Apple Month

September has been apple month for the Co-op.  Here are a few things we have been busy doing and would be easy to do in your own home.  Keep in mind the Gloucester library has a great selection of fall books to check out!

Apple Taste Testing and Graph Making
Many of the apple books stress the huge variety of apples that grow in our country.  Jocelyn brought 4 different apples to share with the kids - talking first about their attributes - how they looked, were alike, different, etc.  Then the kids got to taste each one and used descriptive words to talk about how they tasted - sweet, sour, crunchy, soft, etc.  If the children liked one, they would draw a smiley face under that apple and next to their name.  If not, a frown.  At the end of the taste test, they added up the results and then graphed them.  Jocelyn taught about the way graphs can help us gather and understand information.  They tried a bar and line graph.

The boys got in on the action too while Janey was napping!

How to Make and Apple Pie and See the World

Deanne read this book to the group today.  In the book, the girl travels the world to find the ingredients she needs for her apple pie since her local market is closed.  (Of course!)  Deanne created flags of each country the girl traveled to and showed them everytime the ingredient or country was mentioned.  

Italy::Semolina Wheat; France::Eggs; Sri Lanka::Cinnamon; Ocean::Salt; England::Milk; Jamaica::Sugar; Vermont::Apples

After reading, the kids were brought to the table to view the ingredients and asked if they could remember where all the ingredients came from.  Deanne gave them a recipe that they took turns adding ingredients for.  It was fun to hear her explain 1c., 1/2c. 1/4c. and show the kids that by using the measuring cups first.  Then (while the playdoh they just made cooked), she took an apple and explained whole, half and quarters by cutting it up.  Lastly, the children all got their red, cinnamon playdoh and were asked to divide it in half and then in quarters.  Awesome!