Learning Experience/Unit
An Apple a Day (Johnny Appleseed)
Subject
Math, Science & Technology
Grade Levels
Elementary, 2nd Grade
Learning Context/Introduction
This Learning Experience is based on the study of Johnny Appleseed (September 26, 1774-1845).
I chose to implement these activities early in the year to introduce many of the disciplines we use throughout the year.
This includes listening comprehension, social studies, science, math, character education, and technology.
- Students will collaborate to "paint" a picture of Johnny Appleseed using the SMART Board.
- Students will make a bar graph of their favorite apples after participating in an "apple tasting."
Essential Question
Johnny Appleseed lived over 200 hundred years ago. Why do we still learn about him in school?
Procedure
Day 1
1. Tell the class they are going to learn about a real-life man who lived many years ago. He was very kind and made a difference to the world by planting apple trees.
2. Play "The Johnny Appleseed Song" (See Related Resource).
3. Read a biography about Johnny Appleseed to the class. I read Johnny Appleseed: An American Who Made a Difference by Alyse Sweeney.
4. Show the students a map of the United States to show where Johnny traveled and planted trees.
(See Notebook file)
Day 2
1. Play "The Johnny Appleseed Song" (See Related Resource).
2. Students collaborate to complete a picture of Johnny Appleseed (see Notebook file). We listened to music from Johnny Appleseed's time period (embedded in the picture) and discussed his character while taking turns adding color to the picture.
Day 3: Apple Tasting Day!
1. After students are seated, read a nonfiction book about apples. We read How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro.
2. Each student is given a paper plate and students are told they will be given one slice of apple at a time to taste.
3. Have students label their paper plates with the four types of apples they will be tasting. We used Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, McIntosh, and Honey Crisp.
4. Show students the taste bud poster (See Notebook file) and have them think about their senses as they taste each apple.
5. Have students taste each type of apple, one at a time. Save some for comparison as each new piece of apple is distributed. Have the students stop after each slice to think about preference.
6. After tasting all four kinds of apples, decide which is your favorite.
7. Take turns sliding your favorite type of apple to the appropriate place on the Apple Pictograph (See Notebook file).
8. Question students about the graph. Example: Which kind of apple was preferred the most? Which apple was chosen the fewest times? How many students participated in all?
Day 4
1. Play song.
2. Show kids the PhotoStory of them at the apple tasting, then...
3. Show students the completed Apple Pictograph from Day 3 and tell them they are going to use the data to make a bar graph they can take home to show their parents what the second graders think about apples.
4. Distribute blank bar graph worksheets to each student (See attached) . Have them fill in the title. Tell them they need to color one bar for each apple on the pictograph. Suggest using a different color for each kind of apple to make their graph easier to read.
Day 5
1. Add Johnny Appleseed books to the classroom library (See attached bibliography).
2. Hang up (and explain) a timeline that will be used for the rest of the year as we introduce other people from "the past". Start with putting a picture of the class on current year. Then put up a picture of Johnny Appleseed around 1774. This helps the students begin to develop an understanding of historical perspective.
Have a class discussion about why Johnny Appleseed is an important historical person and why we learn about him in school.
Johnny Appleseed Inserts.notebook
Assessment
project rubric (see attached)
Bar Graphing Apples.htm
Student Work
Students collaborated to complete a picture of Johnny Appleseed using Paint in Notebook.
(See template and completed picture in Procedure Inserts.)
Students made individual bar graphs of their favorite apples after collecting data using a pictograph created as a whole class using the SMART Board.
(See template and actual pictograph in Procedure Inserts.)
Examples of student graphs are attached.
Rubrics H, S, N.pdf
Related Resource
I added "The Johnny Appleseed Song" to my Favorites to play at the beginning of each day.
We took pictures during the "Apple Tasting" and created a PhotoStory using PhotoStory. (See attached)
Bibliography of books to be added to the classroom library... (See attached)
Instructional/Environment Modifications
I needed to purchase 4 varieties of apples in anticipation of the apple tasting activity described on Day 3.
Paper plates needed to be prepared ahead of time to be used for the apple tasting. I folded each plate in fourths, unfolded them and traced each fold line with a black permanent marker.
I invited my partner teacher and her class to join us for the apple tasting on Day 3. Additional seating had to be implemented, as well as a central location designated to cutting apples for easy distribution.
We dedicated our ELA block of time to this activity so we would have adequate time and three additional adults to help with passing out materials and with "crowd control".
We purchased apple cutters for speeding up the cutting process.
Duration
Day 1: 40 minutes
Day 2: 30 minutes
Day 3: At least an hour
Day 4: 30 minutes
Day 5: 10 minutes
Reflections and Feedback
This Learning Experience is worthwhile to me because it establishes common background information that can be referred to throughout the year. We will go back to the United States map many times as we read about other people and places. I can refer to Johnny Appleseed when encouraging the students to make good choices that have a positive impact on our whole community. We will use the timeline and graphing skills often.
