Activity: Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss

Sorry for not posting in the past year.  I actually forgot about this blog so bad teacher :)

First of all, Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!  I love Ten Apples Up On Top.  This is an easy to prepare activity that covers counting to 10, patterning, visual discrimination and a bit of review thrown in.

Supplies:
Ten Apples up On Top by Dr. Seuss
White paper plates
Crayons
Red, yellow and green papers
Sentence strips
Glue

Prep Time:

Find a good outline of an apple.  You can use this one or another.

Copy the apple onto the red, yellow and green papers.  Cut the apples out--don't worry about the lines--just cut them out in a square.

Kid time:

Read the book and review (because you probably went over apples in the fall) apple colors (red, green, and yellow)



Have the children make self- portraits by drawing their faces on the paper plates and coloring them.

Then invite the children to count out 10 paper apples of various colors.  To challenge higher students, have them make an ABAB, AABB ABCABC pattern of apple colors.  Have the children glue the apples on the sentence strip and finally staple the sentence strip to the top part of the paper plate so the children can have "ten apples" on top of the head.

Class Tip: Homemade Denim Organizers

My motto is "A hot glue gun is a terrible thing to waste."  If your classroom is like mine, storage space is a premium and money is no where to be found.

I was talking to a friend who visited a school that had "Aussie Pouches" on the back of the students' chairs. The kids had library books, crayons and paper stored in them.  It apparently looked like a wonky pillow case.  However, I don't have the $10 per pouch so I googled for instructions on how to make your own.

I came up with this site.  But being no seamstress and having zilch fabric, I pulled out my handy hot glue gun and scissors and an old pair of my daughter's blue jeans.  I recommend size 8 girl/boy jeans.  Any bigger and it overwhelms the chair and smaller provides poor storage.  Also go to thrift stores like Goodwill and stock up for $1.00 jeans.

Supplies:
Hot glue gun
Size 8-10 children's blue jeans
Scissors
Ribbon (Optional)
Very, very easy....

Cut the legs off the blue jeans right below the crouch area but be sure not to cut the crouch.  Get the jeans inside out and fold a seam.  Glue it and let dry.  Turn the jeans back (not inside out anymore).  Very carefully glue the legs shut.  The folded seam provides an extra glue line and it is very study. 

Using ribbon or the cut off legs, tie the jeans pocket onto the back of your students' chairs.  The back pockets can hold pencils/crayons.  The main pocket (where the child's waist would be) is a perfect fit for a manilla folder/books.

LP: Under and Over Water Animals

In an attempt to cover (again X 3) opposites and work it into the "Marine Animals" segment, I came up with a last minute activity.

Supplies:
White and blue construction paper
Glue
Scissors
Clip art of different animals
About 5 minutes before the lesson
and very, very important, an extra pair of shoes

Cut the blue construction paper in half hot dog style.  I used a spray adhesive to glue the cut blue paper onto the bottom of the white construction paper.  Your paper should be divided now into 1/2 white and 1/2 blue.

Using Microsoft clip art, I print out 4 land animals and 4 marine animals (we studied the octopus, the shark, dolphin and jellyfish).  The images need to be small to have them fit on the white/blue paper.  You can cut them out or if your class knows not to use the scissors to dig in their ears, have the kids cut them out.

As you start to hand out the white/blue paper and clip art, get out of your shoes because you have glued them to the floor with the spray adhesive residue.  Put on your new pair of shoes.

Talk to the kids about opposites.  I got in

• over/under the water
• blue/white
• hot/cold (the sun warms the surfaces but deep down it's cold)
• fast/slow (look at the shark and then look at the jellyfish)
• sticky/slick (try to pry your shoes off the floor)

That's just a few opposites but it does conform to Georgia Performance Standards :)  and Bright from the Start lottery funded Pre-K.

However, there are no funds to replace your shoes. :(

LP: Underground Railroad "Quilt"

Since February is Black History Month, I wanted to do something a little different than the predictable lesson plan.  I stumbled across a site about the Underground Railroad and how the lowly homemade quilt played a part.

One of the block designs was a sailboat which signaled to the escaping slaves that there was a body of water nearby.  This helped to orient them toward their path to freedom.

I hand drew the sailboat on a simple white piece of paper and had my kids color their "quilt blocks". I then laminated them and tied them together using yarn.  The resulting quilt was eye catching and my kids actually grasped the concept of slavery as well as using another form of communication.  Fun, fun and educational!

Science Experiment: Melting Ice

Your kindergarten class will think you are a magician!  And to top it off, the kids will stay glued to the experiment (melting ice) for a full five minutes.

Supplies:
Three plastic dishes
Ice cubes
Sugar
Salt
Flour

Explain that you are putting salt, sugar and flour on ice and the class must predict which ice will melt fastest.

Divide ice cubes into three dishes (Plates A, B, C).  Drizzle sugar over ice on Plate A, flour over ice on Plate B, and finally salt over ice on Place C.

Of course, the salted ice melts faster.  Tell them why and it's like "OOOHHH, Ms. Normal, you're so cool."

LP: "I Have A Dream"

So I'm a little late for the Martin Luthor King holiday, did I mention this is free?  You can use this in February for Black History Month.

This lesson is for 1st grade and younger but you can adapt it for the upper grades.

Materials/Supplies:

Book:  Whoever You Are by Mem Fox

Paper, crayons, scissors

Go to YouTube and look for Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech. 

For younger children, use the two minute portion that Dr King talks about having a dream that former slaves and children of former slave owners...."  It usually in the latter part of the speech and about two minutes long.  This is the maximum time for my class to sit still before picking a fight with each other. 

A coloring page of a sleeping boy's head as well as a girl's.  I also had an African American boy and girl page.  Make a page with a cloud thought bubble.  If you want my pages, leave a comment for this post and I'll get it to you.

We talked about how we were different and the same.  Also we need to treat each other fairly and with kindness. 

Each child colored their head and then they told us what they can do to change the world for the better.  We got one that no one should get bit by ants-which I agree, that would be a good thing but not exactly what I meant.  I did put "M.A. dreams that no one would get bit by ants ever" into the dream bubble.  We hung the sleeping heads with the matching dream bubbles outside on the bulletin board with the title, "Dr. King had dreams and so do we..."

Now I'm off to call Terminex to get rid of those pesky ants.