Fall Trees and Apples - Video 2 of 2

Summary

The video captures a lively and engaging classroom experience centered around an apple orchard-themed unit. The teacher creatively integrates hands-on activities like apple bowling, bobbing for apples, and a hayride relay race. Each activity incorporates motor skills, math, color identification, and letter recognition while keeping students entertained and engaged. The students work on their fine and gross motor skills, problem-solving, and communication through interactive tasks. The lesson is designed to be fun, inclusive, and educational, emphasizing individualized learning objectives and making every moment count in their development.

Takeaways

• 🍎 The teacher plans fun and engaging field trips, such as visiting an apple orchard, to complement learning units.
• 🎳 One activity is 'Apple Bowling,' where students use apples as bowling balls to knock down pins and then perform a simple math problem by counting and adding the pins they knocked down.
• 🖐 The apple bowling activity helps students work on gross and fine motor skills, as well as math skills like counting and number identification.
• 🔤 Another activity, 'Bobbing for Apples,' involves matching letters on apples to the first letter of the students’ names, promoting letter recognition and fine motor skills.
• 🚜 The 'Hayride Relay Race' activity lets students race while collecting colored apples from trees, focusing on motor skills and color identification.
• 🎯 Activities are carefully designed to incorporate a variety of learning goals such as math, literacy, gross motor, fine motor, and vision skills.
• 📋 The teacher emphasizes embedding IEP objectives within fun, themed activities to keep students engaged while working on individual goals.
• 🏆 Prizes are used to reward students for participation in activities, with apple-related treats like apple juice or applesauce as special rewards.
• 📚 The teacher’s focus is on creating differentiated instruction that meets each child’s unique needs by embedding learning into playful activities.
• 🎉 The lesson ends with a reflection on the importance of celebrating small wins, as even tiny achievements can be significant for the students.

Q & A

What is the primary theme of the unit discussed in the script?

The primary theme of the unit is an apple orchard, where students engage in activities related to apples, such as apple bowling, bobbing for apples, and a hayride relay race.

How does the teacher incorporate physical activity into the lesson?

The teacher incorporates physical activity through games like apple bowling, where students roll apples to knock down pins, and a hayride relay race, where they collect apples while racing. These activities focus on gross and fine motor skills.

How does the teacher use apple bowling to teach math?

During apple bowling, students knock down pins and then count the number of pins they knocked down. They are encouraged to perform basic addition by combining the results of two turns and identifying the correct total.

What sensory and motor skills are targeted in the apple-related activities?

The activities target gross and fine motor skills, such as standing and rolling apples, reaching for apples, and using nets to collect apples. Sensory skills, like visual tracking and tactile exploration, are also emphasized.

How does the teacher make the lesson inclusive for all students?

The teacher adapts the activities for students with different physical abilities by allowing them to use walkers, standers, or wheelchairs during tasks. The teacher encourages all forms of participation, such as using verbal cues, eye blinks, or gestures to communicate.

What is the educational purpose of the bobbing for apples activity?

The bobbing for apples activity helps students identify and match letters, particularly the first letters of their names, which reinforces letter recognition and matching skills. It also encourages students to use fine motor skills by reaching into the water with nets.

How does the teacher ensure that students are engaged during the lesson?

The teacher ensures engagement by making the activities fun, interactive, and relevant to the apple orchard theme. The teacher uses praise and encouragement throughout the activities, acknowledging students' efforts and participation.

How does the teacher encourage independent participation from the students?

The teacher encourages independent participation by giving students choices and asking them to indicate their preferences using voice, gestures, or eye contact. Students are also given opportunities to assist with setting up the activities.

What type of reinforcement does the teacher provide during the lesson?

The teacher provides positive reinforcement through verbal praise, high-fives, and special rewards, such as apple-themed prizes like apple juice or applesauce during the final prize distribution.

What is the significance of the final apple-picking activity in the lesson?

The final apple-picking activity allows students to experience the key aspect of an apple orchard—picking apples. They practice identifying numbers and receive prizes, making it a fun and interactive conclusion to the unit.

Outlines

00:00

🍎 Fun Apple Orchard Field Trip Introduction

The video begins with an introduction to an apple orchard-themed field trip, which is part of a larger learning unit. The teacher talks about how the field trip incorporates various fun and engaging activities. The first activity introduced is 'Apple Bowling,' where students bowl using an apple instead of a bowling ball. The teacher encourages students to interact with the apple, describing its colors and textures while guiding them through the steps of the game.

05:02

🎳 Counting with Apple Bowling

The activity continues as Maurice, one of the students, takes his turn bowling with the apple. The teacher helps him with counting and recognizing numbers based on the pins knocked down. The focus is on engaging students with counting, addition, and number recognition. The activity encourages fine and gross motor skills, as students stand or use walkers while rolling the apple to knock down pins.

10:05

🍏 Bobbing for Apples with Letters

The next activity is 'Bobbing for Apples,' where each apple has a letter written on it. The students match the letters to their own names, developing letter recognition skills. The teacher emphasizes the importance of visual engagement, guiding students to find and identify the letter of their first name on the apples.

15:06

🚜 Hayride Relay and Racing for Apples

A hayride relay race is introduced, where students race in wagons to pick apples from 'trees' and bring them back to their bins. The activity incorporates fine motor skills, color identification (red, green, yellow apples), and a sense of competition as students race against each other.

20:27

🏅 Hayride Results and Counting Apples

After the hayride race, the teacher helps the students count the apples they've collected. Students are encouraged to reach, grab, and place the apples in their baskets while counting aloud. The focus is on motor skills and reinforcing basic counting.

25:30

🎁 Prizes and Reflection on Apple Orchard Activities

The final segment involves a prize-giving ceremony based on the numbers of apples each student picked. The teacher spins a spinner, and students receive a choice between apple juice or applesauce as a prize. The teacher reflects on the importance of making learning fun and engaging, even when incorporating educational goals and individual learning objectives.

Keywords

💡Apple Orchard

The apple orchard is the primary theme and setting for the activities in the video. It is used as a creative backdrop for various educational tasks such as apple bowling, bobbing for apples, and a hayride. This simulated environment helps immerse the students in a fun and engaging experience that reinforces learning through play.

💡Apple Bowling

Apple bowling is an activity where students use apples as bowling balls to knock down pins. This exercise is designed to incorporate elements of math and fine motor skill development. Students get two turns to roll the apple and then count the number of pins knocked down, practicing addition and number identification.

💡Math Problem

The math problem is a key component of the apple bowling activity, where students add up the total number of pins knocked down over two turns. This helps them work on counting, number identification, and basic addition, reinforcing these skills through a hands-on activity.

💡Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills refer to the coordination of small muscles, often involving movements of the hands and fingers. Activities like rolling an apple in apple bowling, holding a net during bobbing for apples, and grasping apples from the 'trees' are designed to improve these skills in students, many of whom may have physical challenges.

💡Bobbing for Apples

Bobbing for apples is a game where students use nets to retrieve apples floating in water, with each apple marked with a letter. This activity focuses on letter recognition, matching, and visual tracking. Students try to find the apple with the letter that matches the first letter of their name, making it an engaging way to practice alphabet familiarity.

💡Letter Recognition

Letter recognition is emphasized during the bobbing for apples activity. Each apple has a different letter, and students are tasked with finding the apple with the letter that corresponds to their first name. This reinforces their ability to identify letters visually and understand their association with names and words.

💡Hayride Relay Race

The hayride relay race is an interactive game where students race with wagons to pick apples from a mock apple tree. This activity encourages physical movement, spatial awareness, and teamwork. It also incorporates color recognition, as students are asked to identify and pick apples of specific colors.

💡Color Identification

Color identification is practiced during the hayride relay race, where students identify and pick apples of specific colors such as red, green, and yellow. This activity helps them distinguish between different colors while adding a visual learning element to the exercise.

💡Tactile Learning

Tactile learning involves using physical touch to explore and understand concepts. In the video, tactile learning is incorporated through activities like feeling tactile letters before the bobbing for apples activity, helping students who rely on touch to better grasp letter shapes and develop sensory awareness.

💡Communication Skills

Communication skills are emphasized throughout the various activities, with students encouraged to express their wants and preferences using gestures, verbalizations, or assistive communication devices. For instance, they are asked to indicate when they want a turn or to choose between apple juice or applesauce as a prize.

Highlights

The unit includes an apple orchard field trip experience, incorporating tactile and motor-skill-building activities for children.

Apple bowling is the first activity, where children use apples as bowling balls to knock down pins, promoting gross motor skills and math learning.

Each student takes turns rolling an apple, and the number of pins knocked down is used to create a simple math problem to enhance counting and number identification.

Children use different forms of communication, such as hand-raising, eye-blinking, or speaking, to indicate when they're ready to take their turn.

The activity encourages students to work on reaching, grasping, and fine motor control by aiming the apple at the pins.

Bobbing for apples helps children work on fine motor skills, vision skills, and letter recognition as they identify letters on apples that correspond to their names.

Students race each other to find apples with the letter of their first name, improving letter-matching skills and early literacy.

The hayride relay race simulates a real apple orchard experience, where children race to collect apples from trees, working on color recognition and physical coordination.

Students identify apples by color (red, green, and yellow), reinforcing color identification while participating in a fun, competitive activity.

Throughout the activities, gross and fine motor skills are emphasized as students reach, grasp, and manipulate objects.

In the final activity, students pick apples from a designated tree, then identify the numbers written on the apples, integrating math skills and number recognition.

Children are rewarded with prizes such as apple juice or applesauce based on a randomized spinner game, further engaging them in the learning experience.

Activities like the apple orchard theme are designed to be fun and tactile, ensuring that learning is engaging and accessible to all students.

Thematic learning experiences are tailored to meet individual education plan (IEP) objectives, embedding various skills such as communication, motor skills, and math into engaging activities.

Teachers adapt lessons in real-time based on students' responses, seizing moments to reinforce specific skills or IEP goals as needed.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Music]

you

[Music]

the apple orchard field trip is kind of

the into the whole unit that we have and

in general when I plan units a lot of

times I try to plan some sort of field

trip type experience or you know kind of

a big fun event that kind of has all

different stations or centers or lots of

different things that they get to do and

we will usually transform some other

room into something different alright

guys guess what we're in our apple

orchard today did you look around and

see all the trees and the apples

did you see there's a hayride we got all

kinds of fun stuff to do in our apple

orchard today and our first activity is

going to be apple bowling we're gonna go

bowling but we're gonna use something

special for our bowling guess what we're

not gonna use the bowling ball we're

going to use an apple look we're gonna

use an apple you say Apple good job

we're gonna use an apple it's a ball

we're gonna roll it on the floor can you

touch the Apple can you touch let's

touch like this you ready Apple that's

an apple look Maddy

I've got an apple can you look good yeah

we're gonna roll it on the floor and do

some bowling today you ready to roll

let's look at the Apple ready to touch

reach out and touch look this Apple is

red it's got some green on it and it's

round like a ball we're gonna go bowling

with it today yeah it's gonna be fun

look Maurice an Apple Apple you know

that sign you do Apple that's right

Apple look Apple good looking William I

like how you're looking I like how

you're reaching good job so we're gonna

go bowling with an apple we're gonna

roll it on the floor and see how many

pins you can

down so everyone when you get up here

and it's your turn

we're gonna have the pins on the floor

you're gonna do one turn and we're gonna

see how many pins you knock down and

we'll put it on our board and then

you're gonna have another turn and we'll

see how many pins you knock down that

time and we're gonna add them together

and we're gonna do a math problem okay

so who might want to go first who wants

to do the first bowling you can use your

voices to let me know that you want to

turn you could raise your hand you could

blink your eyes would you like to go

first

would you like to go first

[Music]

mm-hmm would you like a turn first do

you want to turn would you like to go

first show them how to do it you tell us

what what you want me what do you want

from me would you like the Apple turn

you want to turn okay let's get our pin

setup ready I'm gonna set up and you're

gonna do some bowling here we go yes

all right Maurice come on down see how

many you can bowl down all right you're

gonna try to hit those pins right there

you gonna roll it on the floor

ready oh man you didn't get any the

first time let's try again

try and get him right here okay let's

try again see I'm gonna help you aim

something okay just try and get it right

there at those pins say 1 2 3 throw it

oh so close let's get a little closer

and try again

that's funny all right let's try again

well right there say 1 2 3

you got some down let's put some pins up

there and see how many okay let that be

your first roll won't roll again okay so

let's see can you put the pins up for

how many not down over here three four

see look that's four you knock down one

two three four you think you can knock

down these other two think you can let's

see if you can all right get your Apple

back try and hit those two oh man you

didn't get um all right this is gonna be

your last turn and then we're gonna do

our problem okay try and get those right

there little shorter throw Wow look at

you you knocked the other two down let's

add two more pins to our problem

yeah put them over here one two all

right we're gonna do some counting and

see how many knocked down all together

all right let's count you ready you get

your pointer finger out where's your

pointer finger there it is you ready

let's count them say one two three four

five six so you got six all together can

you find the six get it yeah you found

the six good job Maurice high five

way to go you did awesome all right

Maurice did his Apple bowling let's see

who else could have a turn apple bowling

and so at that station we have bowling

pins and an apple is our bowling ball

and so they each get a turn to roll the

Apple and see how many pins they knock

down and then they are able to create a

math problem where they add how many

pins they knock down so they have two

turns and they knock down they do the

first roll and see how many pins they

knocked down and we move some visuals

down of however many they knock down

first and then they go again and we see

how many they knocked down and we move

those visuals and we count them all up

and do you know say I knocked down five

all together then I try to identify a

five out of probably two choices so

that's working on counting and it's

working on number identification and

adding and it's also against um those

gross and fine motor skills of you know

be able to stand there a lot of the kids

will be and walkers or Stander's or

those kinds of things during this time

too and so they're working on being able

to stand nice and tall and you know roll

the Apple and all those kinds of things

too

[Music]

all right okay ready

you turn it up here come on up this way

gonna have to hop you walking this way

come on over here Caleb right over here

come on down

good job Caleb that was really awesome

listening we're gonna get you about

right here Caleb see ready let's come

this way a little bit we're gonna hop it

you ready say alright you're gonna try

and knock down those pins right there

okay okay that's right we did happy

throw it not eat it let's throw it let's

throw it you ready say one two oh that

was a good throw but look we got to try

and hit the pins okay

let's try again here we go good job your

friend William says good job ready here

we go say one two three whoa oh my

goodness you knocked them all down

look at that Caleb 3 that's right you

touch look up here this is for touch

like this

four and can you get it look look

five look you touch okay five good six I

this is six six that's right good

counting Caleb we got six

cuz guess what you're not done all six

pins Caleb way to go I get high five for

that good job alright you did it then we

have the bobbing for apples and in that

station there are apples and a big tub

of water and each Apple has a different

letter written on it and big black

sharpie marker so they can see it and we

have first to start that activity off we

have some tactile letters with each of

the letters of their first name and so

we start off with each student feeling

that letter and really knowing what

letter they're looking for they're

working on again that fine motor skill

of holding the net and reaching in and

trying to get apples and they're also

working on some vision skills of looking

a lot of my kids just looking is a big a

big deal I'm sure you've probably heard

and a lot of the activities I'm so you

did a great job looking good job I love

how you're looking at that because

that's a big deal for a lot of our kids

so we're like we're working on looking

and finding that Apple and then we're

also working on the skill of matching

letter to letter and just knowing what

the letter of your first name is to

eventually be able to hopefully spell

your name and know what your name looks

like

alright guys guess what you did your

Apple bowling and now it's time for

bobbing for apples and how this is gonna

work is you're gonna race a friend so

it's gonna be one person over here and

one person over here and you're gonna be

trying to find the Apple with the letter

of your first name on it before your

friend does so I have lots of apples up

here I've got apples with lots of

letters I've got an apple with a C does

anybody's name in here start with a C I

saw you look up here Caleb guess what

Caleb starts with C that's right let's

see and look there's an apple for you

let's see I'm gonna put it in the bucket

you ready here it goes in the bucket

there's one with C in there how about is

there anybody in here whose name starts

with a T hmm anybody with a T maybe

somebody over here maybe a boy that's

sitting right here guess what guess what

his name starts with a t t that's right

you see him the T we have a tea for

Tyrell let's feel it Tyrell see we've

got tea for Tyrell and this Apple has a

tea - you ready

it says tea for Tyrell we're gonna put a

tea in the bucket for you you'll have 1

defines put it in all right is there

anybody in here whose name starts with a

B hmm many bees in here

I see you looking who whose name starts

with a P do you know not my name whose

name can you find it

no mori starts with an M guess whose

name starts with a B who was that

Breanna her name starts with a B look

who's the girl and here whose name

starts with an M who could it be

it is you that's right you see the Apple

has M for Maddy yeah I like how you're

getting it can you look let's look at

this in look M for Maddy let's trace it

you ready let's say I'm gonna hold it

with that hand alright we've got for

Maddy that's you yeah that's right good

job

let's see Maurice can you put this in

the bucket can you drive your wheelchair

up the front and put it in the bucket

please go put it in drive yourself up

there put it in your lap and drive

yourself up there it's okay you can

leave right there good you have to turn

yourself a little bit use this bar in

turn there you go

now you can go straight good put it in

yay good job yeah Maddy there's an M in

there for you and Maurice way to go good

job alright and then just to be tricky

there's some other letters in our

buckets there's a letter A I don't think

we have anybody whose name starts with

an A but you might find an A and you'll

say that's not the letter that my name

starts with you'll have to throw it back

and find a different one alright all of

our letters are in our bucket so now

what we're going to do is we're going to

get two people you're gonna come up

you're gonna get a net you can pick what

color if you want blue or if you want

pink and then you're gonna dig them out

just like this

and you're gonna look and see if it's

your letter all right Maddie did you

remind yourself the letter that you're

looking for you're looking for you're

looking for em and guess what

Maurice is looking for the letter M -

you're both looking for the same letter

and I wonder who's gonna find it first

Oh Williams lay ready for us to go here

we go you ready go reach in there and

get something there you go what did you

get can you reach in there and get it

let me hold this for a second oh my

goodness look at that would you get what

did you get oh my goodness look she

found the M can you believe it then we

have a hayride relay race because when

you go to the apple orchard you always

you know go on a hayride and so that

gives them the experience of getting to

ride a hayride which otherwise they

probably wouldn't have had that

experience and so with that activity we

do a race and we have two different

wagons and we have apples set up on some

trees on the other side of the room and

they get in the wagons and race to see

who can get the most apples back the

fastest and so they're using a lot of

fine motor skills being able to reach

and put the take the apples off the tree

and put them in their bin they're

working on colors that the different

color apples there's red and green and

yeah yeah in yellow and so they're

working on you know identifying those

colors we're gonna do some hay rides

this time how this is gonna work as

we've got our wagons right here this is

gonna be our hay ride guess what you're

gonna get a chance to get in

and you're gonna race down to the apple

trees and get as many apples apples off

the tree as you can you're gonna be

racing another friend you see who can

get the most and two minutes you don't

have long you're gonna have to be fast

so you're gonna get to get in here like

this and you're gonna use your hands and

reach and get the apples okay so we're

gonna need two people each turn and I'm

gonna need two people that can help me

one tell us what we need to go and two

someone that can keep up with our time

so we've got our talker that you can

tell us when we need to go so we'll do

that and we've got our timer on here and

you'll press Start and then when you

hear the music

well know it's time to see who won you

think you could do that part when it's

not your turn I'm sure you could and

then when you get done when you come

back here and bring your apples back

you're gonna put them in the basket and

go back and get more okay until you hear

the music and when it's all done we're

gonna count and see who got the most

apples okay so who thinks they should go

first for our hayride all right there

are two boys let's still need a turn I

think it's William Stern and Terrell's

turn you ready all right Tyrone and get

your seat ready for your wagon ride

there's some hay for ya for your hay

ride

is that funny he's got some hey here you

go

[Music]

actually you an apple pick an apple you

ready here we go

reach reach reach you got a red apple

Terrell hold it right there and on back

here we go

alright we're gonna put it in the basket

you ready hold it and put it yeah good

job all right let's turn around right

Terrell we're gonna see who won this

race all right you're gonna get one out

and then you're gonna count it okay so

get one the second one you counted two

you gotta get it ready

you get the last one neech up there and

get it let's count it

oh you got three apples William good job

I wonder how many Terrell got how many

you think you got let's see let me get

yours we're gonna do some counting

basket

let's get ready okay here we go let's

reach reach in let's get one we're gonna

put it right here and let's count it

here we go one one if it's not fun

they're not going to be engaged and it's

not gonna even if you have a ton of IEP

objectives embedded in this activity

they're not going to care because it's

not fun so I start with a theme to my

unit that I think will be fun and

engaging for all of the students and

that kind of lends itself to a lot of

different activities and a lot of

different experiences things that are

simple and concrete and tactile that we

can really explore lots of things

related to it after I've kind of figured

out what I want the theme to be and

what's going to be fun and engaging then

from there I start looking at like

specific activities that will touch on

all of the different domains like all

the different you know the math science

social studies and the gross motor fine

motor vision all of those things that

we're working on so the more that you

plan these things the activities and the

more that you embed all of the different

goals and the more that you

differentiate instruction the better

that you become at just being able to do

it without really having it every little

thing written down you just kind of you

have to know you have to really know

what all of their goals are and you have

to really know what the kids don't need

to be working on and so a lot of times

if I have that knowledge in the back of

my head okay you know this child needs

to be working on this this kid needs to

work on this and know what all of them

are working on will be in the middle of

activity and just because I didn't plan

it this way I'll say oh my gosh this is

a really good time for so-and-so to work

on reaching and grasping or this is a

really great time for so-and-so to work

on this communication skill or you know

all of those things you can embed them

so quickly and easily when you have a

really strong foundation

of what do they really need guess what

guys we've done Apple bowling

we've done bobbing for apples and we've

done hay rides where we're picking our

apples and guess what we have one more

thing to do at our apple orchard today

we're gonna pick apples because that's

what you do when you go to an apple

orchard right has any of you ever been

to it apple orchard

have you gone you've been to an apple

orchard before have you picked apples

have you done that I don't know I don't

think maybe you have you're gonna get a

chance to go yeah I have done it before

but you're gonna get to go this time

okay so we're gonna come up and I'm

gonna hand out your bags you have a bag

up here that has your name on it you're

gonna get your bag and you're gonna get

a turn to come up here and you're gonna

pick a few apples and then you're gonna

take them back to your seat and after

everybody's had a turn we're gonna give

some prizes away oh yes there's prizes

at this apple orchard all right we've

got your bag let's come see if we can

pick some apples can you go get an apple

look look look right here can you get

one get an apple that's right get it get

it you almost had it

pull it off let's try again

get it look get it

almost get it hurry and pull it off

you got it look let's see what number

you got you got ah cute all right let's

put it in your bag let's see if you can

get two more there's one Apple let's

come around this side where else do you

want to get an apple which one do you

want to get that one I'm gonna get that

one can you get it good job all right so

pull your apples out and look at what

numbers you have find out what numbers

are in your bag

let's Ichiro you've got you've got a 1

you've got a 5 and you've got a 3 all

right keep those numbers in your head

all right I think everybody's seen their

numbers so this is how it's gonna work

I've got some special prizes and we're

gonna spin our spinner and if you hear

your number then you get to pick a

special prize okay so who can spin our

first number hmm who wants to spin would

you like to do it you push the purple

button see what number we get oh it's

plane - that one what all right tell

everybody that we've got a 4 does

anybody have a 4 okay lemon Brianna you

guys have a 4 guess what your special

prize is you get to pick apple juice or

apple sauce to have with your lunch a

special Apple prize would you like apple

juice or would you like apple sauce with

your lunch you want apple sauce all

right we'll remember that you get to

have some apple sauce at lunch all right

who else had 4 4 was it Caleb Caleb you

had a 4

what would you like with your lunch this

is your special prize would you like

apple juice for applesauce what apple

juice good talking you can have apple

juice with your lunch okay high five

good choosing alright did everybody get

to pick their special prize alright

guess what our trip to the apple orchard

is what Maurice can you tell us it's all

done the thing about our class is that

you know not every day is a good day but

there's something good that happens

every day and so with these students

there are so many so many things that

happen that we get so excited about and

if you were to walk in and you know say

what's going on what happened we you

know you might be shocked to find out

that it was some seemingly small tiny

thing that happened but to us it's such

a huge deal

[Music]