Apples!

Who knew that you could use apples for so many great learning experiences? Red, pink, yellow, green and russet (brown patches on the skin). Apples come in a range of different colors, and even a few shapes and sizes. It is the fruit of fall and the crisper air and smell of apples are a welcome change after the warmer summer months.

If you are planning an apple theme for your students this year it is a great idea to let them carry out a little bit of research about apples using a Fact Booklet. Learning all the different parts is a great science activity and your students can watch while you cut an apple open to see what is inside. Let them guess how many seeds there will be in the apple before you cut it open. A great way to add some math to the apple theme.  Use the booklet to learn the names of the different parts of an apple and check with the real apple that you have cut open. Why not create a lovely classroom display by making a giant model of the inside of an apple? Your students will love coloring-in apples. The finished result, using the picture found in the Fact Booklet, looks like glass-stained apples! 

Choose activities in September that are simple and can be done with little support, for example, trace and write letters and numbers, and what letter/number comes after. The resource Apple Centers is the perfect addition to the Fact Booklet. Filled with educational activities to support the development of basic math and literacy skills. 

September is a perfect time for exploring Johnny Appleseed.  Johnny Appleseed became a legend while still alive, due to his generous ways as well as his leadership in promoting conservation.  Dressed in a coffee sack, a tin hat and walking barefoot he paved the way for frontiersmen to settle new land around his orchards.  There are several books you can read to your students that retell the story of the legend who set out to plant apple trees in the American wilderness, and they can use the Fact Booklet about Johnny Appleseed to learn more. The booklet comes with worksheets for note-taking that the students fill out. A model of Johnny Appleseed with his tin hat will put a smile on everyone’s face and talking about how ordinary people can do extraordinary things is a great way to inspire your students to work hard throughout the year!

Look for apple-themed resources that make it a September to remember!