Book of the Month Linky Party - The Apple Pie Tree

Hey all!

Today has been mad! Lately I've been getting very annoyed with my environment - it's always so busy that sometimes housework and stuff takes a back seat. I'm a self-confessed Obsessive Compulsive, and this weekend I really needed to get down to it - before I went well and truly bonkers! With a nice early start at 8.30am, after several mugs of Starbucks to get me going, I got stuck in. First job, clean out the cupboard to make room for the towels that have been hanging around homeless for a few weeks. Then, the Great Autumn Sort kicked off. With no storage, I had to be ruthless. I filled four huge sacks with clothing! I kid you not, clothing with swing tags still on - Jasper Conran, Julien Macdonald, you name it, it was there - and all brand new! The charity shop is in for a treat tomorrow... It's taken all day, but I can finally walk around the house without screaming or wanting to run away... Next weekend it's the garden's turn for a tidy-up...

I hopped across to Tammy's place this evening. Those of you who know me through my blog will know that I love books. I'm filling up my bookshelf here and always love to take opportunities to tell you about great books that I think the kids will love. So Tammy's linky is right up my street. It's all about sharing ideas on great books that we can all use in the classroom. This month Tammy wants us to share books that are MUST READS for the month of OCTOBER. So, these books should be an "October" theme that you do in your class. (Fall, Pumpkins, Halloween, etc) It does not have to be seasonal but it needs to be something you are reading this month!:) If you have more than one, share those too.  Post pictures of your books and activities you do with your class:). Here is the link to Tammy's blog where you can get all the details.

I linked up with my favourite book of the moment - The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. I have blogged about it before here. 

The packet provides a huge selection of activities that you can teach as a stand-alone unit, or use separately in Literacy/Writing Centres. Everything you need is there, and can just be printed off and used with minimum  preparation and effort. It includes:

• Before reading inference using the cover as a prompt
• After reading discussion prompt cards
• Record sheets
• Editing sentences
• Alphabetical ordering
• Phoneme count
• Syllable search
• Sensory poem writing activity
• Word wall
• Story sequencing - the tree
• Story sequencing - baking a pie
• Story sequencing - the Robin family
• Storyboarding
• Four seasons of an apple tree - posters to collage
• Teacher answer keys where applicable
  
   

It's 10.30pm here and I'm jiggered from all my autumn clear-out! Have a great week whatever you end up doing, and be sure to keep me posted!

 

Friday Freebie - Better Late Than Never...!

Howdy Folks!

Like many of you, I'm still getting to grips with my classes for this year. But I don't use the word "classes" loosely. I teach around 150 children every week - that's about 5 full classes in normal teaching terms...

Phew!

My Weird and Wonderful Job

You may have gathered that mine is not a "normal" teaching job. For example, tomorrow I will go into two different schools, teaching around 40 children in the first and 11 in the second. Tuesday is busier as I am in a High School. On Wednesday I visit three schools. Thursday is just as busy - two schools with around 40 children. On Friday I have three schools just in the morning! But at least by then it's Friday... I have to travel in between all of these schools, so much of my time is spent rushing to make the next lesson, and if I'm very lucky, grabbing a quick bite of a sandwich on the way.

 

Weekend..? What Weekend...?

I spent yesterday drawing up individual targets for all the sweeties I teach - that took some time, I can tell you... But at least my mind is now fully focused on what each child needs to achieve in order to make progress with their English language. I thought I might have had time for a cheeky glass of Chardonnay in the evening, but that wasn't to be.

Today came and went... The planning process began in earnest. I started at 10am and am still hard at it - it's 9pm here (OK, so I'm  taking a small break to talk to you - a girl needs a coffee break from time to time...). Every child is different, each one is at a different stage in acquiring the language and all have very individual needs. I'm frazzled..! They are all grouped according to their language ability (so I often have Reception (G1) children grouped with Year 6 (G5) children. This is not as problematic as it might sound, as it is usually children who are new to English language who fall into this category.

So far, I have only managed to complete plans for the children I will teach tomorrow... ooh Er! Next thing on my list is to pull together the huge variety of resources I will need. And this is where the Powell Planning Machine has slowly ground to a halt. See, I just haven't got it in me. So here's the dilemma: do I give it one final push now, or do I leave it until the morning and run around like a headless chicken..? No contest really.. But however much I try to convince myself that it's the wise and sensible thing to do, I just can't seem to haul myself out of my chair - I am well and truly super glued in place...!

A Treat - Just For You

So, for any of you who are feeling the same way as me tonight, here's a little treat you can use in class over the next week or two. It's a set of apple bookmarks - a colour version that you can laminate and give out to your kiddos (attach a bright tassel through the holes to make them really colourful), and a black and white set that the kiddos can colour themselves. You choose.

As I missed the weekend - and Freebie Friday - I'm doing it now. Better late than never, as the saying goes. The bookmarks are free to download in my Tn and TPT stores so make sure you bag yours now.

Whatever you're doing today, enjoy the end of the weekend..

Fall Picture Book - The Apple Pie Tree. And a 50% Sale

Hello friends!

Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness... (J. Keats)

At this time of year, we all turn our minds to autumn - changing seasons; the wonderful paintbox colours of the leaves, nuts, berries and gorgeous fruits;the excitement of Hallowe'en and Thanksgiving; and, for us in the UK, Bonfire Night with toffee apples, candy floss, fireworks, sparklers, hot dogs... I will always remember, with amazement and delight, stumbling upon a farmers' market in the middle of New York City at this time of the year - stalls full of ripe apples, plump pumpkins and gourds in a catalogue of shapes and colours, scarecrows, wonderful autumn smells... I could wax lyrical about autumn all night.

Classroom Ideas

This season is just perfect for the classroom - so many activities, so much inspiration. Last year, we made a huge window display of a bare tree, and decorated it with red, gold and brown leaves, and giant acorns. Each child wrote a word or two on their leaf or acorn to describe autumn. I had some great responses from the kids (Yr 3, so G2) - chocolate brown, nutty caramel, misty mornings. We laminated the leaves and added them to the tree, some on the branches, some floating down to the ground, most in a pile on the ground with a squirrel asleep underneath. In time, the tree became a winter tree, when all the leaves were replaced with snowflakes, baubles and decorations. Spring brought leaves and blossom, and summer saw the tree in full leafy regalia.

Crispy, Juicy, Tangy, Delicious, Golden..... Apples!

The obvious choice for teaching about autumn is the apple, especially as the end of this month sees the birthday of Johnny Apple Seed. Last week I posted about an apple packet that I had been working on. The packet is based on the wonderful book "The Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall, which I have added to my shelf as a recommended read. Check it out here.

The Best Bit - Apple Activities at a Discount!

The packet provides a huge selection of activities that you can teach as a stand-alone unit, or use separately in Literacy/Writing Centres. Everything you need is there, and can just be printed off and used with minimum  preparation and effort. It includes:

• Before reading inference using the cover as a prompt
• After reading discussion prompt cards
• Record sheets
• Editing sentences
• Alphabetical ordering
• Phoneme count
• Syllable search
• Sensory poem writing activity
• Word wall
• Story sequencing - the tree
• Story sequencing - baking a pie
• Story sequencing - the Robin family
• Storyboarding
• Four seasons of an apple tree - posters to collage
• Teacher answer keys where applicable

For a limited period you can get the whole unit for the introductory price of  50% off at my Teachers Notebook store. Why not pop along over and take a closer look? Click on any picture to take you there.

Have a wonderful weekend, Y'all

Apples in the Fall - and a FREEBIE

There's a definite nip in the air.. We are having a bit of an Indian Summer in the UK (it won't last for long...), and it's been warm for the last week. Isn't it just typical that it rained for the whole of the summer break butthe sun has come out just as we all go back to school...!

Anyway, I know that lots of you love teaching an apple theme at this time of year. I LOVE autumn - it's my favourite season. So I had a lot of fun pulling this apple themed literacy unit together. It uses Zoe Hall's "The Apple Pie Tree" as a prompt and is crammed full of great activities that can be taught as part of a thematic unit or used as stand-alone activities in your writing centres. The poetry lesson is especially good - I used it myself going back a few years and although the children groaned when I told them they were going to write their own poem, they absolutely loved going through the hands-on process using their senses. I'd love to see some examples of your children's work if you decide to use it.

I'm hoping to follow this one up with a couple more seasonal units, including Johnny Apple Seed and of course, Hallowe'en. Oh I do love this time of year...!

If you're interested you can get this unit through my TN and TPT shops by clicking the pictures below.





Teachers Notebook





TPT

I would love for my unit to be reviewd - it's important to me that everything is so-so. So for the first two people to leave a comment here on my blog, I will send you a free copy of "Apple Pie Tree"

for review. Good luck!