Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed was a legendary American who planted and supplied apple trees to much of the United States of America. Many people think that Johnny Appleseed was fictional character, but he was a real person.

Johnny was a skilled nurseryman who grew trees and supplied apple seeds to the pioneers in the mid-western USA. Appleseed gave away and sold many trees. He owned many nurseries in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana, where he grew his beloved apple trees. Although he was a very successful man, Appleseed lived a simple life. It is said that as Johnny traveled, he wore his cooking pot on his head as a hat!

Johnny Appleseed was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1774. His real name was John Chapman, but he was called Johnny Appleseed because of his love for growing apple trees.

Johnny died at the age of 70; he is buried in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He had spent 50 years growing apple trees and traveling to spread his precious trees around his country.

Five days theme unit featuring activities and ideas for all areas of the curriculum.

This interdisciplinary unit is designed to be used with First Graders, at the end of September and into October to coincide with John Chapman’s birthday (Johnny Appleseed) on September 26 and October, The National Apple Month.

This unit is intended to be used as a reference point and supplemental activity resource for a thematic unit about Apples.

John Chapman, was born September 26, 1774 in Massachusetts. He spent most of his life planting apple trees. He created apple orchards in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Ohio. After 200 years, some of those trees still bear apples. Johnny’s dream was for a land where blossoming apple trees were everywhere and no one was hungry. A gentle and kind man that went throughout the Ohio Valley making gifts of apple seed and sprouts to the settlers there and that is how he is remembered.

Thematic Unit: APPLES

Language Arts/Reading/Writing: (listening, talking, writing) Read: “Johnny Appleseed” by Alikli. Discuss exaggeration vs. reality when reading about Johnny Appleseed Sequence the Johnny Appleseed story Make a timeline Write a story about apples

Math Estimate the amount of apples in a basket full of apples. Count and verify Sort and classify apples according to size and color Graph apples Predict the number of seeds in one apple (use different sizes and types of

apples.) Introduce simple fractions (e.g., ½ , ¼ )

Science Life cycle of a tree Things we get from trees.

Social Studies Talk about Johnny Appleseed’s (John Chapman’ Life) Use map to find places where Johnny Appleseed traveled and planted apple

seeds Locate on a map of the U.S. the leading apple growing states

Arts Dried apple faces T-Shirts decorations with apples

Other Activities

Theme Centers: Reading, Writing, Listening and Tasting Station (apple snacks) Computer activities:

Johnny Appleseed: http://www.appleseed.org/johnny.htmlCool Stuff About Apples http://www.dole5aday.com/encylopedia/apple/apple_menu.htmlwww.ehow.com/list_6464575_johnny-appleseed-1st-grade-activities.html ·

www.smoverlea.org/school/firstgrade.htm

Body of lesson:

Explain that it is Johnny Appleseed's birthday this month, ask if anyone has heard of Johnny Appleseed and write down what they say they know about him. Tell the students that during this week we are going to meet him and learn why it is so important that we recognize his birthday, even this long after he lived. Tell them that we will also talk about some historical facts related to Johnny Appleseed and to apples, which they will use to complete the evaluative activities later.

Now that all they know about Johnny Appleseed has been written down and the students know what will be expected of them, begin to read the story. As it is read, talk about the information that they recalled earlier and if it parallels or contradicts the story. Also while reading the story frequently reinforce the information that is being read so that the students will remember it later on. Ask questions from each level of Bloom's Taxonomy in order to check for understanding. E.g.  (Knowledge)  1.  What is Johnny Appleseed's real name?  2.  What animals became Johnny's friends?  3.  What did Johnny do to help his friends?

(Understanding)  1.  Why did people call him Johnny Appleseed?  2.  Where did Johnny go to plant appleseeds?

(Application)  1.  What could you do to be a friend to Johnny?  2.  Have you ever planted a seed? How did you do it?  3.  If Johnny Appleseed lived now; do you think that he would do things differently?

(Analysis)  1.  What was the happiest part of the story?  2.  What was the most unbelievable part of the story?  3.  Tell me as many things as you can that might really have happened.

(Synthesis)  1.  Pretend that you are Johnny. What would you tell the pioneers and the children about your travels?  2.  What would have happened if Johnny had not passed out all those seeds?  3.  If Johnny had a "side-kick", what would he or she do?

(Evaluation)  1.  Which of the characters would you like to be and why?  2.  Is it worth going out of your way to be friendly? Why?

While reading and asking these questions, provide explanations to their questions backed up by facts and provide feedback to reinforce their understanding. Also, allow more than one student to answer each question (the ones that require more than a simple answer) in order to encourage a larger group discussion. These prompts will also aid in the practice of the information which will help them remember and recall the information they will need later to complete their worksheets.

Lesson Objectives

Reading Process

Fluency Standard: The student demonstrates the ability to read grade level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression.

The student will: Recognize high frequency and familiar words in isolation and in context;

(LA.1.1.5.2) Adjust reading rate based on purpose, text difficult, form and style.

(LA.1.1.5.3)

Reading Comprehension Standard: The student uses a variety of strategies to comprehend grade level text.

The student will: retell the main idea or essential message. (LA.1.1.7.3) arrange events in sequence. (LA.1.1.7.6) identify the text structures an author uses (sequence of events). (LA.1.1.7.7)

Writing Process

Prewriting Standard: The student will use prewriting strategies to generate ideas and formulate a plan.

The student will prewrite by: generate ideas from multiple sources (e.g. brainstorming, webbing, drawing,

group discussion, and other activities). (LA.1.3.1.1) organizing ideas using simple webs, maps, or lists. (LA.1.3.1.3)

Drafting Standard: The student will write a draft appropriate to the topic, audience and purpose.

The student will draft writing by: organizing details into a logical sequence that has a beginning, middle and

end. ((LA.1.3.2.2)

Writing Applications

Creative Standard: The student develops and demonstrates creative writing.

The student will: participate in writing simple stories, poems, rhymes, or song lyrics.

(LA.1.4.1.2)

Persuasive Standard: The student will draw a picture and use simple text to explain why this item is

important to them. (LA.1.4.3.1)

Communication

Listening and Speaking Standard: The student effectively applies listening and speaking strategies.

The student will: retell specific details of information heard. (LA.1.5.2.2)

Day 1 Activities:

Before Reading:  Have you ever heard of a man by the name of John Chapman? You probably have but never realized it. His other name was Johnny Appleseed!

1. Show the children a picture of Johnny Appleseed from a book. Ask the children if they know anything about Johnny Appleseed. Write the information the children give on a KWL chart.

Conduct a picture walk and ask the students to predict what is the book about, they might say “apples”, if not scaffold them to think and talk about apples.

Do a separate KWL for apples. Brainstorm and record everything students know about apples, and write it on the K column.

Brainstorm and record what they want to know about apples, and write it down on the W column.

2. The teacher will read aloud the book The Story of Johnny Appleseed, by Alikli.

During Reading:

The teacher will stop the reading and ask some knowledge and understanding questions (according to Bloom’s Taxonomy) such as:

Knowledge:

What is Johnny Appleseed’s real name? What animals became Johnny’s friends?

What did Johnny do to help his friends?

Understanding:

Why did people call him Johnny Appleseed? Where did Johnny go to plant appleseeds?

After Reading:

The teacher will explain that the story is about a man who tried to make this world better by planting apple trees. After finished the reading, she will ask the students: Do you think a story

like this could have happened in real life? Do you think the author did some exaggeration? Why? The teacher will create a Theme Word Wall by drawing a big/large apple

on construction paper, where words are going to be written down for the unit vocabulary words.

After reading the story ask the children what new information they learned from this story. Add the children's responses to the chart. Be sure to include his real name, John Chapman. Ask the children why he was called Johnny Appleseed.

Writing:

Student will illustrate “my favorite part of the story” on worksheet # 1 clipart. (From www.busyteacherscafe.com). The teacher will collect it to grade it and give it back to students the next day for another activity.

In the back part of the paper, students will write three things they learned about apples today.

Math

1. The teacher will bring a basket full of red, green and yellow apples and will have students estimate how many apples they think might be in the basket and record their responses.

2. Students will count the apples as the teacher removes each one from the basket.

3. Ask the students to verify their answers (estimation) and discuss who was closest to the correct number of apples in the basket.

Science

Students will be introduced to the life cycle of an apple tree.

Social Studies

Talk about Johnny Appleseed’s (John Chapman’ Life). Use the class map to find places Johnny Appleseed planted apple seeds.

Art

Dried Apple Faces Activity: (takes about 4 days to see results).

Students will peel and core apples, using a plastic knife to cut eyes, mouth, nose, chin and cheeks.

Soak for 20 minutes in half bowl of water and 2 tablespoon of lemon juice. Put a pipe cleaner through core and hang in a warm place to dry.

Day 2 Activities:

Before Reading: The teacher will assess prior knowledge about Johnny Appleseed and his intentions when he started planting apple trees. She/He will ask the students if they ever planted a seed. The teacher will discuss with the students the main reason for reading this book “to learn about apples”.

The teacher will revisit the 2 KWLs and add new details on L column as students recalled information they learned.

During Reading: The teacher will re-read aloud the story stopping to make comprehension questions.

After Reading: After reading, discuss with the students what happened in the book.

The students will get their worksheet form the day before and will share writing/ illustration of their favorite part of the story with the classmates. This will be viewed as individual retelling by describing their favorite part of the story.

Vocabulary words: will be discussed and written down on the Theme word wall

Writing:

Students will do a graphic organizer for “apples”, they will write the word apple and one characteristic on each box, worksheet # 2 (from edHelper.com).

Ask the students to write in their journals a story about “The Adventures of an Apple”

Math

1. Ask the students how the apples could be sorted into different groups by various attributes such as color, shape, or size.

2. Have the students sort the apples into different groups and discuss how it was sorted. Do this several times based on different attributes.

3. When apples have been sorted into three color groups then the teacher will do a graph on the board.

4. The teacher will ask the class to count the number of apples in each color group and she/he will color in the boxes of the corresponding column on the class graph. This procedure will be repeated for each color group.

Social Studies

1. Display the class U.S. map on the board to locate the leading apple growing states throughout the country.

2. The students will do Worksheet # 3 (from edHelper.com), to follow along.

Day 3 Activities:

Before Reading:

During day 1 and 2,the class has illustrated and shared (retelling) their favorite par of Johnny Appleseed’s story. The teacher will use this as an example to tell the students all stories have beginning, middle and ending. And they had chosen before the part they liked but today they will learn about the sequence of the story.

The teacher will divide the class in three groups and will assign each group a portion of the story, for each group to do choral reading (beginning, middle and ending).

During Reading: The students, along with the teacher will do choral reading of the portion assigned to each group.

After Reading: Students will be able to answer: What happened first? What happened next? And what happened last?

Other questions: Why do you think people called Johnny Chapman “Johnny Appleseed”? What can you say about Johnny Appleseed’s personality? Choose one characteristic that you like form his personality. Why?

Writing: Review vocabulary words

Students will write a sentence/illustration using a graphic organizer that will be provided by the teacher (worksheet # 4 Beginning, Middle and End, from The Florida Center for Reading Research C.009.SSI).

Math

1. The teacher will conduct a class prediction on the amount of seed in an apple (use 3 apples: 1 red, 1 green and 1 yellow). Do a chart on the board.

2. The teacher will cut the apples in halves and will scoop out the seeds to compare with the prediction. (The seeds will be kept to plant them).

3. Since the apples were cut in halves the teacher will introduce the concept of fractions, showing the students what is ½, and ¼ of an apple. Sizes will be compared ½ vs. ¼, vs. a whole apple.

Science:

Ask the children if they know where Johnny Appleseed got his seeds. Where do we get seeds? Have the children work in a small group to examine the seeds. Guide the children's exploration by asking questions including:

How many seeds are in each apple? Do all apples have the same number of seeds? What shape and color are apple seeds? Are all the seeds the same size?

Children could look at apple seeds with magnifying glasses. The apple seeds could be sorted and classified by size, color, etc. The results of the sorting could be made into a graph where children could glue the seeds onto the graph.

Day 4 Activities:

Before Reading: The teacher will ask questions such as: What made Johnny Appleseed so special and important?, What do you think was the most important part of the story? If Johnny Appleseed would live now, do you think that he would do things differently? What would have happened if Johnny had not passed out all those apple seeds? If apples could talk, what would they say to Johnny?

During Reading: The students will read the story using buddy reading strategy.

After Reading: The teacher will create a Now and Then Venn Diagram on the board for students to compare Johnny Appleseed’s story.

Re-visit the KWL and keep adding details.

Continue using vocabulary. Play a game on the board (orally). The teacher will say words the students have for the unit vocabulary such as tree, seed, plant, grow, and will ask the students to use words they know that rhyme with the words given. E.g.

tree seed plant grow

bee need slant flow

see feed chant mow

knee weed scant bow

Writing:

1. The teacher will explain and demonstrate on the board what a timeline is.2. The teacher will explain to students that they will be constructing a timeline of

Johnny Appleseed’s life base on the sequence of events of the story, using the scrambled sentences she will write on the board.

3. The teacher will write sentences on the board out of order and students must re-write them in order to create a timeline of Johnny Appleseed’s life. Once they have completed this activity they will read their sentences to the class.

4. The students will do a now and then Venn Diagram Worksheet # 5. Students can copy the teacher/class Venn from the board or create their own, using elements from Johnny Appleseed’s time showed in the story and present time (e.g. transportation, agriculture, apples, trees, labor, Johnny’s feelings about his community, etc.)

Social Studies:

Using the United States map again, locate where the children live and compare to where Johnny grew up. Mention all the different places Johnny Appleseed visited when he traveled. The students can work on worksheet # 3 again to make a route of all places where Johnny Appleseed traveled.

Science/Art:

With teacher’s help and following directions for this project, the students will create an apple wheel to reinforce concept of life cycle of an apple tree. Worksheet package # 6, (“Apple Grow” from edHelper.com).

Day 5 Activities:

Applying story knowledge:

The teacher will suspend a clothesline or heavy string/yarn across the walls of the classroom. She/He will hang copies of different illustrations from the book to display the story on the clothesline.

The teacher will be calling different students to pick the illustrations according to the chronological order of the story.

Teacher/Students will read the 2 KWLs. Do a recall of what we have learned during the week.

Writing:

Using the word APPLE write an acrostic poem on an apple shape paper. Students will recite/share with class.

Social Studies: Discuss from tree to market apple life.

Science: Have a class discussion about things we get from a tree. Have students to choose one topic (product) of the discussion to write in their

science journal as a closure unit activity.

Art: Students are going to make apple print on T-Shirts using fabric paint and apple’s stamps made with the fruits.

The students will use “stamps” made out of cross sections of apples. Cut apples horizontally (show to students the star in the middle of the apple

when the apple is cut horizontally). They will use the color of their choice (green, red or/and yellow apples) to stamp their T-shirts.

Enrichment and Extensions:

1. Read the book The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree, by Gail Gibbons. Discuss the life cycle of the apple tree. Children could paint or draw pictures of apple trees during the four seasons.

2. Reed Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh (poem)

3. Read Johnny Appleseed, by Steven Kellogg. Discuss how this story is different from the other story read. Talk about exaggeration vs. reality

4. Read Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer (silly rhymes)

5. During the unit create different centers for students to explore more, and do hands on activities.

6. Closing Activity: As a closing activity to celebrate the unit, the students will make “The Frosty Apple”. http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/apples/recipes.html

The Frosty Apple

1 pint vanilla ice cream1 quart naturally sweet apple cider4-6 scoops vanilla ice cream (optional)Freshly ground nutmeg

Let the vanilla ice cream soften at room temperature or microwave for 20 seconds. Put ice cream and cider into a blender or food processor and blend until frothy and well mixed. Stir in nutmeg. Pour into tall glasses and top with a scoop of ice cream, if desired. Sprinkle nutmeg on top.

Centers

Creative Writing Center

Apple Shape Book: Make a cook book of apple recipes.

Write Poems:

Acrostic poems using the word APPLE Shape Poem

Couplets-2 line rhyming poem

Shape poem-write around apple shape

Create a picture book illustrating and explaining the life cycle of an apple tree. www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/apples/

Reading Center

Display several books about apples in the reading center for the students to read, research, and enjoy.

List of Books

The Story of Johnny Appleseed by AlikiJohnny Appleseed by Steven KelloggSeasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail GibbonsThe Giving Tree by Shel SilversteinApples: How they Grow by Bruce MacMillanAn Apple Tree Through the Year by Claudia SchnieperRain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer From Appleseed to Applesauce by Hanna Johnson10 Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss

Listening Center:

Books and tapes will be provided for students to use during free time at this center.

Computer Center:

Students will be doing enrichment activities in the internet with the use of several web sites related to the unit. www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/apples/

Go to “Johnny Appleseed’s Life Story” on the website http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/huntjohnnyamr.html

Johnny Appleseed: http://www.apleseed.org/johnny.html Cool Stuff About Apples

http://www.dole5aday.com/encylopedia/apple/apple_menu.html Send an Apple Postcard

http://www.bestapples.com/postcards/

Apple Treat “Center” Students will enjoy treats like : different varieties/color of apples, apple

pastries or apple pie, apple chips, dry apples, apple jelly, apple sauce, and apple juice.

APPLES

Literature Focus Unit: 5 days Interdisciplinary Unit Plan EDUC 513

Assessment, Measurement and EvaluationSistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez

Prof. Maria Sevillano

Angela-Perla AlmodovarSeptember 23, 2010