Kindergarten Objectives for "Johnny Appleseed"
Children typically learn all about the pioneer Johnny Appleseed in their kindergarten year. Kindergarten teachers can incorporate Johnny Appleseed lessons in the fall during the months of harvest, or in the spring when seeds are traditionally planted. Each lesson should have an objective so that it is clear what you expect the children to have learned when the lessons are completed.
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Who is Johnny Appleseed?
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The first objective a teacher should have is to help students learn exactly who Johnny Appleseed really is. There are many books available in county libraries that teachers can use to introduce their kindergarten students to Johnny Appleseed. "Johnny Appleseed" by Steven Kellogg, "Johnny Appleseed: Gentle Hero" by Marc Joel Levitt and "The Story of Johnny Appleseed" by Aliki are all age appropriate. Stress the historical facts about Johnny Appleseed, such as his year and place of birth, states he traveled to and how he got started planting apple seeds.
Reading a Map
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Geography is involved in the story of Johnny Appleseed. Teachers can prepare an objective to have students locate Johnny Appleseed's birthplace of Massachusetts on a map of the United States. Students can then follow Johnny Appleseed's journey by pointing out the states in which Johnny Appleseed traveled and planted seeds. Teachers can use this map to show students that the states on the east coast were well established, but pioneers like Johnny Appleseed were just beginning to discover the land westward.
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Discovering Science
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The growth of one of Johnny Appleseed's apple trees leads to an important science lesson. The objective would be two-fold. Student can make observations about a real apple seed and compare it to other seeds. Each student can be given half an apple. Students must discuss where the seeds are located, what they look like and what size they are. Teachers will also want to have students understand how an apple seed grows into an apple tree. The cycle can be drawn on the chalkboard, or teachers can prepare a printable that the students can color as each stage is introduced.
Apple Manipulatives
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The lesson on Johnny Appleseed can be carried over in to Math. Teachers can create an objective to use seeds and apples as math manipulatives to help students grasp the concept of addition and subtraction. Teachers can hand a student five apples and then ask the class how many apples would be left if Johnny Appleseed ate two of the apples for lunch. Teachers can also distribute eight seeds to each member of the class, then ask them how many seeds they would have if Johnny Appleseed came along and gave each of them two more seeds (hand out two more seeds per student). Repeat several times with a different combination of seeds being given out or taken away.
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References
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- Photo Credit boy with girls in kindergarten image by Pavel Losevsky from Fotolia.com
