Lesson Planning with Me

Hello! I teach an integrated preschool classroom, which means I am responsible for students ages three to five with special needs of all types as well as typical developing students. My students range in ability from a toddler to a typical kindergartener. Therefore, my activities must be able to reach a wide range and be easily adjusted for multiple ability levels.

I created this blog as a way to keep track of the fantastic ideas I have gathered over the years. Because I just randomly add activities to the blog, use the search, standard list, or theme list on the left side to find the activities you are after!

I also create and sell resources that can be found at TeachersPayTeachers and Teacher's Notebook.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Ten Apples Up on Top Block Play

From: Cutting Tiny Bites

Apple Tree Sensory Box

From: the art photo








Includes:
  • Dried split green peas
  • Brown craft foam tree
  • Tiny rake and broom
  • Small wooden scoop and buckets
  • Cinnamon sticks
  • Tiny red styrofoam balls
  • Faux apples & metal bucket
  • Felt trees (made with TP rolls)
  • Red pom poms

Apple Seed Predictions

Guess My Seeds

Idea from:  Everything Preschool
Clip art: KPM Doodles

I heavily altered this idea, but the original idea came from the Everything Preschool website. 

After talking about the growth of an apple tree: seed-tree-apple-back to seed; and the parts of an apple: stem, skin, flesh, core, pips (seeds), show the students an apple and let them guess the number of seeds in it.

Record predictions on a chart, if desired.

Then carefully cut the apple open (cross-wise if you want to find the star in the middle) and count how many seeds are inside. Whose predictions were closest?

So you don't waste the apple you can have apple slices for snack.

For hands on fun: After cutting the apple in half, give each student a half and a spoon and allow them to dig the seeds out themselves.

Other ideas you could add in:
 -Concepts of half/whole

-Function of each part of the apple (stem holds apples on the tree; skin and flesh for eating and protecting the seeds; seeds for growing new trees)