Apples Galore

Delectable, juicy, sweet, warm, crunchy, a little bit of heaven in my mouth ... I gave into temptation and made an apple-crumble, (no crust, but enough cinnamon and crumbs (flour, sugar, butter) on top to make your mouth water.) Then I threw caution to the wind, darted out and bought a half gallon of vanilla ice cream. This morning I am calling that scale a big fat liar.


Since we recently took a field trip to the apple orchard, I used an apple theme in class. First, I set out a pile of apples and asked the children to 'guesstimate' how many. Then, I lined them up and we counted them from left to right. We did premath: 10 little apples sitting in a line, Abby took one, and now there are (she counts) nine! We sorted and classified by size and color. Then each child selected an apple and described every single detail about THEIR apple. This increases their obervation skills. Next, the apples went back into the pile, and each child had to find their own apple again. Amazing that they all did, too. Then, we read a book, From Apple Tree to Apple Pie, and each child retold the story in sequential order using six picture cards. Next, came the most fun, each child cut a round, red apple and made up their own recipe. Most chose to tell me how they would make apple pie, but several kids told me how to make apple pancakes or apple cookies. This is a fun and funny activity. They are learning about measurements and time, and learning to sequence. They answered questions such as how many? What else will you add? Where will you cook it? For how long?

This is what a typical recipe page looked like: their cut out apple with their name printed on it.

FIRST, get one, two, three apples or thirteen and smash 'em good. (crush, chop, cut, smoosh)
THEN, add six dribbles of sugar and some spinkles of milk and a spoon of salt and a cup water.
NEXT, cook it in the microwave/oven/stove for elventeen mintues/ twelve hours/ two seconds
LAST, you eat it and share some with ...

Now, after all that sweet talk, maybe you can see why I took my bag of apples home, warmed up my kitchen and made the house smell so good it made our mouths water waiting for our dessert. This cool weather makes me feel like baking. How about you?