Wanting to plan an apple-themed preschool co-teaching lesson, but not really sure what to plan? Or, maybe you are struggling with how to organize the setup in the classroom? If you said yes to these questions, then this blog post is for you! Today, I am going to give you LOTS of apple-themed activity ideas you can implement ASAP. Plus, I will share tips for how you can set up the session to embed MORE language opportunities.
When we have a solid set-up paired with engaging activities, engagement increases, which means learning is happening. That’s a win, right?
Setting Up Your Co-Teaching Lesson
When it comes to planning out your co-teaching lesson, you want to think about how the students will participate in the activities. I have found over the years that having a mix of whole class instruction paired with a station teaching model has been the most effective for keeping students engaged, involving all the adults in the room, and providing MORE meaningful opportunities for language practice. Check out this blog post with tips for setting up your co-teaching lessons. You can also listen to the Real Talk SLP podcast episode to learn more about the different collaborative service models. This may give you some ideas for implementing whole class instruction with other educators.
As you set up your lesson, you want to keep in mind how your students transition to new activities, and how you can utilize the staff in the room. In this blog post, I will show you two examples of how you can plan your apple theme preschool lesson to give you ideas.
Co-Teaching and Station Teaching Set-Up
With this first example, you would plan on being in the preschool classroom for 50-60 minutes. You can definitely adapt for a 30 minute session. When I go into a classroom for 50 minutes, this allows for transition times to stations as well as time at the end for me to check-in with the teacher.
First, you want to plan your whole class carpet time activity. Typically, I always read a book on the carpet along with using an apple-themed song break and quick group activity. I allot 10-15 minutes at the carpet and shift time based on engagement.
Apple Trouble is a great book to use with this age group. To see how to make a prop kit for the book, check out this blog post.
After you read the book, you can do the “I Love Apples” song and do other language activities on the SMARTboard with the Google Slides from my push-in speech therapy apple activities.
Station Activities for Your Apple Theme
After your carpet activity time, you will then have 3 stations set up for your students to rotate between the teacher, aides, and yourself. You can have one teacher float around the room if you have enough adults to run stations. By having smaller group stations, you are eliminating extra wait time, so your students are learning throughout the entire lesson. Here are some apple theme ideas for stations:
At your station, you can use an open-ended apple game so that you can work on all the student’s goals at one time. At your station, you may also want to use the book to do story retell or to talk about the pictures.
Another station can be working on sorting pictures by categories. Cut the tops off some paper bags and tape a basket of apples with the category for the student to sort. Then, students can be given apples with nouns for that category to sort into the correct basket. These are part of my apple activities unit. You can also have students sorting different colored apples into the correct colored basket with these apples from Learning Resources (Amazon Affiliate links included for your convenience.)
The third station can be something with a hands-on component such as a craft, sensory bin, playdough mats, or worksheets with magnetic wands. You can use the apple tree verbs activity from my apple push-in unit to work on verbs, answering wh-questions, and building sentences.
30 Minute Lesson Plan Set-Up
With a 30 minute set-up, you will adjust your carpet time activity to be 8-12 minutes and then have one station activity set-up and 3 tables. So, pick a book to read at the carpet time, and one quick activity such as an apple song, describing a real apple, or watching a video about the apple life cycle. Below is a video of some apple-themed books you can use.
Then, at the tables, every student can make this apple paper plate craft that you can view on my Instagram for how to assemble. You can pair students based on goals or how they work together. This craft can target basic concepts, CORE vocabulary, sequencing steps, following directions, and can be adapted for any goal by gluing your student’s target words on the back. With crafts like these, I like using my Any Craft Companion so I can do one craft and customize for students goals.
Want More Themed Therapy Ideas?
If you loved these co-teaching A.K.A push-in therapy lesson plans, I have themed K-2 units for over 30 themes! Everything is ready to go, so you can focus on engaging your students. Whether you are doing small groups or co-teaching, you are covered with the following:
-Google Slides with book recs, songs, and digital activities
-Parent newsletter to send home
-3-5 language station activities
-Lesson plan cheat sheets
Why stress about planning when you can have all the tools to build your confidence with themes and co-teaching?
If you need more ideas for planning themed-based therapy, come join my Free Themed Therapy SLP Facebook Group. That’s where you can get ideas and inspiration for planning by themes.
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