September is the perfect time to incorporate apples in the classroom!
The beginning of the school year is in full swing, fall is right around the corner, and apples are always one of my favorite themes to use this time of year. With Johnny Appleseed’s birthday on September 26th, I like incorporating apple-themed learning activities throughout the month.
The best part is that an apple theme can easily be worked into so many of the skills we are already practicing. By adding a fun seasonal twist, students are often much more excited to practice those important beginning-of-the-year math and literacy skills.
Differentiation
If you teach pre-k or kindergarten, you know just how different students’ skill levels can be at the beginning of the year. Some children may come in already recognizing letters, sounds, and numbers, while others are just beginning to develop those skills. You may even have students in the same class who need completely different levels of support and challenge.
That’s why differentiation is so important. We want every student to be able to participate successfully while still working at a level that helps them grow.
One of my favorite ways to do this is to use activities that look and feel the same to students but can easily be adjusted for different skill levels. Everyone gets to participate in the same fun apple-themed center or activity, while I can provide the amount of support or challenge each student needs.
That is exactly what I do with many of my differentiated apple activities.
Differentiated Apple Math Games
Math is one of the areas where I notice the most need for differentiation. Some students are ready for skills like subitizing and ten frames, while others need work with actual numbers when counting.
With my differentiated apple games, students will all feel like they are playing the same game as their peers, however, because there are different cards for each type of game, each student gets what they need. Whether they are playing a board game or Apple Bingo or Apple Bump, they will feel included and will be learning all at the same time.
All I have to do to easily differentiate the games is switch out the apple cards! Easy peasy!
I pick easy-to-learn games at the beginning of the year. I usually introduce and play them in my small or whole groups first and then let students play them on their own.
This board game is a favorite! I found that printing out directions with pictures is a game-changer! No more questions from students – really!
I have 2 different versions – one for numbers 1-10 and one for numbers 1-20. The cards can be switched out to practice subitizing, number recognition, tally marks, or ten frames.
We love playing apple bingo as a class! I change it up by switching out the calling cards from ten frames to tally marks, to subitizing.
Apple Bump and Connect 4 are 2 more games that are easy for my young learners to learn and once they learn them they love playing them! And the best part is, I can just switch out the skills as the year progresses and the students don’t have to re-learn a new game.
To differentiate these games, I just use different apple cards and I have game boards for numbers 1-10 and for numbers 1-20.
Differentiated Apple Literacy Puzzles
One of the best ways to start my school year is having my students work with puzzles. I always use my differentiated apple activities puzzles for letter skills early in September.
The great thing is that most students have completed some type of puzzle activity, even if they have never been in an organized school. This means that they can do the activity with little assistance if the skill is at a level they understand.
Since it’s the beginning of the school year, we work on recognizing upper and lowercase letters, beginning sounds, and rhyming words.
Again, students feel like they are all doing the same activity as their peers even though the skills are differentiated.
I use 2 differentiated sets of puzzles. The first set is color-coded, providing visual cues to help students match the apple halves by color and skill, making the task less overwhelming and helping them learn the skill as they go.
The second set is all one color. This set of apple puzzles is more challenging. It requires students to rely on their knowledge of the skill to make the correct matches. Students will have to know the skill in order to match the puzzles correctly (they can not get help by matching the colors since all the apples are red).
After students are familiar with the puzzles, I add a simple exit ticket page to check their understanding.
To incorporate technology, I like using interactive Boom Cards with sound. The best part? Students enjoy practicing these skills while receiving immediate feedback, thanks to the self-checking feature!
Apple Science Experiments & STEM Challenges
I love for my students to get hands-on with their learning. We always completed plenty of STEM experiments and the month of September is no different. I recently shared with you several ideas of all the apple activities centered on experiments in a blog. I mix these experiments in with both full class and small group time to keep students actively participating.
Click here to see how to set up simple, engaging apple science experiments that use common household items you will most likely already have available. There are a number from which to choose, so you are sure to find ones for the level of your students.
If you would like to use any of the differentiated activities with your students, they are available here or by clicking the links below.
Products mentioned in this blog post
Differentiated Apple Math Cards & Games
Differentiated Uppercase & Lowercase Alphabet Apple Puzzles
Differentiated Beginning Sounds Apple Puzzles
Differentiated Rhyming Pictures Apple Puzzles
Apple Science Experiments & STEM Challenges
Apples Mega Bundle – Apple Science, Math, & Literacy at a discounted price!
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