Each year in September, I do an Apple Unit with my class. My students always have so much fun throughout this unit because there are so many hands-on activities and they can make so many connections to what we are learning about! When starting out the unit, I love to read fiction and non-fiction books about apples with my class. Here are some of my favorites... *Please note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases I also like to share videos about the apple life cycle with my students so that they can have a visual of the process... After reading books and watching videos about the apples, my class and I create an anchor chart to show each stage of the life cycle. Then, I let my students create their own diagram with the different stages (pictured below). After my students draw their pictures for each stage of the apple life cycle, they can write about what happens in each stage. This can be used as an expository writing assignment, or as an assessment to see if students understand the process of the life cycle. Then, I let my students glue their life cycle and their writing onto large pieces of green, red, and yellow construction paper to display in our hallway :) In the beginning of the year, sentence structure and handwriting are a large focus for my writing block. So, I created apple sentence cards to unscramble as a class. Then, once we put the cards in the correct order, my students write and illustrate the sentences. **You can laminate the cards and use them as a center for students as well!** To continue our apple unit, my students complete apple investigations! I pass out half of an apple to each student for them to investigate. Click on the picture below to grab my apple investigation freebie!! After investing the apple, I give my students pieces of red, yellow, and green apples to taste and compare. Then, I ask my students to vote on which type of apple is their favorite. I create an anchor chart to display each of my students' votes (included in unit). Then, my students create a data sheet and graph the information from our survey. After my students have decided on their favorite type of apple, I use this as an opportunity to practice opinion writing and have my students tell me why they like their favorite type of apple the best. I have my students complete a graphic organizer. Then, I conference with my students and check for capitalization, spacing, and punctuation before my students write their final draft. Two types of graphic organizers are provided for scaffolding purposes! I hope your class enjoys this apple unit as much as mine did!! Please let me know if you have any questions! :)
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We weren't able to plan a second field trip for the spring, so we decided to do a nature walk with our first graders. We are lucky enough to have a big field across the street from our school, so we got bagged lunches, had a picnic, and let our students explore. They had a blast! To start out the day, we gave our students a checklist for a scavenger hunt. Before letting them explore, we discussed different items that could be straight, round, smooth, etc. Then we gave our student brown paper bags to collect what they found. After our students found all of their items, they got the chance to share what they found with the class, and then write about it in nature journals. The nature journal is a foldable book that has a page to write about what they saw, heard, found, and their favorite part of the activity. There are also blank pages for students to expand their writing. I let my students glue some of the things they found into their journals, too. Here is an example: For my students who finished early, I created another writing activity for them to do. For this activity, students were asked to use what they found on their scavenger hunt to create a picture and write about it. They were so creative and had so much fun writing about their pictures! I hope your class has as much fun as we did! :)
For Read Across America, our school has a door decorating contest! My class decided to do Oh the Places You'll Go. You can get the book here. My class had so much fun with this activity, and we tied for first place! :) For the contest, our decorations have to be student-made, so I had my students write where they would like to go on a hot air balloon. Then, I printed out their pictures to put in the baskets. Click on the picture below to download the template for free! (I printed each page on colored cardstock) I love Read Across America Week!! :) For the AZELLA (Arizona's English Proficiency Assessment) the students must ask questions about a picture and describe a picture in complete sentences. In order to help them practice, I have created picture writing prompts. For these, I first display the picture to the class. I have them share questions with partners to ask about the picture, and then I have a few students share with the class. This helps my students build their oral language skills, and it helps them practice using more details in their writing.
We have been learning about ocean animals, so my students really enjoyed writing what they knew about each animal in the pictures :) |
AuthorMy name is Paige. I taught first grade in Arizona for 3 years and am currently in my 6th year of teaching Kindergarten in California. I love creating engaging activities to do with my students! I hope you find these activities to be just as much fun to do with your class! Categories
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