Apples pt. 2

There is a NAS-TY bug going around my class. Two little guys stayed home sick on Monday, a third GOT sick in the room and a fourth just about passed out on the way out of the cafeteria! I was feeling queasy myself, but thought it was mind over matter until the fever and chills came along to verify I was actually sick. As of now, I'm pretty much ok as long as I don't eat or drink, or move too much. Let's hope that's the end of that.

On to more pleasant news! The funniest thing happened the other day. After sharing some writing out loud one of my kids came to me and asked if he could just read his to me privately. I said, "Sure, lay it on me!" and he looked at me kind of funny and then proceeded to lay his open writer's notebook on my lap before he started reading it to me! He literally "laid it" on me! I couldn't help but laugh and I had to explain what was so funny. I already knew that figurative language is lost on them much of the time, so this was the perfect opportunity to get started on this essential skill. So, we started with some apple idioms that fit in perfectly with our Johnny Appleseed hoopla.

I gave the students four apple idioms to choose from and asked them to pick three and illustrate what they thought they sounded like they meant on a three-flap book. Here were some of their interpretations:

Then we wrote the actual meaning of each on under the flap. We definitely need some more work on figurative language, but this was a fun start.

To round out Applefest 2011, we had our first Tasty Tuesday of the year. The first recipe is intentionally easy so the kids get the idea of what they whole thing is about and how it works in our room. First we copied the recipe and made our yummy treats in small groups. I demonstrated how to properly dip and decorate an apple for each group and then ate the evidence before the next group arrived to the table. Such a sacrifice!

Afterward, we brainstormed what it tasted like and changes we might make. I loved when one girl said it made her think of her first time at the fair! That got lots of other kids thinking about things it reminded them of. {No making fun of my chart. I can design like crazy on a computer, but with markers? NotSoMuch!}

 Finally, each kid wrote their recipe review in their writer's notebook. Eventually, we'll write this on the recipe review page which will become part of our cookbook. If you click on the picture you can see read a bit better. They're already pretty good writers! I can't wait to see how they develop this year!

P.S. If you are interested in purchasing the Tasty Tuesday teacher guide from my TpT store, I've decided to permanently lower the price from $15 to $10!