Amanda Scheel

ETE 306 Lesson 7

Title: Ten Apples Up On Top STEM

Rationale/Focus Statement: This lesson will be taught to 16
kindergarten students aged 5 and 6 years old in a large group setting.
This will take place in a whole group and then in teams. This will be a
STEM lesson based on a literary work. Students will work on
teambuilding skills through a hands-on activity.
Objectives:
Students will be able to describe the apples using successive number
names for each individual apple.
Students will be able to ask questions and design a solution to stack
the apples.
Standards:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.B.4.C: Understand that each successive
number name refers to a quantity that is one larger.
K-2-ETS1-1.A: Asking questions, making observations, and gathering
information are helpful in thinking about problems.
Materials:
Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss
40 small plastic apples (10 for each table)
4 containers of Play-Doh (1 for each table)
Procedure:
1. The teacher will begin the lesson by introducing the book Ten
Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss. Since it is a very familiar book
and there is a chance some of the students may know it, the
teacher should mention that the students could read along if
they know the words.
2. The teacher will read the story and then discuss it after. The
teacher can have the students talk about how one apple was
added each time.
 3. Once the story is finished, the teacher will have the students go
sit back at their tables to work on a project.
4. The teacher will explain that each table is going to get supplies
and they have to all work together to build a tower of apples. The
teacher will pass out ten apples to each table as well as a
container of Play-Doh. The teacher will explain that they need to
use the apples and Play-Doh to make all ten apples stand on top
of each other without falling down.
5. The students will begin to work and the teacher will walk around
to watch how each team works. After about 10 minutes, or until
the majority of the groups are done, the teacher will gather the
students attention to talk about the strategies they used.
6. The teacher will facilitate a student led discussion where the
teams can compare different strategies they used to try to get
the apples to stack on top of each other.
Assessment:
The teacher will assess the students based on their work with
their teams. The teacher will walk around while the teams are working
and help out if there seems to be any large disputes or lack of
cooperation among the students. The rest of the lesson/activity is
student led and the teacher is not giving any direction for how to stack
the apples. Given this, the teacher is mainly assessing the students
problem solving skills and how well they can work together with others.
The teacher can quickly assess how well the students can count
successively through the class discussion after reading the story.
Accommodations:
The majority of accommodations are already built into this
lesson. The use of Play-Doh and physical toys (apples) allow the
students to be hands on throughout the entirety of the lesson. This can
help some of the students who are physical learners and need to hold
the actual item to understand. This lesson also allows students to be
up and out of their seat for the activity. When working together, the
students do not need to stay seated, only stay at their table to work.
This can dramatically help some of the students with ADHD stay
focused as they are able to be up and out of their seats and working
hands on with their teammates.