Johnny Appleseed: Activities and Storytelling Tips

I can’t help but think of apples at the beginning of the school year! And when I think of apples, I think of the one and only, Johnny Appleseed!

Did you know that this American folk hero was a REAL man? He traveled on foot from Massachusetts to Indiana planting and tending his apple orchards. He sold saplings to homesteading settlers, and if they didn’t have any money, he would give his apple trees away.  

But don’t let me give the story away! Read this delightful picture book, Johnny Appleseed, by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet and illustrated by S.D. Schindler. Buy a copy from Amazon, here. Or Borrow it from you local library!

Below are some activities and storytelling tips for this Professor Watermelon Favorite!

Storytelling Tips:

1.       Wear a tin pot hat for storytime. Let children predict why you are doing such a crazy thing.

2.       On the first spread, let children count the apples in the apple tree.

3.       Before reading the story, tell children that Johnny Appleseed loved animals. Can they name the animals found in this Johnny Appleseed story?

4.       After reading the book, browse the illustrations again. Ask children if they can see some similarities Johnny’s body compared to the “bodies” of the apple trees. Did the illustrator do this on purpose?

Activities:

1.       Give every child an apple for snack. Ask them to count how many bites it takes to eat an apple all the way to the core. Give them a pencil and paper so that they can keep track with tally marks. After the children are finished, ask them to count the seeds found inside the apple’s core. For older children, you may want to use the data for a few math exercises. (Perhaps chart the mean, median, and mode.)

2.       Allow children to sample several types of apples (Granny Smith, Jonathan, Gala, Honey Crisp, Red Delicious, Yellow Delicious, etc.) Talk about how each of them has different tastes and textures. Some are very sweet, while others are tart or sour. Some are crunchy, while others may have a softer flesh. Invite children to participate in the Golden Apple Election. The tastiest apple with the most votes wins!

3.       On the eleventh spread of the book, there is an illustration of the apple tree’s stages of growth. Give students a large piece of white construction paper. Invite them to draw and color their own representation of this illustration. Note how the illustration shows what is happening above and below ground levels. Also, note that as the trees branches grow wider, so do the roots.

For more about Johhny Appleseed and Apples, visit the Washington Apple Commissions kid's site.

SUPERSTAR Storytimes 101

SUPERSTAR Storytimes 101

Below are my TOP 10 tips on making your storytimes engaging, educational, and FUN! Please feel free to ask questions in the comment section!

       1.       Plan your storytime to be 15-20 minutes long. Longer for older children, shorter for younger children.

       2.       Know your audience, and choose stories that children will respond too. (Another blog on that later, wink.)

       3.       Rehearse the book by reading it at least once before your storytime. Look for places to pause for emphasis and elicit predictions, questions and reactions.

4.       When you introduce the book at storytime, make sure to point out the author and illustrator. This shows the human connection that people write and illustrate books. Point out that the author writes the words and the illustrator draws the pictures.

5.       Again, during storytime, let children predict what is going to happen next. This lets children feel that they are a part of the story.

6.       Read with expression! Let your voice reflect the tone of the story and the personalities of the characters. Vary your pace and allow the story to flow with a natural rhythm.

7.       Allow children to look closely at the illustrations. They will inevitably see things that you may have missed. Maybe there is a little mouse that appears on every page. Let the children find it. Illustrators are clever, and they often add their own storytelling details in the illustrations.

8.       Remember those predictions? Help confirm or revise those predictions as the story goes along, and remember to be gentle and honor all the predictions even if they are very “creative”.

9.       At the end of the story, allow plenty of time for children to ask questions. They will also have many comments, too. Just like adults, children will relate themselves to the stories they are told. Ask children what made them happy, sad, scared, excited, etc.

10.   And the most important storytelling tip: ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE SILLY! Let the child inside of you SHINE!

Remember that reading aloud to children is the single most important activity you can do to cultivate a literacy culture at home and at school. You will be inspiring the lifelong love or reading and writing! What a gift!

With Imagination,

Professor Watermelon

The Old House: Activities and Storytelling Tips

The Old House
By: Pamela Duncan Edwards
Illustrated By: Henry Cole

An empty old house wants a family to move inside, but it is in such disrepair that potential buyers keep turning away. The house’s friends (some birds, a squirrel, and a tree) try to cheer up the house and tell it to stand straight and twinkle its windows, but nothing seems to help. And when they hear the rumble of a bulldozer, they all fear for their lives. Has the old house seen its last day, or is the rumble coming from a moving truck with a happy family inside? Edwards tells a delightful read-aloud story that is full of friendship, empathy, and inspiration. Cole’s illustrations are heartwarming and bright. And the expressions of feelings he gives the house is truly clever.

Below are some activity ideas and storytelling tips for this Picture Book Favorite!

Houses Have Feelings, Too?: After reading The Old House, take children on a walk around a neighborhood. Tell them that they are going to look at houses in a different way. The house in the book had feelings, and the feelings were expressed by the houses features. Can they look at the houses in the neighborhood and decide how the houses feel? Happy? Sad? Excited? Tired? What kind of “personality” does a particular house have? Maybe a house with interesting architecture would be “clever”? Maybe a house with multicolored paints and fixtures would be “creative”?

If I Were a House: After reading The Old House, give children a piece of plain paper and some crayons, markers or colored pencils. Ask them to pretend that they are a house. What kind of house are they? A castle? A motorhome? A cottage? Ask them to draw and color a picture of this house. What colors are they going to “paint” it? What is in the yard? Is their house in a town or in the country? Does the house have any friends like the house in the book? When children are finished with their house ask them to share what they came up with. You may want to help them write a description of the house, too.

Happy Home Makeover: After reading The Old House, ask children to look at their own home. How do they think their house or apartment feels? Is there anything that they can do to make their house or apartment happier? Maybe they could give their house or apartment some friends by planting some flowers outside in the yard or patio. Could they help put a fresh coat of paint on the front door or porch? Could they wash the windows to make them twinkle and shine?

Storytelling Tips:

1. Children like to predict what is going to happen during a story. Before you read the book, ask children to look at the cover and predict who the main character is going to be? Who might the other characters be? If nobody guesses the birds and squirrel on the letters of the title, gently draw their attention there.

2. The illustrator does a great job of personifying the house. When the house shows the expression of a feeling, pause and ask children what the house is feeling. Can they show that feeling on their faces?

3. Children will naturally relate themselves to the characters in stories. In fact there is much learning happening while empathizing with characters. Ask children if they have ever felt alone like the house? Do they have friends that help cheer them up? Have they ever helped a lonely person feel better?

If you would like to buy a copy of this book, there are plenty of used copies on Amazon. Please follow this link:

http://www.amazon.com/The-House-Pamela-Duncan-Edwards/dp/0142414808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341357070&sr=8-1&keywords=the+old+house

And remember, by reading to children, you are cultivating a literacy culture. You are helping children build a lifelong love of reading and writing!

With Imagination,

Professor Watermelon