Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated each year from September 15th to October 15th. It’s such a wonderful opportunity to celebrate diversity and introduce young children to different cultures. Today I have a fun read-aloud that will be perfect to go along with the celebration. We’ll be reading Literacy Snack Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca J. Gomez.

Clever Federico outsmarts el lobo in this fresh and funny Mexican-American take on Little Red Riding Hood.

With his red hoodie on and his bicycle basket full of food, Federico is ready to visit Abuelo. But on the way, he meets a hungry wolf. And now his grandfather bears a striking resemblance to el lobo…

Fortunately, Federico is quick and clever—and just happens to be carrying a spicy surprise! Federico drives the wolf away, and he and Abuelo celebrate with a special salsa. 

For our snack today, we’ll be making the perfect pico de gillo!

Snack Idea

For our snack, we’re making pico de gallo. It is a type of fresh salsa made with roma tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos.

You’ll need the following ingredients to make a bowl of the pico. If you have a larger class you may want to double it.

• 1/2 small onion diced
• 1 small jalapeno seeded and diced
• 4 roma tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove minced
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp of lime juice
• 2 tbsps of chopped cilantro

Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix together. Let chill for 15 minutes or more before serving. You’ll also want to grab a bag or two of your favorite tortilla chips. To share the snack with the class, you can use small bowls and scoop a spoonful of the pico de gallo into their bowl and add some chips for them.

Free Printable

I made a printable to go along with the book for your students to work on while they are enjoying their snacks. They will get to work on sequencing and retelling. They can color and number the boxes in the order of how the events took place in the book.

You can download the Literacy Snack Federico and the Wolf free printable from my TpT store by clicking the green box below.

I hope you students enjoy this fun fractured fairy tale highlighting the Hispanic heritage!

See you next time!

Jenette

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September is almost here and that means it’s time for another month of jokes coming your way! Today, I have the September Joke Of The Day 2nd Edition. ready to go!

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Each month, I post a joke of the day on my Facebook page. Since this is the 2nd edition, these are all new jokes this month! Each month, I also turn them into a printable so you can easily print it out and have the page handy all month to share with your class or your own family at home.

These jokes are a simple, fun way to connect with your students and make them laugh. This month, we have a lot of animall-related jokes that are sure to make your little ones giggle and maybe get some eye rolls.

Share the jokes with your class during your morning meeting, getting ready to go to lunch, or when you are packing up for the day before you go home.

I made the joke of the day printable available to print in both color and black and white.

You can download the September Joke of the Day 2nd Edition printable by clicking the green box below.

In case you missed the 1st edition of September Joke of the Day, you can grab that printable here.

I hope your kiddos will enjoy this new set of jokes just as much as the first!

See you next time!

Jenette

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Let’s go on a leaf hunt! Collect some leaves and then use this Free Printable Leaf Investigation to help your students learn about their leaves!

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There are so many great books about fall leaves to go along with this leaf investigation activity. Start off by reading one or a few of these books with your class. You can find out more about each book here.

Next, take your students outside to go on a leaf hunt. Have them help gather a bunch of leaves to bring to the classroom. They can each choose one for themself or pick from ones that have been gathered when back in the classroom.

Now it’s time to explore their leaves! Give each student one of the free printable leaf investigation pages, and have them investigate their leaf. They will get to draw their leaf, measure it using snap blocks, describe their leaf, and more.

Another fun activity to do after the leaf investigation is to make a class anchor chart graph to compare with the other student’s leaves. You could graph by color, size, texture, lots of different options.

Click the green box below to download the free printable leaf investigation.

If you’re looking for even more leaf fun, you’ll love these leaf crafts with writing prompts. They look adorable hanging in the classroom door in the hallway for fall. Click here to check them out now.

Do you have any other fun activities that you like to do with fall leaves? Share with us in the comments below!

See you next time!

Jenette

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Have you been following along on Facebook where everyday I share a joke of the day? We are having such a fun time with these jokes and love knowing they are putting a smile on your face each day. I’ve put together all of jokes for September into a new September Joke Of The Day printable so you can easily have them ready to go to share with your class or your own family each day.

You can find the printable August Jokes Of The Day here.

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I have all of Septembers jokes ready to go now too! I have some really fun animal ones this month that I think the kids will LOVE!

You can download the free September Joke Of The Day printable by clicking the green box below.

If your students are loving jokes, then they’ll LOVE our crack the code math. Each set comes with ten pages of either addition and subtraction or multiplication. They figure out the math answer and use the answers to help break the code or joke. You can find all of the different themes that we have here.

I hope your kids are enjoying these jokes each day as much as we are! Does your child or class have a favorite joke that I’ve shared so far? Or do you have a joke you’d like to see added? Let me know if the comments beflow!

See you next time!

Jenette

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this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

This week’s literacy snack read-aloud is a great one that would work any time of the year. It would also be a great one for the first month of school as a read-aloud about the importance of inclusivity, open-mindedness, diversity. We are reading, The Sandwich Swap by Queen Rania of Jordan Al Abdullah.

In this book, two friends love doing everything together and always eat lunch together.  Lily eats peanut butter and Salma eats hummus-but what’s that between friends? It turns out, a lot A food fight ends up breaking out and in the end, the girls are able to work things out and try each other’s sandwiches which they both end up loving!

This is incredibly relatable for children, as we’ve all experienced times when people thought our choices were “yucky” or “gross,” or when we’ve thought the same about others.  This is a great book to use as a springboard for many class discussions.

For our snack idea today, we’re making sandwiches to go along with the story.

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snack idea

For this week’s snack, we’re taking inspiration from the end of the book where they created a sandwich event for their entire school. You can do this a couple of different ways with your class.

• Simply have each student bring in a sandwich of their own to enjoy eating as a class together. You can talk about all of the different kinds of sandwiches that were brought in.
• Another option is for you to make 3 or 4 different sandwiches. Cut each one into quarters and let each student taste all 3 or 4 types of sandwiches.

free printable

I made a free printable for your students to work on while they are enjoying their sandwich snack. They will get to draw and write about what type of sandwich is their favorite.

You can download the Literacy Snack Sandwich Swap Read-Aloud free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store by clicking the green box below.

If you are looking for another great read-aloud about diversity, you might want to check out another book called Yoko. You can read about the book and get the snack idea and free printable to go along with this book too here.

I hope your students enjoy this Literacy Snack Sandwich Swap Read-Aloud!

Do you have any favorite books you like to read about diversity or inclusiveness? Share with us below!

See you next time!

jenette

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Since the official start of fall is this week, I’m sharing with you today The Best Read Alouds About Fall Leaves. Fall is a great time to get outside and explore.

There are so many fun activities that can be done alongside all of the books below. Here’s our Autumn scavenger hunt perfect to go alongside these books too!

This article works well with these resources from Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

The Best Read Alouds About Fall Leaves

Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro

We love this series: Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science. This nonfiction book explains the science behind leaves changing colors.

The Leaves on the Trees by Thom Wiley

Based on the classic song, “The Wheels on the Bus,” THE LEAVES ON THE TREES explores all types of trees making the magical transformation. This would be a great book to read right before you head out for a nature hike to look for different types of leaves.

Leaves Fall Down: Learning About Autumn Leaves by Lisa Marie Bullard

This is an engaging book that introduces autumn leaves in a simple way. It touches on difficult concepts like chlorophyll and decomposition but does not go into great detail about them. There are plenty of parts the students will connect with, (taking a walk to look at leaves, raking, and playing in a leaf pile.

We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger

There are lots of beautiful fall leaves to find! Three friends have a big adventure hiking over a mountain and through a forest to collect leaves of all kinds and colors. What will they do with all their leaves at the end of the story? Jump and play in them, of course!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves!  by Lucille Colandro

That wild old lady is back swallowing fall-themed items. What can you make from leaves, clothes, a pumpkin, and rope? That’s right, a scarecrow!

Make sure to check out our literacy snack idea and free printable to go along with this book. Click here to check it out.

Leaves by David Ezra Stein

It’s a young bear’s first autumn, and the falling leaves surprise him. He tries to put them back on the trees, but it doesn’t work. Eventually, he gets sleepy and burrows into the fallen leaves for a long nap. When he wakes up, it’s spring, and there are suddenly brand-new leaves all around, welcoming him.

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson

Fletcher the fox has a special tree outside his den that he loves to visit and he doesn’t understand why its leaves are falling so he tries desperately to save the tree’s leaves but of course, he is unsuccessful. The day after the last leaf has fallen off the tree by quite literally blowing out of his hand as he was trying to hold it down on the branch, the first snow falls and blankets the tree with glistening icicles that Fletcher thinks are beautiful and he is no longer sad the tree has lost all of its leaves.

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

Fall has come, the wind is gusting, and Leaf Man is on the move. Is he drifting east, over the marsh and ducks and geese? Or is he heading west, above the orchards, prairie meadows, and spotted cows? No one’s quite sure, but this much is certain: A Leaf Man’s got to go where the wind blows. 

After reading this book, it presents a great opportunity to head outside and have the children create their own leaf people from items they find.

Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber

This book is a great discussion starter for the kids to share about times they’ve enjoyed playing in leaves. The illustrations are all in fall colors. The last page of the book includes individual photos of the leaves used in the book along with the names of the leaves. This page also explains why leaves turn colors.

My Leaf Book by Monica Wellington

When the seasons change, a young girl visits the arboretum to collect fallen leaves and make a book with them. Brilliant illustrations show each variety of tree the girl encounters, from the common oak to the lesser-known gingko.  It shows leaves up-close to help young children learn to identify them.  Perfect to get them ready to go outside and gather leaes to make their own Leaf Books!

Do you have any other books about leaves you like to read to your little learners?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

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I love helping to teach little learners their letters and the sounds they make. It’s the first building block to helping them learn how to read and is so important. I’ve gathered some of my favorite Activities To Teach Beginning Sounds.

I love making things fun, hands-on and like to play a lot of games. When your students get to play games, it makes learning not such a daunting experience for them.

Alphabet Hats

These alphabet letter hats are a fun way to help introduce the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make. There are 4 pictures of things that begin with the letter sound and then they get to practice writing the uppercase and lowercase of the letter on the back strip.

Alphabet-Beginning Sounds Dough Mats

These dough mats are such a fun hands-on way for your little learners to practice their letters. They will get to have fun making each letter out of dough and the pictures on each mat help reinforce the beginning sound that the letter makes. They will then again get to practice writing the uppercase and lowercase versions of the letter.

My Alphabet Book

This is a fun book to use each time you teach another letter in the alphabet. Each letter of the alphabet has its own page in the book that shows the letter and pictures of things that have that letter beginning sound. They will also get to practice writing the uppercase and lowercase of the letter as well.

Now that we’ve introduced the letters of the alphabet we can start reinforcing the beginning sounds the letters make and help your little learners identify pictures that match the sounds. There are several games that I like to play that will help with this.

Beginning Sounds Board Games

These beginning sounds board games are a fun and engaging way to practice beginning /initial sounds. They are a fun hands-on addition to your literacy center rotation, can be used in small groups, or can be sent home to play with family members.The games can be played with 1-4 players and you can play using a die or using the spinners that are included.

Beginning Sounds Mystery Picture Puzzles

These puzzles are a fun hands-on addition to your literacy center rotation, can be used in small groups, or can be sent home to practice with family members.The students will match the puzzle piece letters to the matching beginning sound to solve the mystery picture.

Beginning Sounds I Have Who Has Games

These I Have Who Has Games are great to play as a whole class or can even be played with as little as two players. Choose a student to start and they will ask the class who has a word that has the beginning sound of the letter on their card. For example, Who has a word that has a beginning sound of the letter A.  Everyone will look at their cards at the picture to see if it starts with an A sound. The student that has the picture of an apple will raise their hand and tells the class I have apple. They will then continue to go to the bottom of their card and ask, who has a word that has the beginning sound of the letter B.? Continue the game until all letters and pictures have been matched.

Beginning Sounds Puzzles

I share a free printable set of beginning sound puzzles here. It’s a fun hands-on way for the kids to be able to choose a picture and match it to the letter sound that it begins with. If they haven’t learned all of their letters/sounds yet, only give them the letters you’ve reviewed and continue to add more as they learn.

Color By Code Beginning Sounds

These color-by-code beginning sounds pages are always fun for your little learners. The students will look at the picture in each section and color it one of 2 colors depending on if it begins with the letter sound at the top of the page. They will continue until all of the sections are colored to reveal the letter.

Beginning Sounds Spin and Cover

This beginning sound spin and cover game is a great one to use as a center or in small groups. The students will use a paper clip and pencil and spin a letter. They will then cover a picture that has the same beginning sound as the letter.

Beginning Sounds Letter Bingo

And last but definitely not least, beginning sounds letter bingo. This is a great one to use with the whole class or in small groups. The teacher will call/show the picture and the students will have to find the correct beginning sound letter on their game board.

I hope this has given you some fun new ideas of ways to help your little learners practice and learn their sounds.

What are some of your favorite Activities To Teacher Beginning Sounds?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Activities To Teach Beginning Sounds appeared first on Primary Playground.

When teaching the alphabet, we’re not just teaching the letters but the beginning sounds they make as well. These Free Printable Beginning Sound Puzzles are a fun way for your little learners to practice their letter sounds.

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The Prep

The download contains 26 different puzzles for your students to put together for each letter of the alphabet. Simply download the puzzles at the bottom of the post. Print and laminate them. Laminating is suggested so they hold up to being played over and over again. Then cut out each of the puzzles on the lines and you’re ready to go!

To Play

These Free Printable Beginning Sound Puzzles work great as a center or in a small group setting. Simply mix together all of the puzzle pieces. Have a student choose a puzzle piece with an object on it.

Have them say what the object is out loud, and then search through the puzzle pieces to find the matching letter-beginning sound. The letter X puzzle is a picture of a fox use the /x/ as the ending sound.

You can start with just a few letters to begin with and continue adding until your students have learned all of their sounds. And to continue to make it a little more challenging, after they have done all of the puzzles, have them put them into alphabetical order.

We like to store our puzzles in photo boxes from Michaels, sandwich baggies, or plastic snack containers that we find at Dollar Tree to keep them nice and organized.

You can download the puzzles below.

If you’re looking for more beginning sound activities, you might like our beginning sound letter bingo which is fun for the whole class.

Or our color by code beginning sound pages.

Do you have any other fun ways you can think of to use the Free Printable Beginning Sound Puzzles in your classroom?

See you next time!

Jenette

You might also want to check out our Free Printable Uppercase and Lowercase Puzzles.

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this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Building community and accepting others is an important topic to teach. This week for our Literacy Snack Building Community Read Aloud we will be reading One Green Apple by Eve Bunting. This is a fantastic book to help kids understand what it’s like to be new and that we’re all alike.

This book shows how a community can be kind and welcoming to strangers and newcomers. It’s about Farrah, a little Muslim girl who has come to the United States from another country, and her second day at school. The day is spent on a field trip to an orchard, where the children pick apples and make apple cider. The melting pot analogy is turned into an apple cider one as all the children throw their apples in and work together to press them into cider, even Farrah helps. The illustrations are stunning and the topic is so important.

For our snack this week, we’ll be having apple cider just like the kids all worked together to make in the story.

Snack idea

We’re keeping it simple this week and our snack will be apple cider. You’ll be surprised how many kids have never had real apple cider, only apple juice.

This time of year, apple cider is pretty easy to find. It is usually located in the produce section either near the apples, or possibly in the refrigerator section of the produce area.

Free Printable

While your students are enjoying their apple cider, I made a free printable for them to work on. They will get to draw a picture and write about how they can welcome a new person to their school.

You can download the Literacy Snack Building Community Read Aloud free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store below.

If you’re looking for some more activities and continue the conversation of being a good citizen and having good character traits, you may like some of the activities we have in this our character traits pack.

I hope your class enjoys this important read aloud and cider!

See you next time!

Jenette

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After giving your class directions and sending them off to complete the assignment you’ve given, how many times are you asked the same questions over and over again? Can we work with a friend? Where does this go? That’s where using Visual Direction Cards In The Classroom is a lifesaver!

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These visual direction cards will help your students see and remember what you want them to do while building independence. These cards will help eliminate repeated questions about the directions they have been given.

Simply print, laminate, and attach a magnet strip to the back for the easiest use on your whiteboard.

There are several different cards for each of the questions.

What supplies do I need?: scissors, glue stick, pencil, glue, dry erase marker, markers, watercolor paint, clipboard, post-it note highlighter, reading book, math binder, science journal, writing journal, STEM log, daily take-home folder, headphones, computer, tablet

Where does this ?: turn in bins, in my daily take-home binder, in my take-home binder, on my desk, in my mailbox, in my science journal, in my math binder, in my writing journal, in my backpack, in my math journal, in my STEM log, in my science journal, hand to the teacher

Where can I work?: at my desk, at my center, on the carpet

Can I work with a friend?: do it by yourself, collaborate with a buddy, share ideas but complete your own work, complete with the group.

You can find these Visual Direction Cards For The Classroom in my TeachersPayTeachers store.

Do you have any other tips or tricks you use to help your students follow and remember directions?

See you next time!

Jenette

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this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Have you ever made applesauce? It’s one of our favorite things to do in the fall. This week for our Literacy Snack Applesauce Read Aloud we are reading Applesauce Day by Lisa Amstutz.

This is a fantastic book about a families tradition of making applesauce together each year. It takes you along through their entire day from picking the apples to making the applesauce and then heading home excited to do it all again next year.

So for our snack this week, we are of course having applesauce.

This is a great activity to do as part of your apple unit Our Cooking Class How To Make Applesauce. is a fun way to incorporate many different learning standards. In this pack, the students are learning writing, sequencing, retelling, life skills, and much more. It’s a great hands-on activity to get the students excited to learn.

Snack Idea

Reading Applesauce Day and then making applesauce as a class in the crockpot would make for a fantastic hands-on activity. I give you all of the details of how to do that here.

But if you don’t have enough time, use store-bought applesauce for the snack. You can buy it already in the individual cups or buy a few of the large jars and pour it into some small cups.

Free Printable

While your students are enjoying their applesauce, I made a free printable for them to work on. They will draw and write about what the family did on their Applesauce Day. It’s a great way for them to practice their comprehension and retelling skills.

You can download the Literacy Snack Applesauce Read Aloud free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store below

If you’re looking for another fun apple activity to add to your unit, you might like our apple bingo. Bingo is always one of the kid’s favorite things to play in class and is a great way to help build vocabulary.

I hope your class enjoys this book, it really has become one of my favorite apple books. Do you have any favorites?

See you next time!

Jenette

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Games are my favorite way to teach little learners. When they don’t even realize they are learning but having fun, I’ve done my job. I’m sharing with you a fun Free Printable Rhyming Game I Have Who Has, that can be played as a whole class or with as few as 2 players.

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Before I share the game with you. I wanted to share some of our favorite rhyming videos. Rhyming can sometimes be a difficult skill for some little learners and these videos help make it fun.

Rocco The Rhyming Rhino by Jack Hartmann

In this fun song, Rocco loves rhyming words and he gives lots of examples of rhyming words. Rocco gives 2 rhyming words at the beginning of this song and in the end, Rocco will give the first rhyming word and the students fill in the other rhyming word.

Exercise, Rhyme and Freeze by Jack Hartmann

This is a fun one to get the kiddos up and moving. When they hear words that rhyme they exercise and when they don’t rhyme they freeze!

The Rhyming Words Game by Jack Harmann

And this is another fun one by Jack Harmann. He plays a rhyming game with the kids and gets them moving by sitting and standing when they hear words that rhyme.

Free Printable Rhyming I Have Who Has Game

And now onto our rhyming game! To prep the game, you’ll just need to download the cards below, and cut and laminate them for durability.

To Play

To play as a whole class – there are 30 rhyming cards in all. If you have less than 30 students, you’ll need to play the remaining cards and distribute them out so that some students will have more than one. Choose a student to start and they will ask the class who has a word that rhymes with the bottom picture on their card. For example, Who has a word that rhymes with nose? Everyone will look at their cards at the top picture to see if it rhymes with the word nose. The student that has the picture hose, will raise their hand and tells the class I have hose. They will then continue to go to the bottom of their card and ask, who has a word that rhymes with the picture on the bottom of their card. Continue the game until all rhymes have been matched.

To play as a small group or 2 players. You’ll play the same way as above but will need to deal out each of the cards in the deck. This makes it really fun to look through your pile to try to see if you have the word that rhymes or not.

You can download the free printable below.

If your students enjoyed this game we have several more sets of the I Have Who Has Games. Letters, Numbers, Beginning Sounds, CVC Words, 2D Shapes, 3D Shapes. Tons of options for your class!

And if you’re looking for more fun rhyming activities, your class will love playing rhyming bingo!

Or this rhyming spin and cover game, perfect for small groups or centers!

What are some other fun ways you like to review rhyming words?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Rhyming I Have Who Has Game appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Today we’re our Literacy Snack Koala Read Aloud is based on trying new things that may be scary. The book we are reading this week is The Koala Who Could, by Rachel Bright.

“Kevin the koala loves every day to be the same, where it’s snug and safe. But when change comes along, will Kevin embrace all the joys that come with trying something new?”

This is such a cute book about being brave and getting out of your shell. It helps your little learners see value in trying something new that may seem scary at first. Another great book to add to your collection for the beginning of the school year.

For our snack this week to go along with the book, we’ll be making Kevin the Koala.

ingredients

each student will need

2 Ritz crackers

1/2 of a grape

A small piece of sliced cheese

2 candy eyes

1 piece of bread

You will also need a 2 inch round cookie cutter and a piping tip to share as a class.

Assemble

To make Kevin the Koala, first have the students share the cookie cutter to cut out a circle in their piece of bread to make the head. Place the Ritz crackers slightly underneath the piece of bread on both sides to make his ears.

Next, have your students share the piping tip to create part of his eyes out of the small piece of sliced cheese. Use the piping tips large opening at a circle cutter. You may need a knife to help get the cheese to come out depending on the type you use. Have the students place the cheese on the bread and then top it with the candy eyes. Lastly, have them place on the 1/2 grape as his nose.

Free Printable

While your students are enjoying their Kevin the Koala snack, I made a free printable for them to work on. They will draw a picture and write about what they CAN DO.

You can download the Literacy Snack Koala Read Aloud free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store below.

I hope your students enjoy this fun book and know that sometimes a little change can open their world to big possibilities!

See you next time!

Jenette

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It’s no secret that I LOVE books. Throw in some apples and fall fun and you have some of my favorite types of books. I’m sharing with you today The Best Apple Read Alouds.

Apples are such a fun topic to learn about. There are so many fun activities that can be done alongside all of the books below.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

The Best Apple Read Alouds

How to Grow an Apple Pie by  Beth Charles

This is one of my new favorite apple books! In this book, Sophie and her parents care for six apple trees added to the orchard on the day Sophie was born. As Sophie approaches her sixth birthday, she knows that her trees should finally be ready to bear fruit–enough to yield some apple pies she can make herself! In that sixth season, Sophie learns how to prune the trees, watch the blossoms grow, let the bees do the work of pollination, help the beekeeper, and, finally, watch her apples grow! At last, she learns the proper way to harvest the fruit–and how to make her pies! 

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

In this book, two young sisters follow the progress of their apple tree through the seasons, from a bare tree in the winter, through the pink blossoms of the spring, to the apple picking in the autumn.

We share a literacy snack idea and free printable to go along with The Apple Pie Tree here.

How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro

This book is a great informative nonfiction book on how apples grow.

These life cycle hats from seed go perfectly with the above books as your little learners are learning all about how apples grow and their lifecycle.

Apples by Gail Gibbons

This is another great book for introducing nonfiction concepts. This book covers everything from pollination to picking and eating.

Applesauce Day by Lisa Amstutz

This is a wonderful story about family traditions of picking apples to cooking applesauce in a pot their family has used for generations. Check out the our literacy snack idea and free printable to go along with the book here.

We share how to make applesauce in the classroom here if you’d like to make some too!

Johnny Appleseed by Jodie Shepherd

This book tells all about how Johnny Appleseed grew from a young boy who loved the outdoors into the well-known man who planted apple trees all across the county. A great biography for little learners.

Here is a fun Johnny Appleseed craft with writing prompts to make to go along with the book too.

Apple Trouble by Ragnhild Scamell

This is just a super cute book. Hedgehog has just finished building a cozy nest ready for winter when a juicy red apple falls from a tree and sticks in her spines on her back. And now Hedgehog can’t fit into her nest. Her friends try to help her remove it but she keeps getting more items stuck. 

We share another fun literacy snack idea and free printable to go along with this book here.

The Apple Orchard Riddle by Margaret McNamara

In this book, the students learn a lot about apples and apple orchards—including how apples are harvested, how cider is made, and what the different varieties of apples are—while trying to solve a riddle. The book also celebrates how some children learn differently than others. 

This fill in the blank How Does An Apple Grow book is a fun quick and easy way to review how an apple grows after reading some of the above stories.

Amelia Bedelia’s First Apple Pie by Herman Parish

The illustrations are so bright and colorful in this book. In true to Amelia Bedelia fashion, she’s still up to her typical antics, mistaking Granny Smith for a person and thinking that a farmer’s market is a place to buy farmers. 

We share a literacy snack idea and free printable to go along with this book here.

Ten Apple Up On Top! by Dr. Seuss

And last but definitely not least, we love Ten Apples Up On Top! Seuss’s apple-balancing characters will have your little learners reading, counting, and giggling!

We have to fun activities to go along with this book. We share our literacy snack idea and free printable to go along with the book here.

And a free printable apple counting activity to go along with the book here.

Do you have any other favorite apple read alouds that you would add?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post The Best Apple Read Alouds appeared first on Primary Playground.

With back to school comes a whole list of items we’d love to have for our classroom. It’s helpful if we are able to send home a suggested supply list but sometimes there are extra things that would be great to have donated to the classroom. So for meet the teacher night, make a back to school donation tree and ask for those extra things you wished you could have.

There are so many parents out there that are more than happy to help donate items for your classroom, they just don’t know what you really need. Putting out these apples, allows you to really get the items specifically needed for your room.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Back to School Donation Tree

To make the donation tree, I took inspiration from the book, The Giving Tree. I created an anchor chart by drawing a tree similar to the cover of the book.

Then simply download, print, and cut out the apples of items you wish to have in your classroom.

Tape them onto the anchor chart so the students or families can easily remove them to take home with them to remember to purchase the item.

In the download, I’ve also included blank apples that you can edit to add any additional items that I didn’t include. You can download the apples for free from my TeacherPayTeachers store below.

What are some items that are on the top of your wish list for your classroom?

See you next time!

Jenette

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this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

I’m always looking for new ideas and ways to help teach empathy to little learners.For this week’s Literacy Snack Empathy Read Aloud we are reading a book called Yoko, by Rosemary Wells.

In this book, Yoko brings her favorite lunch to school, sushi! But her friends say not nice things about her lunch. In the end, Yoko is able to share her favorite food with a friend that turns out likes it too!

The book has a great message for the students to learn that it is not ok or nice to make fun of the different things people like, or for being different. It is a fantastic book to read at the beginning of the school year as well to help teach about having empathy and differences.

So for our snack to go along with the book this week, we’ll be making Yoko’s favorite food, sushi! Well, candy sushi that is!

Ingredients

1 full-size Rice Krispy Treats

1 small square size Rice Krispy Treats

1 Fruit by the Foot

1 Swedish fish candy

5 or 6 mini jelly beans

Assemble

We made two different types of sushi, maki rolls and nigiri. For the maki roll, have the student take the smaller Rice Krispy Treats out of the package and press the treat together to make it more of a circle rather than a square. Have them open their Fruit By the Foot, and carefully wrap a piece around the outside of the Rice Krispy Treats. Add the jelly beans to the top.

For the nigiri, have the students unwrap the larger Rice Krispy Treats. Lay the fish on top of the treat and use another part of the Fruit By the Foot to wrap around both the fish and Rice Krispy Treats.

Free Printable

While your students are enjoying their candy sushi,  I made a free printable for them to work on. They will get to draw and write about their favorite thing to bring in their lunch box. After everyone is done, it is a great opportunity to share as a class what they like to bring.

You can download the Literacy Snack Empathy Read Aloud free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store below.

If you’re looking for another great book to teach about empathy, you’ll want to check out literacy snack to go with the book, Chocolate Milk Por Favor!

Making these candy sushi has been a huge hit with my kids! I hope your students enjoyed it too and learned a little more about differences!

See you next time!

Jenette

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We’ve been learning about fables and fairytales so for this week’s literacy snack idea, we’re reading, The True Story Of The 3 Little Pigs, by Jon Scieszka.

This fractured fairytale, it gives The Big Bad Wolf’s perspective of what really happened. After learning the normal story of the Three Little Pigs this week, this story just makes the students laugh.

For this week’s snack to go along with our book, we’ll be having a snack mix made of the building materials the pigs used to build their homes.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Ingredients

A bag of veggie sticks

A bag of pretzel sticks

A box of Chex cereal

Assemble

This is a quick make-ahead snack today. Just toss all three ingredients in a large bowl and give each student a handful of building material snack mix on a napkin. Let them explore with the “materials” before snacking on them, giving them a chance to create houses of their own.

While the students are enjoying their snack mix, I made a free printable for them to work on. They will get to draw the three little pigs houses from the story.

Click the green box to download the Literacy Snack Idea 3 Little Pigs free printable from my teacherspayteachers store below.

Some of the other activities the students have been loving during our fairytale unit are these Fable and Fairytale Sequencing Activities.

I hope your students enjoy their three little pigs snack mix!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Idea 3 Little Pigs appeared first on Primary Playground.

My kids love puzzles! Today I’m sharing a new center to help the students practice their letter fluency, a free printable uppercase and lowercase puzzle match. It’s perfect to use during small group practice or individual center time.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

To Play

Print the free printable uppercase and lowercase puzzle match below. Cut and laminate the pieces. Have the students mix up the puzzle pieces. The student will then choose a puzzle piece.

Have them find the matching letter and set the matched puzzle aside. Continue matching the uppercase and lowercase letters until all of the puzzle pieces have been matched.

I’ve also included pictures that start with the letter on the puzzle piece to help start beginning sound recognition. You can start with just a few letters and continue to build as the students learn their letters.

To store them, they fit perfectly in small photo boxes from Michael’s, or even just in a sandwich baggie.

My uppercase and lowercase spin and covers are another perfect addition to help your students master their letter recognition.

You can download the free printable puzzle match by clicking the green box below.

I hope your students enjoy these puzzles to practice matching their uppercase and lowercase letters!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Uppercase and Lowercase Puzzle Match appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

For this week’s literacy snack idea, we’re talking about pets! Everyone likes to share about what type of pet or pets they have at their home or what pet they wish they could have. This week, for our pet read-aloud, we’re reading, Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet, by Kelly DiPucchio which is a perfect story to go with our pets theme.

“Gilbert has almost everything his fishy heart could desire: a castle, a chest filled with treasure, and food that falls from the sky. But there’s one BIG thing missing from his life: a pet. And so begins Gilbert’s harrowing search for the perfect fishbowl companion – a search filled with loud barking, quiet buzzing, and one giant whiskered surprise!”

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

For this week’s snack, we’re making our own Gilbert Goldfish.

Ingredients

each student will need

1 and a half slices of an orange

1 candy eyeball

4 blue Skittles or M&M’s

Assemble

To make the goldfish snack, the students can lay the circle orange slice on their napkin or plate. Using a plastic knife, have them cut a little triangle piece out of the half circle slice of orange, which will make the tail of the goldfish. Set the tailpiece up against the circle slice to make the fish. Have the students add the eye and the Skittles as bubbles coming up from Gilbert Goldfish.

Free Printable

While the students are enjoying their Gilbert Goldfish snack, I made a free printable to go alon with the pet read-aloud for them to work on. The students will get to draw a picture of what they think the perfect pet for Gilbert Goldfish would be.

Click the green box below to download the free printable from my teacherspayteachers store.

Our fish bowl counting mats are a perfect addition to go along with our pet theme for the week. You can’t beat counting with goldfish!

I hope your students love their Gilbert Goldfish snack and talking all about their pets this week!

See you next time!

Jenette

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We love making crafts using different types of materials! This tissue paper apple tree craft is a fun 3D project for the kids to make during an apple unit. They look super cute hanging in the classroom during the month of September.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Supplies you’ll need

each student will need

1 piece of green construction paper or card stock

1 piece of blue construction paper or card stock

A handful of green tissue paper squares

An empty toilet paper roll

A handful of red, green, or yellow pom poms to use as the apples.

Scissors

Glue

To make the tissue paper apple tree craft

First, have the students cut a piece of green paper for the grass. Have them make cuts down 3/4 of the way to the bottom of the paper so it makes it into 3d grass. Glue the grass on the blue paper.

Next, the students will need help cutting their toilet paper roll in half. They can choose to use half, or the whole thing depending on how tall they want their tree. Glue the toilet paper roll on the paper. Next, have the students put some glue on the paper where they want to put the leaves.

They’ll gently crumple up the pieces of tissue paper and add them to the tree as the leaves.

Last, they’ll add their apples on the tree using the glue. They can draw a picture on their craft at the end too if they choose.

You could even take it a step further after making the craft and turn it into a math project. You could use different colored pom poms, green, yellow, and red for the apples and then have the students count how many of each they used on their tree. Attach an additional slip of paper to the bottom of their craft and let them fill in their addition problem.

Seeing all of the apple trees hanging up is my favorite! I hope your students enjoy this craft!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Tissue Paper Apple Tree Craft appeared first on Primary Playground.

I’m still obsessed with our apple theme so we’re sticking with it again this week for our Literacy Snack Apple Tree Read Aloud This week, we’re reading, The Apple Pie Tree, by Zoe Hall.

In this book, two young sisters follow the progress of their apple tree through the seasons, from a bare tree in the winter, through the pink blossoms of the spring, to the apple picking in the autumn.

It ties in perfectly with our apple theme and learning the life cycle of an apple tree. These life cycle hats are a favorite of the students while learning about the apple trees as well.

For our snack today, we’re having the sister’s favorite treat to make using apples from their tree in the book, apple pie.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Ingredients

pre-made/store-bought apple pie

We’re going simple with this one since the story doesn’t actually revolve around how to make the pie but how the apples grow, so we’re having apple pie! We did read Amelia Bedelia’s First Apple Pie here and made apple pies in a cup if you’d like to do it that way. I just picked up an extra large apple pie from Walmart and it was perfect to make sure everyone got a slice to try.

While the students are enjoying their apple pie, I made a free printable for them to work on. They will get to number the pictures in the correct order to show what grows the best part of an apple pie as in the book.

You can download the Literacy Snack Apple Tree Read Aloud free printable from my teacherspayteachers store below.

Another one of our favorite activities to incorporate into this is our Cooking Class-How To Make An Apple Pie.  It is a fun way to incorporate many different learning standards. In this pack, the students are learning writing, sequencing, retelling, life skills, and much more. It’s a great hands-on activity to get the students excited to learn.

I hope your students enjoy their apple pie snack and learning about the life cycle of an apple tree!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Apple Tree Read Aloud appeared first on Primary Playground.

Making applesauce in the classroom is one of the easiest things to do! It fits perfectly into our apple unit and the kids get so excited about it! This is a super quick and easy recipe perfect for the classroom and only has 5 ingredients! Be prepared for the classroom to smell amazing!

We do this activity as part of our apple unit and our Cooking Class How To Make Applesauce. It is a fun way to incorporate many different learning standards. In this pack, the students are learning writing, sequencing, retelling, life skills and much more. It’s a great hands-on activity to get the students excited to learn.

Supplies you’ll need

a crockpot  or a slow cooker

wooden spoon

measuring spoons and cups

peeler

knife for slicing the apples

cutting board

paper bowls and plastic spoons for taste testing

Ingredients

This will make a good tasting amount for approx 15 students – double the recipe if you have a larger class

8 golden delicious apples (red apples will work too)

1 cup of water

1/3 cup of  granulated sugar

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Making applesauce in the classroom

To make this classroom friendly, I prepare all but one or two of the apples at home. I peel and slice them so they are ready to go. Bring the last couple of apples so the students can see the process too of peeling and slicing the apples. Depending on your class level, you may choose to pick a couple of students to help demonstrate it to the class.

To make the applesauce, peel, and core. Cut the apples into fourths and place them in the crockpot. Have students measure and add the sugar, water, lemon, and cinnamon. Have another student stir the apples to combine everything.

Put the lid on the crockpot and cook the apples on HIGH for 3-4 hours, or until apples are very soft.

Allow them to cool slightly and then mash them with a wooden spoon. This will leave them somewhat chunky, but if you want a more smooth applesauce you can put them into a blender or use an immersion blender.

When the applesauce is cool enough, it’s time to taste test!

I made the recipe into a printable so you can send it home with your students to share with their families in case they want to make some applesauce at home too!

Click the green box below to download the free recipe printable.

And if you need a great read-aloud to go with making applesauce with your class, you have to check out Applesauce Day.

This is a fantastic book about a families tradition of making applesauce together each year. It takes you along through their entire day from picking the apples to making the applesauce and then heading home excited to do it all again next year. You can find out more and grab the FREE printable to go along with the book here.

I hope your students have fun with this hands-on learning experience!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Making Applesauce In The Classroom appeared first on Primary Playground.

A few years ago, I’d walked into a friend’s classroom in the morning, and she had classical music playing as the students walked in each morning. It had such a calming effect on the students and helped them settle in quickly for the day. I thought I need to use music more! I’m sharing the best Pandora stations for primary classrooms that I’ve found.

First, I do not pay for Pandora. It is $5.50 a month if you’d like to subscribe. It would be ad-free for you and you do have the benefit of skipping as many songs as you’d like and replaying different songs.

To keep it friendly for the classroom without paying, you can do two things to help. First, you can turn off and remove explicit content from your Pandora account. Below is a Youtube video to show you how to do that.

Second, is you can add an ad blocker to your computer by going to the web store and choosing a free ad blocker. It makes it so you can listen to Pandora without any ads in the classroom.

Music can be used in so many ways throughout your day. Have music playing as your class comes in, maybe after lunch as they come in from recess to relax for a few minutes and reset for the afternoon. How about some instrumental music during writing time during morning work or math boxes and more upbeat songs during clean up or getting ready to go home time?

Now to the good part!

the best pandora stations for primary classrooms

The Piano Guys – this is a family favorite that we listen to at home as well, a lot of current songs that are played using the piano, cello and violin.

Instrumentals for Studying –  instrumental music only so the voices won’t distract the students

Disney (Children’s) – a lot of popular Disney songs the kids know and love

The Mozart Effect –  a mix of nice instrumental music

Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star (Children’s) Radio – an rockin’ instrumental/lullaby station with songs from artists like Billy Idol, The Beatles and Avalon

Soundscape – instrumental music with a mix our environmental sounds – think a classical piece with rain falling in the background

Jack Johnson (Childrens) Radio – a lot of your traditional Jack Johnson music with other encouraging songs mixed in from other similar artists

Greg and Steve Radio – a mix of traditional kids songs

Kids Bop – “kid-friendly” versions of hit singles re-recorded by session musicians

Beats For Studying – similar to the Piano Guys stations, a lot of instrumental, piano, and violins

Classical Goes Pop – a lot of fun, upbeat, current instrumental music like Lindsey Stirling

Vitamin String Quartet –  well known popular rock, pop and country songs instrumental style

I hope you were able to find a new station or two to try out in your class! Do you have any other favorites you’d add to the list?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post The Best Pandora Stations For Primary Classrooms appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Every year I can’t wait to dive into all of our fun apple activities! So I’m getting a jump start on them this week by incorporating math into our literacy snack this week! For this week’s Literacy Snack Idea Apple Counting readaloud we are reading Ten Apples Up On Top!, by Dr. Seuss.

“Three friends balance counting and fun in this silly book. When a lion, a dog, and a tiger meet up, they soon discover that they can each do different things while balancing apples on their heads. Whether drinking milk, jumping rope, or roller-skating, they can do a lot with ten apples up on top! But watch out, she has a mop! She’ll knock those apples from up on top.”

This is a super fun book that gets the kids giggling every time. And for our snack this week, it would only be appropriate for us to have apples!

These Primary Playground resources work well with this blog post. 

Snack Idea

This week we just need apple slices, easy peasy! You can either buy prepackaged, Costco is a great option for this) or just buy some apples and slice them up ahead of time. If you slice them yourself, you could even slice each slice in half so the students would have 10 apples so they can make ten apples up on top!

While the students are enjoying their apple slices, I made a free printable for them to work on. They get to draw the correct number of apples on top of each animal. They just love this activity and its great number sense practice for them!

You can download the Literacy Snack Idea Apple Counting free printable from my teacherspayteachers store below.

If your students have enjoyed this counting activity, they may enjoy a similar free printable counting activity you can add to your center rotation or for early finishers.

I hope your students have fun with these apple activities!

We’ll see you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Idea Apple Counting appeared first on Primary Playground.