Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed!
On this week’s FUN Friday, the kindergarteners from Mrs. Rhone’s & Mrs. Skal’s classrooms celebrated Johnny Appleseed’s Birthday by participating in safe classroom cooking activities. The students listened to a big book entitled, The Story of Johnny Appleseed by Aliki and discussed the good traits of the character, John Chapman (aka. Johnny Appleseed), as well as compare the clothing, houses, and objects from the past to the present. Through the use of United Streaming and our classroom projector, the students were also able to view a ten-minute video clip of this folk legend. Then the students practiced their fine motor skills by making a hat shaped as a “pan” as Johnny Appleseed wore in his book. The kindergarteners also participated in making apple butter. The students watched and participated in coring an apple with teacher assistance. Then the students cut the apple into small pieces through the use of a plastic knife. The students observed the apples boil in water in an electric frying pan and had the opportunity to add spices to the apples. In relation to science, the students examined matter (apples) change as heat, water, and spices were added. The students were introduced to another “healthy choice” snack as they ate the apple butter on unsalted crackers. This FUN Friday activity addressed several Kindergarten Pennsylvania Science (Physical Science: Chemistry) and Social Studies (Historical Analysis & Skills Development) teaching standards. Other teaching standards embedded in this activity were literature, oral language/math (sequential words in recipes), technology, character education and health/safety (cooking safety). The students were surprised that Johnny Appleseed packed some apple butter for them to share at home! YUM!