A Treat For Me...A Treat For You!

I am so excited...

I finally 'treated' myself to a professional blog design!

What do you think?!!

Isn't it great?!!  Fun?!!  Cute?!!  Totally Kindergarten?!!

THANK you to Alexis from Laugh, Eat, Learn Designs

She took this: 

And made it into the wonderful masterpiece you are staring at now!

When I started blogging back in November 2013 I wasn't sure it was something I would really enjoy, have time for, be able to manage...but I have grown to LOVE it and it was time to give it a professional and fun look!

So now that I have gotten my 'treat'...

How about a treat for you and your students?!

On a recent outing to Target I stumbled upon these...

and knew right away these could be used in my classroom for sorting and counting!

I started making a printable for sorting/counting, but then thought...

there may be others that need it for graphing...and what about adding?!

There was so many different skills that could be covered using these spooky jellied creations!

So here is my 'treat' to you:

3 FREE printables!

And here are some ideas on how to use them...

SORTING AND COUNTING

The printable has 6 circles for sorting the snacks and then counting to record the number of each.

BUT when I opened the package there were only 6 in there...and not much variety...so I opened another.  That gave me at least 1 of each kind.  I would suggest you give each student 2 bags.  They come in a box of 48, so it shouldn't deplete your wallet TOO much (or maybe ask parents to donate!) 

Sort the candies right on the printable: 

And then write the number while they are still there.  This also allows for your to do a 'quick check' as you walk around the room! 

You can then have them draw how many of each so that the circles aren't empty after consumption! 

SORTING AND GRAPHING

This printable has the graphics in a graphing form.

Again- I used 2 packages to give more choices!

Sort the snacks by 'type' and place on the graph.

Once all candies are sorted and placed on the graph...

Begin coloring one box for each snack.  I chose to use a color that matched the snack, but you can have students use all the same color, have them choose the color or assign each snack a color!

Have students count the number of each snack and record the number on top.  Before they 'snack' check to see if their graphing/recording matches the number of snacks!

The completed graph!

They can analyze the graph and write which had the most/least!

SORTING, COUNTING & ADDING

This printable requires cut and paste.  Students will be choosing 2 groups and then adding them together.  Again- I recommend using 2 packages for each student

First have them cut out the shapes.

Have them decide which 'groups' they will make

And glue them into the boxes.

Have students sort and place the snacks onto the printable so they can 'see' and count the groups.

Have them record the amount of each snack

And they can then put them together into the box to show the group.

They will record the sum of each group...

And can draw pictures to represent the group before snacking on the sums!

Download the printables for free HERE!

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UPDATED 10/7/15

I have added 3 more printables to the pack that match Betty Crocker Halloween Fruit Snack packs!

UPDATED 10/29/18

 I added 3 more printables for the 2018 package of snacks that only has 5 shapes

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I hope you and your students enjoy this 'treat' as I sit back and admire my 'treat!'

AND be SURE to stop by again on Thursday...I have a pretty big announcement about fun Friday deals for October from over 30 sellers!

Until next post,

Apple Fun Has Just Begun!

Apple season is here!

I love using the end of September to 'chomp' into some apple fun!

This week we started to 'bite' into our apple unit and it will continue through next week!

I gathered some of my favorite apple books (I have a TON but will highlight how I used these):

 

    

I used Melvin & Gilda's simple informations story, Apples, as my unit launch.

We discussed several apple 'facts' that we learned from the book and then worked on this interactive writing chart about apple colors:

My sight word for the week was 'A' so it tied in perfectly.

The children then chose one of the three colors to make their ripped paper apple:

The ripping paper helped with some fine motor work too!

Combined, they made a great display of our apple learning:

From there we read Jean Marzollo's I Am An Apple to learn more about apples, where they come from, an apple lifecycle and what apples are used for!

We started this interactive writing list of things Apples Can Be...

and I also used Ten Apples Up On Top (see more on how I used this book below) to generate a few more ideas!

The children then each added a page to our class book about apples and I noticed a few things:

they used language from the book (orchard) in their dictations

remembered what apples can be used for

showed diagrams like they saw in the books (apple with an arrow showing it is in the pie!)

mimiced images they saw from the books (how apples bunch together and hang when they are ready to be picked)

recalled facts about where apples grow

used details to explain their ideas

I have found they are 'reading' this class book a lot and I hear them using 'informational book language' to explain the pictures!

On the 10th day of school we celebrated by reading 10 Apples Up On Top and then made these projects:

Each child got a strip with 10 apple stickers and had to place them 'up on top' of a picture of themselves!

No apple unit kick-off would be complete without apple tasting!  After they tasted an 1/8 of each color (I used an apple slicer/corer to cut the apples for distribution) they picked the color rectangle they liked best from the table and brought it to me to add to the graph.

It's a tie- the sweetest and sourest!

So what is in store for us for next week?

We will find the 'little red house with no windows, no door, a chimney on top and the star in the middle' using our flannel board! (You can find a version of the story for free here)

This ALWAYS amazes them!  My version is about a bear- and I have flannel board pieces to tell the story.  It is a amazing how quiet and intrigued they are by this story and the pieces!

I will use this book:

and we will make applesauce (it's like Little Red Hen but about making applesauce!)

We will make apple playdoh- I used to add apple pie spice to get the smell, but a friend clued me into this trick that they use in their classroom to get the most amazing apple smell...add apple candy flavoring:

I can't WAIT to try it (find at craft/candy making supply stores).

I plan on using 2 informational texts, Amazing Apples and A Day At the Apple Orchard, so that we can add more information to our apple facts chart.

We will also learn about and label the parts of an apple using interactive writing and then make this project and label on our own:

Here is the 'How To' for the project!  It is SUPER easy!

Each child will need:

(1) large white paper plate

(2) approx 2x4 inch red, yellow or green rectangles (for 'skin')

(1) approx 1.5x8 inch strip of brown paper (stem/seeds)

(1) approx 2x3 inch green rectangle (leaf)

labels

You can also have them use 'fancy' scissors to cut the core if you want it to look like it was bit!

Here are the labels I used.  You can also have students write the labels on pieces of paper to add if you want them to practice writing them.

This sheet has enough for 8 students.

In addition we will be learning about Johnny Appleseed!  

We won't be in school on his birthday, September 26th, but will 'sing' to him as we eat our applesauce on Wednesday (we have a short week due to Jewish holidays our school is closed for).

Looking for some more apple resources?  Here are a few from my TpT Store:

   

 

Be sure to check back for more about next week's apple fun!

You can also find some great apple books/activities on this linky:

Until next post,