Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3

Kindergarten in the Apple Tree

After all the fun we had with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, we couldn't help see what all the fuss was with Chicka, Chicka, 123.  The munchkins are always excited to see what kind of tree this story has in it.  With it coordinating with the first day of fall, it's always the perfect story to help us learn the seasons right along with practicing our numbers.

The munchkins did a great job learning the number words one, two and three and doing some fantastic reading in one of our emergent readers called:

One, Two, Three, What Do You See?

That story took place in an apple tree too!

The munchkins practiced counting, recognizing and writing numbers.

Our week was also filled with all sorts of projects about the seasons.

We made a cool touch and feel poster to show all four of them.

We worked with the four seasons at our science center.

And we made a little flip book about the seasons.

We also learned all about how an apple tree grows, while at the same time, learning the great story of John Chapman
(better known as Johnny Appleseed).

The munchkins enjoyed coloring and ordering a mini picture story. 

We had more fun reading the crazy story, Ten Apples Up on Top.  Then munchkins drew themselves and ordered 10 apples on their own heads.

What a hoot!

And everyone knows what you find living inside an apple, right?
Worms!

We added to our fun by identifying and copying the patterns on some gummi worms.

But of course, we all know that in kindergarten, the most fun always has to do with eating!

We had lots of different snacks at the snack center...all apple flavored. 

Plus, we had a day of apple tasting!

We had yummy red.

And yummy yellow.

And...well...Granny Smith green!

We graphed our favorite flavor and talked about how to read a graph, too.  Can you believe that Granny Smith was the favorite this year?

But that wasn't all. 

Our recipe for the week was an apple tree (of course).  The munchkins chose which season their tree would represent.

We had lots of winter trees. 

I wonder if the marshmallows had anything to do with it?

There were a few fall trees.

And only one spring tree.

No one wanted a plain green summer tree!  I don't blame them!

What a fun way to learn about the seasons...

Until next time...

Giggles,

Mrs. D.

Chicka Chicka 123

Meet Me at the Top of the Apple Tree!

We climbed out of the coconut tree to end our Chicka Chicka unit in an apple tree instead!  The companion story of Chicka Chicka 123 was a fun way to usher in the season of fall, learn all about the seasonal changes of an apple tree and explore some more number concepts (like counting by 10).  It also gave us a chance to work on number word recognition, especially the words:  one, two and three.

Our centers will filled with all sorts of apple fun.

Counting apples...

Seasons of the apple tree...

Ordering apple numbers by 10...

Apple books to read...



Patterning with apples...

Number word practice...

The Apple Pie Tree at Listening...

 Johnny Appleseed poems and coloring...

And so many yummy apple things at the Snack Table!

Our main science objective was to develop a better understanding of the four seasons.  After reading the great story of The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree, the munchkins each made a poster of the apple tree showing each season.  They enjoyed the special items that made each season different...like the tissue paper blossoms, the shimmering fall leaves and the cotton ball snow!

We made this activity even more fun by creating our recipe of the week based on the same book.  Each munchkins created a cookie and cracker apple tree and then decorated it according to one of the seasons.  They were able to choose from pink sprinkles (blossoms), green skittles (summer apples), red skittles (fall apples), or marshmallows (snowflakes).

The finished recipe was so cute!

Spring

Summer



Fall

Winter

It soon became apparent that nothing in this unit could be accomplished without eating and the munchkins couldn't wait to see what the next treat was going to be!

Our math activities were probably the most popular...

Like finding the pattern on the worm in our apple (gummi worms, of course).

Of course, eating the worm was the best part...

Well...letting it hang out of our mouths was the BEST part.  Actually swallowing it was just a bonus!

And since we were at it, (you know...eating) we decided we'd better eat some apples (since that was our main focus this week, after all).  So we took an afternoon to try three different types of apples and graph our favorites.

There was a Granny Smith, a Red Delicious, and a Golden Delicious.

Sweet...

and sour!

Golden Delicious beat out Red this year.

Smiles munchkins!

No really...SMILE!



Believe it or not, we did really work this week too.  The munchkins learned to read a repetitive text emergent book all on their own.  It helped them gain fluency as readers and reinforced sight words and the number words "one", "two", and "three".  After reading the story, the munchkins wrote their own version...and yes, they did ALL the writing.  Their text used the sight word sentence:

I see one.  I see two.  I see three.

They did a fantastic job!  Many remembered the spaces between their words and to use proper punctuation.

What a great week!

Until next time...

Giggles,

Mrs. D.