Fall Language Festival: Ten Apples Up On Top

Happy October! I’m so excited to bring you a month of fall themed language lessons and crafts. During the month of October, every Monday I will feature a new book and discuss language concepts from the book, in each age group. On Tuesdays, I will show you an easy fall craft you can create with your child, based around the book’s theme. There will also be literacy and craft supply related giveaways throughout the month. In case you would like to purchase the books, I have included the Amazon links to each book at the end of this post.

This week’s theme is Apples. There are so many new language concepts that a child can learn while apple picking. The book Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Suess is a wonderful yet simple book. True of most Dr. Suess books, Ten Apples Up On Top has plenty of rhyming words throughout the book. When ordering the book please be aware that there are two copies of the book in print, the board book and the unabridged version. The board book is recommended for younger readers (under two), as it is much shorter than the original book.

Early communicators (around 7 to 12 months)- communicate using babbling and crying in relationship to the world around them.

Language Learning: Early Words- apple, more, up, down, tree, animal names, animal sounds and more!

Reading Tips:
* Don’t worry about reading the words in the book at this stage. Early communicators learn best through hands on exploration. Keep your child engaged in the book reading process with the use of props (apples and stuffed animals).
* Point to the pictures while labeling them. Keep your language simple (one to two words per page).

New Talkers Stage (around 12 months to 2 years)- Uses single words or pictures.

Language Learning: At this stage your child is growing his/her vocabulary. Focus shared book reading on a wide variety of words including new nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns.

Nouns: stick, apple, tree, refrigerator, oranges, apples, milk, window
Vebs: stack, run, hop, throw, fall, balance, open
Adjectives: colors of apples, size, shape, high, tall
Pronouns: (possessive) his/her apples, their apples, he, she, I, you

Reading Tips:
* If your child is closer to two, begin targeting part/whole word relationships (i.e. branch/tree).
* Avoid asking one word questions such as “What’s this?”. Instead use I statements, such as “I wonder if the apples are going to fall over this time.”

Combining Words Stage (around ages 2-4) Around age two (sometimes later), a language explosion will occur and your child will learn new words daily. By age three, your child will use simple sentences.

Language Learning:
* As children begin to put sentences together, Ten Apples Up on Top is a great way to introduce them to rhyming words.
* Introduce number concepts and more/most throughout the book. For example, “Look the lion has the most apples.” or “Who do you think has more apples on this page?”.
* Teach your child about the different names and colors of apples the next time you bring your child grocery shopping.
* Encourage your child to ask and answer questions about the story to develop their reading comprehension skills.

Reading Tips
* As you probably know, children love reading the same books over and over again. After reading a book a few times, children usually can predict the next word in a sentence. Pause at the end of a sentence to encourage your child to “read” the word.

Check out this post for more ideas on  Tips for Reading with Your Child.  Visit tomorrow for an easy apple craft project that your child can use while reading Ten Apples Up On Top.

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Tagged as: apples, Dr Suess, fall, language lesson