blank'/> Promoting Success: Apples and Johnny Appleseed Day Activities
         

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Apples and Johnny Appleseed Day Activities

When is Johnny Appleseed Day?

Johnny Appleseed Day is celebrated on either March 11th for planting season or on September 26th for his birth date. While there is some vagueness concerning Appleseed’s death and burial, it is known he became ill in early March and passed soon after.

In this post you will find activities for finger plays, bulletin boards, the apple life cycle, fact vs. legend, Johnny Appleseed reading comprehension, math printables, and more!


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1. Apple Finger Play

Fingerplays are simple poems students can recite while performing actions.

 apple stress balls for the classroom


Apples

Way up high in the apple tree 

(hands above head)

Two little apples smiled at me. 

(form apples with each hand still raised)

I shook that tree as hard as I could, 

(shaking motion)

Down came the apples. 

(drop hands)

Mmmmm, were they good! 

(rub stomach)

~Author Unknown~


2.  Apple Tree Bulletin Board or Math Center 

Create a tree from brown paper and green construction paper.  Cut out and number 20 apples from red construction paper.  For a learning center, you way want to attach velcro on the tree and on the back of each apple.  Students may attach apples in numerical order.  Play a game to determine the missing number. Write a number word on the board, students must find the corresponding number.  Ask students to identify and "harvest or pick" a specific number.  Play a version of "I Spy" once all of the apples are on the tree.

 apple tree bulletin board Johnny appleseed day


3.  Science with Apples

Conduct a science experiment with an apple. Cut the apple in half.  Dip half of it in lemon juice, and leave the other half as is.  Place each apple on a plate.  Students may hypothesize what will happen.  Half of the apple turns brown due to oxidization. The lemon juice is a citric acid that prevents oxidization, so the apple does not turn brown.

 dried apples snack for Johnny Appleseed Day
Dried Apple Snack (for after the experiment)

4.  Apple Fractions

Explain the concept of one-half by dividing something between two students.  This may be done by cutting an apple in half, cutting a piece of paper in half, or pouring a cup of water into two glasses. As each item is divided, ask the students which one they would want. It really wouldn't matter if they were equal.  However, demonstrate again by creating unequal portions, and ask the same question.

 fraction activities

Click HERE for more fraction activities for your classroom.

Click HERE for FREE fraction activities.

 magnetic apple fractions activities and games


5. Johnny Appleseed Reading Comprehension





6.  Johnny Appleseed Interactive Notebook - Fact vs. Legend












9.  Johnny Appleseed Language Arts No Prep Printables




10.  Free Apples Counting Worksheets


Click HERE to download this free worksheet.

11. Apples Life Cycle Interactive Science Notebook



12. Free Johnny Appleseed Hidden Pictures


Click HERE to go to this page.

13. The Life Cycle of an Apple Video



This video is just for kids! Kids ask important questions about the life cycle of an apple and one of our Pennsylvania apple growers responds from the orchard.

14.  Fingerplay

A little red apple 
(form a circle with hands)
Hung high in a tree. 
(reach up)
I looked up at it, 
(look up)
And it looked down at me. 
(look down)
"Come down, please," I called. 
(cup hand by mouth)
And what do you suppose? 
(shrug shoulders)
That little red apple 
(for a circle with hands)
Dropped right on my nose! 
(point to nose)

15. Brain Break - Movement Activity

Students stand in a line with their feet spread apart pretending to be apples.  The student at the back of the line pretends to be a worm and wiggles through the legs. Repeat with the next student at the back.  How many worms can crawl through the apples in 2 minutes? 1 min?  For a more conservative game, line up student desks or chairs for the apples.  Students line up as worms and wiggle under and through the desks.
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More apple resources from our Amazon Associate store:


 apple math manipulatives attributes

 apples to apples junior games for kids



 toy filled apples


 apple adult costume


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Shelly Anton is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. ** This means there are Amazon affiliate links in these blog posts. This does not mean you pay a dime more when you purchase a product through the link. It just means I am trying to save you valuable teacher time by making it easier for you to find valuable resources for your students, and I earn a few cents for my research and time. Thank you for all you do for kids!