Thursday, February 17, 2011

Apple Unit (Updated)

This is the first one I've put together, and it's still very much a work in progress.

First, we're going to head to the library and pick out a book about apples (maybe focus on Johnny Appleseed). After we've read the book together, we'll talk about our unit words, and what the book means, find the author and illustrator.

Apple unit words: Apple, Red, Stem, Seed, Sour, Fruit, Tree, Yellow, Green

Before heading out, we're going to create a budget for our apple purchases. Then we'll head to the store and look at all the different kinds of apples, and choose several different kinds within our budget. We'll weigh them together, and write the names down together. Nana will pay for them, staying in budget. (Lesson: Life Skills)

Alternatively, depending on the time of year, we'll find an apple picking farm. We'll visit, and pick our own apples. Talk to the proprietor about planting apple trees, what sort of climate apples like, what sort of bugs/animals like apples, and the different stages of an apples life. Also planning and remaining in the budget. (Lessons: Science, Life Skills)

Once we get home, we're going to practice writing the names of the apples, and finding our unit words in a word search (I have this file, if anyone wants it). For Pia, I have Aa writing sheets and a letter book. We'll also do a craft with apples, cutting out the stem, leaves and apple, and gluing them together. (Lesson: Writing, Spelling)

Then we're going to list the apples, and hop on the computer, to find out where they originally came from. We'll find those places on a map, and talk about what those places are like. (Lesson: Geography)

We'll pick our favorite place of those locations, and research how the apple seed got there, and the history of the area. (Lesson: History)

Next, we'll sort the apples by color, or stem length. We'll count, sort and categorize them. We'll create different patterns and write about our favorite attributes of an apple. (Lesson: Writing, Sorting, Counting, Patterns)

Next, we'll print out charts for the life of an apple seed, and review it (I still can't find what I need - maybe a book). Along with this will be coloring pages and an alphabet connect the dots for apples. Once we've completed learning about the life stages of an apple seed, we'll cut open our first apple and (attempt to) dissect a seed. (Lesson: Science)

Then, we'll take the cut apple, and work on fractions. We'll cut an apple in half, then in quarters, discussing different fractions and combinations. (Lesson: Math)

We'll leave one apple out, and check on it every hour to see what happens when an apple is left out. We'll write about what we see, using descriptive language. We'll record what we think will happen, and later review to see if it's correct. We'll hop back on the internet, to figure out why apples turn brown. (Lesson: Science, Writing, Critical Thinking)

With the remaining apples, we'll get into the kitchen, and create apple sauce. We'll work on measuring, reading a recipe and kitchen safety. We'll also wash all our dirty dishes and enjoy our product! While our sauce is cooking, we'll work on some Apple Math sheets I've created (if you want a copy, let me know!). (Lessons: Math, Life Skills, Reading)

1 comment:

  1. I hope you don't mind a few ideas that have been fun for my students in the past.

    Try and correlate your unit with Johnny Appleseed's birthday. You could make him some apple cake (bread) to celebrate. I think it is in early September. We would make Johnny Appleseed hats with patterns on them. The patterns were made with halved apples dipped in green, yellow and red paint. (arts and crafts, fine motor, patterning)

    When you make the applesauce, make two batches. We would make some with red apples and some with green apples. Try and determine which came from which apple. (critical thinking and problem solving)

    The library will have tons of books on the life cycle of an apple. So does your sister. She also has tons of books that relate to apples that could easily be incorporated into this unit.

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