Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Halloween Noun Town

Posts two days in a row? I'm just as surprised as you are. 😆

This is going to be a short post; I told you all yesterday how much I love fall in the classroom, and today I just had to share one more reason: Halloween Noun Town!

Halloween Noun Town | Apples to Applique
 

I think noun towns are so cute, and I love that they are student generated. We have been learning about labels as a text feature as well as nouns and verbs, so this project was perfect!

I started by hanging up a nearly blank background. I did add two items so they could have a visual and better understand what we were doing.

Halloween Noun Town | Apples to Applique

They took the idea and ran with it! I laid down some parameters (no blood, no weapons, no characters from horror movies), and they did the rest. They drew their pictures, cut them out, and added labels. I love how it turned out!

Halloween Noun Town | Apples to Applique

I want to do this for all the things, now! I'm thinking we might need to make a "Verb 'Burb" next--or maybe I'll call it "Superb Verbs".

Tell me about your favorite noun town themes!

Keep teaching with heart and passion!




Monday, October 19, 2020

Pumpkin Science and Halloween STEM

Halloween STEM | Apples to Applique
 

This is one of my favorite parts of the school year. We're in the swing of things, my kids and I have developed a relationship, and we get to start all the fun stuff. Last year, I shared some of my favorite Halloween read-alouds. This year, I took a couple of those favorite Halloween stories, and a couple of new ones, and created some STEM challenges to go with them.

Halloween STEM | Apples to Applique

After reading Room on the Broom, kids create their own broom that can fit the witch, her cat, and her cauldron. The broom needs to be strong enough to hold the weighted-down pieces, and yet made of lightweight materials.

 

Halloween STEM | Apples to Applique

In the Haunted House is a fun book with a lilting rhyme. Kids enjoy seeing the spooky things inside the house and then building their own haunted house.

 

Halloween STEM | Apples to Applique

Walter's Wonderful Web is a book I stumbled across this year for the first time. I originally purchased it for my two-year-old, because of the subtitle which says "A first book about shapes". However, it doesn't come across as "babyish" and I have no qualms about reading it to my first graders. It is a charming story about a determined spider trying over and over to build a strong web. The kids then try making webs in various geometric shapes to see which one is the strongest.


Halloween STEM | Apples to Applique

The Big Pumpkin is a fun story about a pumpkin that is too big to be moved. What better way to follow up this story than by engineering a machine to move a pumpkin?

 

 

Speaking of pumpkins, we recently finished up a week of pumpkin science and investigation with this fun writing prompt and craftivity. As much as I love crafts, it is important to me that they be purposeful. This one met that criteria perfectly! After writing about pumpkins, the kids create a 3D pumpkin mini-book which has pages about the life cycle, the interior of the pumpkin, and sensory words to describe the pumpkin.

Find the Halloween Storybook STEM here in my store or here on TPT.

Find the Pumpkin Science Craftivity here in my store or here on TPT.

Do you love fall activities in the classroom as much as I do? I would love to hear your favorite!

Keep teaching with heart and passion!


 

Sunday, October 11, 2020

Digital Shape Detective Activity

I am so excited to tell you all that I have made a digital version of my popular shape detectives activity!

Digital Shape Detective Activity | Apples to Applique
I love, love, love the printable version, and how it enables kids to be active while they search for shapes in their environment.

Shape Detective Activity | Apples to Applique
 

But we all know the importance of digital activities this year, with many districts and students doing remote learning, and the fact that many districts are not allowing students to share supplies this year.

Digital Shape Detective Activity | Apples to Applique

In keeping with the spirit of the original shape finders, I kept this digital activity simple. The kids locate as many of the shape as they can in the pictures, but they do not have to click on each one they see; they simply move the shaped magnifying glass over the picture to see what they can find. It is just pure play and exploration! 

 

Digital Shape Detective Activity | Apples to Applique
 

Lower level learners can easily find the few big, obvious shapes, while higher level learners can take their time searching for the smaller, less obvious ones.

I hope your little explorers love it!

Find "I Spy: Shapes" here on Boom Learning, or here in my TPT store.

Keep teaching with heart and passion!