A is for apples

It's time to get out all those teacher apple gifts.

Apple, apple, /a/, /a/, /a/          

Sounds like Fun CD from Discovery Toys has a wonderful song that calmly practices the initial sounds of the alphabet.
There is also a free Ipad app that you can use.  

Do you know the story of the "Little House with no doors"?  You must have an apple and sharp knife as you tell the story.
Once upon a time there was a little boy who grew tired of all his toys and games.  He asked his mother, "What shall I do?
  "You shall go on a journey and find a little red house with no windows or doors and a star inside.  Come back as soon as you can."  
So the boy started out on his journey and he found a little girl and he asked her, "Do you know where I can find a little  red house with no windows and doors and a star inside?"  
"Ask my father, the farmer, he may know."  So the little boy found the farmer and asked him, "Do you know where I can find a little red house with no windows and no doors and a star inside?"  The farmer laughed and said, "I've lived many years but I've never seen anything like it -- go ask Granny-- she knows everything!"
So the little boy asked Granny, "Please Granny, where can I find a house with no windows and doors and a star inside."
"I'd like to find that house myself, it would be warm in the winter and the starlight would be beautiful.  Go ask the wind-- maybe he knows."
The wind whistled by the little boy and the boy said, "Oh, wind, can you help me find a little red house with no windows and doors and a star inside."  The  wind cannot speak any words but it went on singing ahead of the little boy until it came to an apple tree and shook the branches.  Down came a beautiful red apple. (Show your apple)  
The little boy picked it up and looked at it.  It was a little red house that had no windows or doors.  "I wonder," said the boy.  He took out his jackknife from his pocket and cut the apple in half. (cut apple sideways)  
How wonderful!  There in the center was a star holding little brown seeds.  He ran home and showed his mother.  "Look, I found it!"

Position words
Cut out apples and worms.  Give students two apples and one worm.  Tell them to put the apples side-by-side, put the worm above the apples, below the apples, between the two apples, at the bottom of an apple, at the top of one apple, over the two apples, etc.

Pick out your favorite stories about apples.

The Apple Pie Tree 
Ten Apples Up on Top

There are so many FREE and ready to print for a small fee apple activities on TeachersPayTeachers, Pintrest and just google ideas for kindergarten. 

MATH activities
Make or print trees and use apple erasers or red painted lima beans as counters. 

• Roll a die or use number cards to tell how many apples to put on your tree. 

• Addition number sentences can also be used.  (paint  lima beans yellow or green to show two sets--though real trees don't have two colors/kinds of apples)

• Practice 'take away' (subtraction), how many are left?

• How many more?  Students roll die and count out apples.  Ask how many more do you need to have 10 apples?  

Reading sight words printed on apple shapes.  
Make a memory game with sight words, letter match, shape match, letter and beginning sound pictures.

There will be more soon...keep watching because...

 Hand-in-hand, we grow!