October Roundup

 

Bananas for Apples!

October was such a fun month of growing and learning for our little bananas! With the cooler temperatures, we began to focus on the changes that we see in fall, especially the produce that is harvested this time of year. 

We started with learning about apples! We began the study by. seeing how we can describe apples and noticing their different features. We talked about the different colors of apples, where apples grow, and the apple life cycle. The following week we focused more on how we use apples. We did a taste test of green, yellow, and red apples and students chose which one they liked the best. We did an apple investigation by cutting open an apple and seeing what was inside. The students loved seeing the star on the inside of the apples and counting how many seeds were inside. We wrapped up our apple-icous learning by making and eating all things apple! We made applesauce and got to use Miss Susan's special apple machine that cored, peeled, and sliced the apples for us. They really loved eating the 'apple spaghetti' or 'apple worms' (these were just the spiral peels that were left over). The room smelled delicious during nap time as the apples cooked in the crockpot. We made apple cider using instant packets and sliced up an apple pie. The students were so surprised at how many things could be made with apples! If you are interested in making your own applesauce at home, this is very similar to the recipe that we used: https://spicetosauce.com/apple-sauce-recipe/

James practices sorting apples in our oat and cinnamon sensory bin

Wright is working on his fine motor skills by poking holes in an apple picture

Ali is using a flashlight to find magic letters hiding behind apples

Ja'Darius loved the apple 'noodles' we got from peeling the apples

Declan is a pro at slicing/coring/peeling the apples for our applesauce

Our apple extravaganza snack: apple cider, applesauce, and apple pie

After thoroughly investigating apples, we moved to learning about another fall staple: pumpkins! We talked about how pumpkins are similar to/different than apples and how they grow. We watched a time lapse video of a giant pumpkin growing and the students loved seeing those changes. We opened up a pumpkin and each student got to touch the pumpkin 'guts'. Some liked it, but most of them couldn't wait to was their hands! We had some pumpkin activities in our centers that helped us work on specific fine motor, math, and literacy skills. We wrapped up the week celebrating with a harvest party! Thank you to the Frankie Lemmon Foundation for making the day super special for our students. 

With all of the excitement and shortened weeks, we decided to take time to review the letters we have already learned. As a refresher, we have learned A, N, I, H, and E. It is very important that you review these at home as well so your students can retain the information that they are learning at school. Below are the videos for the Letterland characters we for N, I, H, and E. The videos for A can be found in the previous blog post. 

Thank you so much to all of the families that donated apples, pumpkins, and other supplies to our classroom this month! We couldn't do all that we do without your help and support. The more we get to know each other, the more fun we are having and I know this is going to be a great school year. 

🍌Miss Susan . Miss Tia . Miss Carolina 🍌