Story Activities for Apple Farmer Annie
by Monica Wellington
(Support the author by purchasing this book here.)
Annie is an Apple Farmer. Take a peek to see what Annie does in the community. This great fall book has a delicious theme and touches on many early childhood concepts such as sorting, cooking, community helpers, city and country, and running a store.
Let's take a look at some activities to support learning concepts in this fun story.
Story Vocabulary
Review or just play with the vocabulary in the story prior to reading. Some key vocabulary words include: orchard, fall, pick, basket, sort, organize, cider, city, market, stand, fresh, customer, sold, and tired.
For remote learning, use the Play Tools to make a fun vocabulary hunt.
Story Comprehension and Retelling
Create question cards with multiple choice answers or open ended questions to check comprehension as you read. Use the apple picture cards to sequence story details and/or in retelling.
Literacy
Create simple repetitive books to go with your unit. Have the children work on letter recognition, visual and fine motor skills by circling the letter "a" in a field of similar letters. Simplify by using less letters or letters that are very different in appearance and make more difficult by setting a timer.
Apple Math
There are so many activites to do with apples as manipulatives. Use bingo daubers to continue the pattern of apple colors. Roll balls of red playdough onto an apple tree mat for counting fun.
Play Hi-Ho-Cherry-O for simple addition and subtraction.
Measure circumference of different apples and compare.
For more Math fun, read "Ten Apples on Top" by Dr Seuss & Theo LeSieg.
Calendar
Use these cards on your calendar to practice daily counting and patterning skills.
Social Skills
Take an apple and drop it a few times to create bruising on the inside prior to the lesson. Have the students, say a few unkind words to the apple as they pass it around and then cut open the apple to show the bruises on the inside. Discuss how unkind words don't show the "hurt" on the outside, but they still hurt inside. Have student "pick" apples from the tree (use a grabber for extra fine motor practice) and tell whether or not the action is kind or unkind. If unkind, have them tell how it makes them feel when it happens to them and/or how to change it to make it kind.
Science
There are many apple science activities to do while reading this great story.
Sort different kinds of apples by attributes. Label the groups.
You may do a taste test experiment. Have friends taste which kind of apple they like best and color the apple. Then graph the data to reveal which apple is the most popular.
This article by Left Brain Craft Brain shows why apples turn brown.
Learn more about apples in the book, How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro
Cooking
Create visual recipes using apples. Use our templates or use our Office Add-in.
Here is a sample recipe for making apple dip treats.
Fine Motor
Make apple lacing cards by punching holes around the perimeter of the apples. You can also use these apples as play mats for counting while manipulating beans, pom poms, or apple seeds.
Trace the lines to bring the apple to its basket.
Cut and match the apple feelings
Art
Slice apples to make apple prints. Use corn cob holder to help lift the apples out of the paint.
Use fingertips dipped in red to paint apples on a tree.
More Apple Stories
Here are some other great books about apples.
Curious George Apple Harvest by H.A. Rey
Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie, By Herman Parish
Apple Picking Day by Candice Ransom
Applesauce Day by Lisa J Amstutz