A Classroom On Cloud Nine: Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed!

One of the reasons I love to do apples at that the start of the year is because the unit hits a crescendo on September 26th in celebration of Johnny Appleseed's birthday! I've put together some of my favorite activities I use to celebrate one of America's beloved characters.

I love teaching new topics with coloring book mini books. They offer visuals to help understand the writing and they're perfect for children to turn to and color for independent work when they are early finishers.

There's of course, an apple investigation! I have two options for greater differentiation. There is a one sheet option as well as a mini book containing each activity from the investigation on individual pages. You can read more about my Apple Investigations here. If you're interested in just downloading the Apple Investigation single sheet, you can do so by clicking here.

I love ending Apple Investigations with Apple Tasting! I bring in a few apples of each color and we all taste test them together as a class. Not only is it a fun way to practice our scientific observations skills but it ties in the five senses and builds great classroom community as students have opportunities to share each other's opinions and compare their thoughts.

We also make a class graph with our favorite apples to eat! Talk about STEM in action!

There are also Literacy Resources as well! One of my favorite activities to offer Kindergartners is Color by Sight Word. I love the fine motor skills practice of coloring in smaller areas while incorporating sight word practice with color word practice.