CEClang.88
TITLE: APPLES ARE A...PEELING
AUTHOR: Judy Ross and Barbara Nelson, Scott Libby;
Litchfield, AZ
GRADE LEVEL: 2nd graders
OVERVIEW:
This interdisciplinary unit is designed to be used
with second graders at the end of September and into
October.
The "CORE" of this unit involves children in many
facets and styles of learning as it "BRANCHES" out
through literature, reading, writing, oral language,
science, health, music, art, social studies, math,
computers, and skills for living. The academic skills
will be coupled with social skills as the children
learn to function independently and also as a team
member in cooperative groups. Various activities will
require group dependence as well as individual
accountability. The students will be performing many
hands-on activities and the use of paper and pencil
will be minimal.
September and October are perfect months for this
unit since apples are plentiful in our supermarkets at
this time of year. The birthday of John Chapman (
Johnny Appleseed) is September 26 and October is
National Apple Month so again these months seem the
most appropriate for this unit.
OBJECTIVE(s):
Benjamin Franklin once said, "Tell me... I
forget...show me..I remember... involve me... I
understand!" This is the underlying principle from
which my teaching objectives "STEM".
The students will:
a) Develop listening skills and an appreciation for
literature
b) Increase language and critical thinking skills by
involvement in this unit
c) Explore Mathematical concepts through the use of
manipulatives
d) Complete writing activities following rubric
guidelines
e) Demonstrate critical thinking comprehension by
answering questions at all levels of Bloom's
Taxonomy
f) Practice oral language skills by performing
individually and as a group
g) Utilize computer skills for word processing,
simulations and creating words games
h) Exhibit creativity through music, art, and poetry
i) Explore the culinary arts by using apple recipes
j) Develop a more positive self-concept
k) Participate fully in cooperative learning groups
assuming all the different job roles
RESOURCES AND MATERIALS:
LISTENING AND LITERATURE
Selections to be read:
Aliki. "The Story of Johnny Appleseed". Prentice Hall,
1963.
Evans, William. Johnny Appleseed. Evan-Moor, 1987.
"Johnny Appleseed". Good Apple, 1986.
Kellogg, Steven. "Johnny Appleseed". Morrow, 1988.
"Johnny Appleseed". Macmillan Early Skills 1982.
Silverstein, Shel. "The Giving Tree". Harper & Row.
Computer programs:
1. Sell Apples
2. Time line maker
3. Memory game
4. Kid Writer
5. Children's Writing and Publishing
6. Graph Maker
7. Crossword Magic
8. Puzzle Maker
The activities with the page numbers after them are
ideas taken from: Thematic Units - Apples (Primary)
from Teacher Created Materials Thematic Series - Apples
- Creative Teaching Press On my own copy the pages are
color coded so that I know exactly which book they came
from.
ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
QUESTIONS:
(Samples on the different levels of Bloom's)
Knowledge:
1. What was Johnny Appleseed's real name?
2. What did Johnny use for a hat?
3. What animals became Johnny's friends?
4. What is an orchard?
5. What did Johnny do to help his friends?
Understanding:
1. Why did people feel that Johnny was their
friend?
2. Why did the animals like Johnny?
3. Why do you think Johnny got sick?
4. Why did people call him Johnny Appleseed?
5. Where did Johnny go to plant appleseeds?
Application:
1. Choose three favorite things you like about
Johnny Appleseed, tell why you like them.
2. What could you do to be a friend to Johnny?
3. Why did Johnny travel so far?
4. Have you ever planted a tree? How did you do
it?
5. If Johnny Appleseed lived now do you think that
he would do things differently?
Analysis:
1. Tell me as many things as you can that you think
might really have happened.
2. Tell me as many things as you can that might not
have really happened.
3. What was the happiest part of the story?
4. What was the most unbelievable part of the
story?
5. Compare two versions of the story - how are they
alike - How are they different?
Synthesis:
1. Could you think of a new title for the story?
2. Pretend that you are Johnny, what would you tell
the pioneers and the children about your
travels?
3. What would have happened if Johnny had not
passed out all those seeds?
4. If the animals in the forest could talk what do
you think they would say to Johnny?
5. If Johnny had a "side-kick" what would he do?
Evaluation:
1. Which of the characters would you like to be?
Why?
2. Could this story have really happened? Why?
3. Would Abraham Lincoln have like Johnny? Why?
4. Is it worth going out of your way to be
friendly? Why?
5. If apples could talk what would they say to
Johnny?
READING
1. Use Apple Word Banks as a springboard for
brainstorming words about apples. ( p.37 )
2. Do the apple wordsearch (p.38) and also create
one with words from the brainstorming activity
and generate it with the computer program Puzzle
Maker.
3. Make a big book about Johnny Appleseed and have
each cooperative group make a smaller copy.
4. Sequence the Johnny Appleseed story first by
pictures and then by sentences. (p.13)
5. Complete the Johnny Appleseed crossword puzzle
and as a class project make one to generate on
the computer using Crossword Magic.
6. Work on a character chart comparing Johnny
Appleseed and Snow White. ( sample p.11)
7. Have a whole group discussion of the following
sayings: (p.41)
a) She's the apple of his eye.
b) An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
c) One rotten apple spoils the bunch.
d) He has a very large Adam's apple.
e) She really knows how to polish the apple.
f) He's a bad apple.
8. Make bookmarks with apples on them.
9. Make an apple wheel for vocabulary words.
(p.39-40)
10. Read other books about apples. Give out book
list. (p.4)
WRITING
1. Make copies of words from brainstorming.
2. Write concrete poems using the apple, apple
basket, or apple tree shape.(prepare samples)
3. Teach the form of the Haiku and the guide lines
for writing one. Work together on the number of
syllables in the apple words.
4. Write acrostic poems using the words APPLE,
JOHNNY APPLESEED or other unit related words.
Allow for individual choice. (Use a cooperative
setting)
5. Write similes and metaphors about apples.
6. Write a story about the adventures of an apple.
Make a chart with the rubric being used to grade
the stories and discuss it with the students Do
all the stages of writing:
a) brainstorming
b) pre-composition
c) first draft
d) sharing for editing
e) rewriting
f) evaluating
7. Share your stories with the class.
8. Keep a writing folder ( decorated by the child)
for all the writings.
9. Use Bank Street Writer, Kid Writer or Children's
Writing and Publishing to make a class story
book.
10. Share your story with a student from another
class (use some of the teachings of Quest).
ORAL LANGUAGE
1. Use apple finger plays and choral reading
activities.
2. Relate the story of Johnny Appleseed to another
student or group.
3. Perform the play " I am Johnny Appleseed " for
the other second grade classes. Have two
students play each part so that more children
can perform. (p.1-10)
4. Perform " There was a Young Man Who Planted a
Seed" at a flag ceremony in October. (p.20-21)
5. Recite original poems in a poetry contest.
ART
1. Help design and make costumes and props for the
play "I am Johnny Appleseed".
2. Make paper mache' apples as gifts for parents.
(p.28)
3. Make apple person using teacher design or make
your own design.
4. Illustrate individual poems and stories. Help
each other in cooperative groups.
5. Make apple prints.(p.11)
6. Work as a class on a bulletin board for October
to celebrate National Apple Month.
7. Depict your favorite dwarf in Snow White.
MUSIC/ Games
1. Use pages 8 and 9 of Theme series- Apples from
Creative Teaching.
2. Learn some of the music from " Snow White".
3. Play the Musical Apple Game. (p.8-9)
4. Create and perform Apple Raps.
5. Have an apple relay race.
HEALTH/ SCIENCE
1. Sequence the seasons of a tree in pictures and
in words. (p.50)
2. Label and know the parts of an apple flower.
(p.51)
3. Plant apple seeds and record the results.
4. Discuss as a group why apples are good for you
and make posters to display around the school.
5. Identify and know the four food groups and how
each is important.
6. Discuss healthy snacks and have an apple sale
instead of a bake sale.
7. Make apple recipes ( different for each
cooperative group ) and share with other groups.
8. Do the learn from bad apples experiment.
SOCIAL STUDIES
1. Locate on a map of the U.S. the leading apple
growing states. (p.22)
2. Discuss apple customs. ( p.56)
3. Make a map of an apple orchard. (p.57)
4. Sequence the steps from tree to market. ( p.58)
5. Show the relationship in prices because of
supply and demand.
MATH
1. Do patterning with apples of different colors or
different varieties.
2. Review number words by placing the correct
number of apples on the number trees on the
bulletin board (use this as a station ).
3. Each child picks a favorite kind of apple from
the apple boxes( apples provided by teacher )
and make a floor graph.
4. Collect data about favorite kinds of apples and
make individual graphs (bar, picture or line )
5. Make a graph on the computer and generate word
problems from it.
6. Estimate the weight of three apples ( one answer
per cooperative group ). Use the estimates in
various activities such as: ordering numbers,
odd and even, find the difference between the
largest and smallest guess, learn about pounds
and ounces, discuss the cost of apples, writing
prices in different forms, understanding what is
reasonable and what is " far out" and lots
more....
7. Use apples to teach the fractions one-half,
one-fourth, and one-eighth.
8. Compare 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8. Verbalize a strategy
for making comparisons.
9. Do cooking activities that involving measuring.
10. Discuss time and degrees when doing cooking.
11. Measure the circumference of different trees on
our campus and graph the information.
12. Find ads in the paper showing different prices
for apples in different stores. Share the
information at home.
13. Compare apple prices with the prices of other
fruit and find the difference.
14. Count the money from the Apple Sale and figure a
profit after paying expenses. ( Class activity).
15. Make number lines for the first graders using
apples made of construction paper to mark each
number.
16. Draw an apple picture using a grid. Discuss
coordinates. (p.60)
17. Use computer program " Selling Apples" as a
cooperative learning activity.
18. Do some research into how long it takes before
an apple tree will produce good-sized fruit.
EXTRA ACTIVITIES
Cooking:
1. Stuffed apples ( p.65)
2. Sun dried apples (p.65)
3. Apple sauce (p.64)
4. Apple Butter (p.67)
5. Caramel Apples (Kraft Caramel bag)
6. Apple cake
Rewards
1. Apples ( real)
2. Scratch and sniff apple stickers
3. Apple Grams Video "Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs"
Party
1. For Johnny Appleseed's Birthday
2. To celebrate National Apple Month
3. To celebrate a wonderful A...Peeling Unit
Culminating Activity:
Read the Giving Tree and correlate it to Quest Skills
for Growing and to many of the Self-Esteem Activities
we will be doing in the classroom.
Click here to return to OFCN's Academy Curricular Exchange
Click here to return to OFCN's Academy
Click here to return to OFCN's Main Menu
John Kurilecjmk@ofcn.org