Create a fun and colorful center for your students that will have them begging to practice their grammar skills. Start with a bold red gingham tablecloth, add the inflatable Apple bobbing tub. Then, add a few activities to practice identifying common and proper nouns. Instantly you have created a fun and creative literacy center that your students will love to explore.
To start off show students examples by stringing common nouns written on the painted palette apple die cuts on one line and then proper nouns that match onto another line. These cards can be used later as a review or matching game for students to play while at independent centers. 
To practice their common and proper nouns I created my own interactive noun sort by using the apple stress toys and some address labels. Just create common and proper nouns that match for instance, street and Main Street or store and Target and print them onto address labels. You can stick these onto the apple stress toys. Students can search for matches in the apple bobbing tub and then sort them into two bushels, proper nouns and common nouns. Have the students "bob" for an apple by grabbing it with their hands and try to make a match. 
Once they have bobbed for all the apples and sorted them into the correct bushels, the students can test their own noun knowledge by completing the independent activity. First they read the nouns, color them, and then they use them in sentences. Finally, they create their own bushels of common and proper nouns. This fun and quick activity will allow students to show off what they have learned about nouns, and let you assess their knowledge of nouns. 
To reinforce these skills or to address items they may have missed have students pair up and play the common and proper nouns apple sorting game. This quick little game is easy to pass around and use for a quick review. Just empty the buckets and then sort the apples into the correct bucket. For added practice, have students try to match common and proper nouns that could be used in place of each other, for example, Mrs. Johnson......teacher. They can even use them in sentences and record them in their writing journals.
I hope that your students find this apple sorting station too delicious to resist! Happy noun sorting!
