Lesson Plan

Because I teach first grade, this is a lesson for students at that level. When reading "Johnny Appleseed", I start with reading the book to the students since this would be too difficult for most first graders to read independently at the beginning of the year. I bring in other books about Johnny Appleseed witten by different authors. We discuss similarities and differences in the books and determine what things about Johnny were true and what things were added to the story. With a partner, students do an interactive writing activity and write about the thing they like most or were impressed with in the story "Johnny Appleseed". They draw a picture to go with it. This is presented to the class the next day. We tie in art and make Johnny Appleseed puppets to be used in our puppet theatre in an informal fashion. The lesson ties in with geography as we locate on our carpet, which is also a huge map of the United States, the states he traveled in. Because Johnny lived off the land with basically the shirt on his back, a pan on his head, and no shoes (according to some versions), students take off their shoes and walk on the gravel playground and the grassy schoolyard to try to put themselves in Johnny's place and feel how it felt to Johnny to go barefoot and only carry the bare necessities. To connect the story to Science, we discuss the importance of planting trees and plant apple seeds in containers to grow in our classroom since we are studying plants at this time of year. Finally, each student brings a peeled and cored apple and we make applesauce for Johnny Appleseed Day. While students enjoy their applesauce, they watch yet another version (on video) of the infamous Johnny Appleseed.