Geography: The story does not reveal where Grandma and Lena are at when Grandma is telling the story. However, the story she tells from her childhood takes place in Hungary. Discuss Hungary. Make a story disk (perhaps an apple, a crescent-shaped strudel, and a violin). Locate Hungary on globe/map and place disk.
Flag of Hungary Minit Book

Hospitality: Although the family was poor, Mama shared the strudel–even though the beggar only asked for bread. And the beggar man shared the one thing he had....his beautiful music. How do you think the beggar man felt when he was brought the strudel, when he expected only bread or perhaps even nothing at all? Was there ever a time when someone gave you far more than you were expecting? 

If you wish to further explore the concept of hospitality, especially in ancient Bible times, consider getting the book Old Testament Days by Nancy I. Sanders.   In the book is a game called Hospitality.  The game will teach children about some of the customs of hospitality in the time of Abraham.  Older kids can play it like Old Maid, younger kids can play it like Memory/Concentration.

Homelessness / Begging For Food: This may be a good time to introduce or further expand your child’s knowledge of homelessness and the need to ask for food.

Relationships – Families Working Together: The family worked together in their apple orchard. The family was unable to pay others to help, so the family had to pull together and work long hours to harvest the apples. Everyone shared the load of work, and everyone benefited from the work....eating things made from the apples, selling the apples to buy other needed items, etc.

Traditions: Explain what traditions are. In the story, the beggar man coming each fall during harvest and playing his song became a tradition. Even after the man no longer came, it became tradition to remember him and to hum his tune. Discuss traditions in your family.
 

By using watercolors and pencil, artist Leslie Baker creates soft, fuzzy pictures that reflect memories. The story Grandma tells is from her memories. Over time, our memory of events often become less clear in our minds and some details are forgotten.  Ms. Baker’s artwork reflects that. Notice that often the background lacks any details. These pictures focus on the main part of that section of the story.....this is the part that is remembered more clearly.

Perhaps your young artist would like to draw a favorite memory and just color the background all fuzzy.

Learn more about the illustrator: http://www.lbaker.com

Bushel: Explain that the larger baskets shown in the story are probably bushel baskets, the traditional size basket used when harvesting apples. A bushel is equal to 32 quarts. 

Addition/Subtraction: Make up story problems that go along with the book. If there 59 apples and 4 were bruised and 7 were little, how many could be sold? The basket had 1 bruised, 2 little, and 8 that could be sold....how many apples were in the basket? Use problems that reflect the level of your child.

Skip Counting: Practice skip counting....If there were 12 apples to be sold at 3 cents each, how much money would they receive? (3, 6, 9, ...... 36 cents) What if they were sold at 5 cents each? (5, 10, 15, ..... 60 cents) Use problems that reinforce the skip counting concept with which your child needs help.

Calculate temperature: *You need live crickets chirping for this one.  Student could calculate the current temperature by counting the number of chirps a cricket makes in 15 seconds and adding 38 (some say to add 37, others 39, or 40). This should be within a couple degrees of the actual temperature. 

Life Cycle of the Apple Tree: Discuss the Life Cycle of an Apple Tree after reading one of the following books--Life Cycle of an Apple by Angela Royston; From Bud to Blossom by Gail Saunders-Smith; From Apple Seed to Applesauce by Hannah Lyons Johnson; The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons; I am an Apple by Jean Marzollo (Hello Reader Level 1)

Resources for teacher to glean info/get ideas for activities:

                    http://www.lindaslearninglinks.com/thappl.html

For an art project, recreate the life cycle:

Crickets: Review the cricket lesson from The Salamander Room in FIAR Vol. 3 (p. 90). Remind the student that it is the male cricket that makes music and that the female cricket can be easily identified by her egg-laying ovipositor. 

Possible go-alongs: Chirping Crickets by Melvin Berger, A Pocketful of Cricket by Rebecca Caudill

Possible Websites to glean info/print pages for student:

        http://www.naturepark.com/cricket.htm

        http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/insects/orthoptera/Cricket.shtml

        http://telusplanet.net/public/ecade/CricketsintheClassroom/lifecycle.jpeg

        http://telusplanet.net/public/ecade/CricketsintheClassroom/fieldcricketanatomy.jpeg

        http://telusplanet.net/public/ecade/CricketsintheClassroom/unlabeledcricket.jpeg

        http://www.pca.state.mn.us/kids/c-september.html

        Hear a cricket: http://www.pca.state.mn.us/kids/crick2.wav

Field Trip: Visit an apple orchard

Movie: Watch the first 13 minutes of Fiddler on the Roof ("Tradition")

Cooking: Make Grandma’s strudel and share with an elderly neighbor

Music: Listen to violin or fiddle music.  Discuss how even though music has no words, it can still invoke feelings, memories. If you want to further explore the music aspect of this story, try the book Rubber-Band Banjos and a Java Jive Bass: Projects & Activities on the Science of Music & Sound by Alex Sabbeth. This book will give you lots of ideas, from making instruments to how sound and hearing works, to learning to read music and how to conduct your own orchestra! Don’t miss this book if you have a hands-on young music-lover!