple and had the chance to cut them open and explore what was inside. We were able to determine whether apples would sink or float and to make guesses about whether or not the color of the apple made a difference in buoyancy.  Once we discovered they would float we bobbed for apples in the sensory table! We talked extensively about where apples come from and determined the items necessary to grow our own apple tree in the Green Family.  We reserved some seeds and planted them in a pot.  We placed the pot outside, in hopes it would get some sun…instead it froze.  It was unfortunate, but a great opportunity to observe what happens to vulnerable plants when the weather gets too cold!
	Sensory Tasting many different types of apples. We made apple pie playdough, which is playdough that smells like apple pie. We learned that apples can be tasty in many forms….we made various apple recipes, squeezed our own apple juice and ate dried apples as well.