Someone requested ideas for the letter A. As we do this letter in September, we first take a trip to an apple orchard where we pick apples, and return to the classroom to make applesauce. We do appleprinting by cutting the apple so the "star" shows. Then kids print with red paint on white paper. They are always amazed when the star appears! We make apple muffins, and apple smiles. If you don't know what apple smiles are, you cut wedges of apple with the skins on. On one wedge, put peanut butter. Then put mimi-marshmallows on the peanut butter and cover with another apple wedge. The kids love making and eating this snack! We make apple finger cubes: Pour 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin into a bowl. Add 2 cups boiling water. Stir until gelatin is dissolved. Ass one 6 oz can apple juice concentrate. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 9"x13" pan and chill. Cut in squares to serve. We play "Pass the Apple" (like hot potato), when the music stops and the child is holding the apple, he goes into the "applepot" (the center of the circle). When all the "apples" are in the pot, we make applesauce, stir, add sugar, add cinnamon, taste, etc. Kids giggle a lot when they have to start jiggling and boiling. Songs: A Little Apple Seed (Tune: Eensy, Weensy Spider) Once a little appleseed was planted in the ground Down came the raindrops, falling all around. Out came the big sun, bright as bright could be And that little apple seed grew to be an apple tree! Apples Are Falling (Tune: Are You Sleeping?) Apples are falling, apples are falling From the tree, from the tree. Pick up all the apples, pick up all the apples, One. two, three; one, two,. three. (Use appropriate motions for actions) Two Little Apples Two little apples hanging on a tree Two little apples smiling at me I shook that tree as hard as I could Down came the apples Mmmm were they good! The Acorn Song I"m a little acorn round Lying on the cold, cold ground. Everybody steps on me, That's why I"m cracked you see I"m a nut (knock-knock on head), I"m a nut (knock, knock on head) I'm nutty! All About Me (Tune: Twinkle, Twinkle) Let me tell you all about me I am special, you will see. I can count and run and sing, I can do most anything! Let me tell you all about me, I am special, now you see. (Go around circle and let each child do something special that only he can do) *Just go to this address for A stuff: http://www.iup.edu/~njyost/KHI/A.html * Here is some info on the letter A. Acorns: Find acorns and glue on a letter A! Airplanes: Make paper airplanes and fly them. Aluminum- Cut Aluminum foil into long stripes and glue to the letter A. Discuss recycling with your kids and practice by having each child bring something recyclable from home and let them place in a recycle bin.. Ants- Set up an ant farm. Avocado- grow an avacodo plant from the seed. Place three toothpicks in the sides on the seed and then place half the seed i a glass of water then place in a window. Watch the seed grow! Food: Alfalfa Sprouts, almonds, alphabet cereal, alphabet soup, American cheese, angel food cake, animal crackers, apple butter, apple juice, apples, applesauce, apricot, asparagus, avocados. * The apple Tree finger play study and ant farm, book Ants by Diana Ferguson Food: Animal Crackers to eat and also use for art in making pictures. There's an alligator in my bathtub 1. Alligator, alligator, jump to the right. 3. Alligator, alligator, clean the tub. Alligator, alligator, brush your skin. Alligator, alligator, rub-a-dub. 2. Alligator, alligator, wash your nose. 4. Alligator, alligator, pull the plug Alligator, alligaror, wash you toes. Alligator, alligator, glug, glug, glug 5. Alligator, alligator, draining away, The alligator likes to eat Alligator, alligator, come back to play! Lizards, turtles, juicy meat. Here's a word of sound advice The alligator likes to eat The alligator isn't nice. * A ideas..... use apples cut both length and width wise to make prints use acorns, asparagus, apricots, avacados, almonds to make prints serve apples, almonds, or apricots for snack serve asparagus, applesauce for lunch make paper airplanes talk about different kinds of airplanes find out who has ridden in an airplane ** my husband is in the airforce so I get him to come in and talk about airplanes find places on the map america, arkansas, alabama, alaska, arizona, africa animals....find out which ones live in Africa (we did this during our zoo unit) ants....make out of fingerprints alliators....make out of clay aliens...give children a variety of things....paint, crayons, markers, clay and let their imaginations go to work body parts....arm, ankle We have also taken in things from home that start with the letter A.. such as AIM toothpaste, ALL detergent, Almay, Alka-seltzer...just so they can see that letters are used in everyday life * What one of the other teachers did when we had weekly letters and centered our activities around those letters, was look in the dictionary. She made a huge long list of words beginning with A (or B, or C, etc.), then planned art projects and other activities. Sorry I don't have any specific ideas, but by doing this, her lesson plans were incredibly rich and she did things and made things I never would have thought up. * A Big letter A with ants: Cut out a big letter A shape for each child and let them make ant prints all over it with their fingerprints and and a stamp pad. Let them use small tip markers to draw in some legs Alligator Make an alligator out of playdough - pinch and poke to make an alligator shape and let it dry. Make an ark (*religious) Cut out two large boat shapes and punch holes around sides and bottom. With shoe laces or yarn (ends previously dipped in glue and dried or wrapped tightly with tape) lace the two boat pieces together. Make a rainbow shape for the top to fit on like a handle. Let the children color with watercolors, markers or crayons. Staple or glue (or both) to the top of the ark. Fill with animal crackers. A is for Apples Cut out an A shape from green paper. Have the children glue red circles to the shape or dip their finger in red paint and put red prints on the letter A. A is for Alligator Put the letter A on its side and add teeth and an eye to make an alligator. Make pretend accordions with the children, and try to find someone to come in and play a real one for the children. The accordion would be the A cut in half down the middle and then a piece of fan folded paper glued between the two halves. Acorns Encourage the children to collect acorns to bring to school. On a sheet of heavy paper, make a very large A with a heavy glue line. Invite the children to arrange the acorns aong the glue line to make an "Acorn A" Explain that an acorn is a seed and, if planted may grow into a might oak tree. Help the children plant some acorns and see what happens. Acorn Squash Show the children an acorn squash. Put an acorn and the acorn squash side-by-side. Discus how the acorn and acorn squash are alike and different. Ask the children how they think an acorn squash got its name. Help the children see that an acorn squash is shaped like an acorn. Use the squast to make A-Okay Acorn Squash - Cut an acorn squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds and pulp. Put the squash face down in a baking pan - pour in about 1/2" of water. Bake at 375 for 25 min. The squash is done when the flesh is soft. Pour the water out and turn the squash over. Put a little butter and brown sugar over the squash. Add cinnamon or nutmeg. Put the squash back in the oven until the butter has melted. Acrobatics Invite the children to perform acrobatic feats. Arrange a field trip to a gym. Put down a gym mat and encourage the children to do somersualts, head stands, back bends, bridges, rocking horses, etc...- sponser a gymnastics meet. I Know My Address! Encourage each child to memorize his or her address. Draw and cut out a large construction paper house to place on a bulletin board. Then, as the children memorize their addresses, invite each child to pin his or her name and address on the house shape. Invite the children to sing their addresses to the tune of "rain, rain, go away" for examples see "My Name and Address from Wee Sing Children's songs and fingerplays) Airplane Read Paper Airplane by Fulvio Testa. Make simple paper airplanes. Sponsor a flying contest. (check with airlines - they may donate "junior wings") Make an airplane using papertowel and toilet paper tubes Take a field trip to watch the airplanes land and take off. (some airports will allow children to tour the airport and look inside a plane) Read Curious George at the Airport, Airplanes and Airport or The Little Airplane. Invite the children to pretend to be airplane. Alphabet Play Alphabet Bingo - easy to make - match upper case to lower case, etc.. - first child to cover the card yells "Bingo" Aluminum Cut aluminum foil into long strips Have the children use scissors to snip the strips into small squares. One a sheet of construction paper, make a large letter A with a heavy glue line. Invite the children to place the aluminum squares along the glue line to make an Aluminum A. Explain the use of aluminum foil. Angel Cut an isosceles triangle, two rectangles, and a circle from construction paper for each child. Or have the children trace around patters and cut their own shape. Show children how to arrange the shapes to make an angel. Have the children glue the angels to a 1/2 sheet of construction paper. Animals Mount pictures of animals on tagboard. Encourage children to sort the pictures into farm, pet and zoo categories. Encourage discussion! Play "who am I" Give the children clues about an animal and let them guess which animal you are describing. Eat animal crackers - have the children identify the animal as they eat Take a field trip to the zoo, a farm, the pet store, etc... One day before the trip, ask the children to predict which animals they might see. Write each animal they name on a chart of paper. When you return from the trip, help the children make another list of the animals they actually saw - compare the lists. Ants If possible, set up an ant farm. Teach the children to sing "The Ants Go Maching" Apples Give each child an apple. Ask them to describe the apple using all their senses except taste. Then cut the apple in half - explain that they grow from seeds. Point out the various parts - invite them to count the seeds - cut the apple into bite size pieces - let them eat a piece and describe how the apple tastes. Read Johnny Appleseed - plant apple seeds - see what happens. Make applesauce Apple Tree with Sponge Painting Draw a large tree on craft paper - cut a sponge into round pieces and attaa clothespin to the back of each piece. Give each child a clothespin sponge to dip into red tempera paint and dab on the tree to look like apples. Taste Apples Try different types of apples such as green Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples. Invite the children to sample each kind of apple - take a survey - Printing With Apples Make apple prints - cut apples in half crossways and point out the inside - help the children use a brush and tempra paint to paint the apple read - make a print - or on large butcher paper on the floor - draw a large A - let the children take turns printing apples along the outline of the A. Print Apple Shapes Set out corks and shallow containers filled with red tempera paint. Give each child an apple tree shape cut out of construction paper. Let the children use the round ends of the corks to print "apples" on their tree shapes. After the paint has dried, use the prints for counting. Apple Collage Give each child a small paper plate and a piece of red paper. Let the children tear their papers into small pieces. Then have them glue the pieces all over their paper plates. Add green paper stems and use the "apples" as room decorations. Fingerpaint Apples Cut large apple shapes out of white butcher paper. Give each child an apple shape and a small amount of red fingerpaint. Let the children paint the apple shapes. Attach precut green leaves to the top of each apple when the shapes have dried. Ant Use 3 sections of a cardboard egg carton to form the body of an ant - have the children paint it and add - using pipe cleaners - on the first section antennas and on the back two sections eight legs (4 each section) and draw eyes on the front section - they are very cute. Airplane Use 2 paper towel rolls and one toilet paper roll. On one of the paper towel rolls measure down about 3" and cut 1/2 way through - then measure another (slightly less) 2" and cut 1/2 way through - remove this section - glue the second paper towel roll cross ways in this section (for wings) - cut a 1/8" slit in the opposite end of the first tube - smash the toilet paper roll slightly and slip into the slit - glue. Paint your airplane - use craft sticks to form an X - paint them white and glue to the front of the airplane for a propeller - break another craft stick in half and insert them in the tube under the wings for landing gear. "A" Learning Center Set up an apple activity center. Provide a variety of items for the children to explore such as red, green, and yellow apples; apple seeds to examine with a magnifying glass; and foods made with apples (applesauce, dried apples, apple juice). The letter "A" Introduce the letter "A" to the children by showing them the written word "Apple" and helping them to see that it begins with an "A". Cut a large apple shape out of paper and write the letter "A" on it. Have the children tear or cut out magazine pictures beginning with the letter"A" and then glue the pictures on the apple shape. Apple Counting Game Glue a felt tree shape to each of five cardboard squares. Write a number from 1 to 5 under each tree. Cut fifteen apple shapes out of felt. To play the game, have the children take turns identifying the numbers below the trees and placing the corresponding number of apples on them. Numbered Apples Make a felt apple tree and ten felt apples and place the tree on a flannelboard. Number the apples from 1 to 10. Let each child in turn choose an apple, identify the number on it and place the apple on the tree. When all the apples are on the tree, count them as a group. Avocado Get several avacados. Cut them open to remove the pits. Help the children plant the pits - stick three toothpicks in the sides of each pit evenly spaced. Fill a small glass with water - set the pits on the glas so that the pointed end of the avacado pit is in the water - watch the root of the avacado grow. Replant in loose soil. Avacado Dip Make guacamole "Awesome A" Booklist Read the Avocado Baby by John Burningham The Animal - by Lorna Balian Airplanes - by Byron Barton Airport - by Byron Barton The Angel Who Forgot - by Elisa Bartone A-B-C-ing: An Action Alphabet - by Janet Beller Apple Tree! Apple Tree! - by Mary Blocksman A Is for Angry: An Animal and Adjective Alphabet Alphabet - by Sandra Boynton Avocado Baby - by John Burningham The Alphabet Book - by Phiip Eastman Ed Emberley's ABC - by you guessed it :-) Angus and the Ducks - by Marjorie Flack The ABC Bunny - by Wanda Gag The Great Big Alphabet Book with Lots of Words - by Richard Hefter Aardvark's Picnic - by Jon Higham A B See! - by Tana Hoban The Little Airplane - by Lois Lenski There's an Alligator Under My Bed - by Mercer Mayer Apples, How They Grow - by Bruce McMillan There's an Ant in Anthony - by Bernard Most Ants Are Fun - by Mildren Myrick Curious George at the Airport - by Margaret Rey and Allan Shalleck Albert B. Cub and Zebra: An Alphabet Storybook - by Anne Rockwell The Antcyclopedia - by Joel Rothman About Animals - by Richard Scarry Alligators All Around - by Maurice Sendak Dr. Seuss's ABC - by yup - right again :-) Paper Airplane - by Fulvio Testa Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - by Judith Viorst Alphie Gets In First Animals, Animals (E. Carle) Amelia Bedelia and The Baby Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse Anansi and The Moss-Covered Rock There's An Alligator Under My Bed * Just go to this address for A stuff: http://www.iup.edu/~njyost/KHI/A.html