Book Extension Activity

Your Name: Ivana Salazar

Book Title: Johnny Appleseed

Book Author: Jodie Shepherd

Publisher: Cartwheel Books

Date: April 28, 2022

1. Pre-K/CCSD K-2nd Grade Core Standard

CCSD K (Reading Standards): With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and

major events in a story.

2. Objectives

Students will be able to identify the main character, places, things, and events that surround him.

Students will be able to explain and discuss what the main character was well known for and

learn what biography books mean.

3. Materials and Equipment needed:

The book, pencils, crayons, markers, and blank pieces of paper.

4. Teaching

Students will be on the carpet during reading time. I will show the front cover to the children for

them to identify the person and background. I will read them the title and explain to them what

biography books are about (people who lived years ago and are known for something). I will

then tell them we are going to learn about Johnny Appleseed's story. We will then read the book

together. I will ask them questions before, during, and after the reading for kids to understand

what we are reading. For example, “What do you think Jonny Appleseed did that made him

famous?” “How many stepbrothers and stepsisters did Johhny have?” “What did he learn to do”
and “What would he give to other people?” Answers will vary. Students should be able to

identify the people, setting, and how they would travel. They should also be able to explain how

he spread apple seedlings. Students will then pick their favorite scene from the book and share it

with their partners.

5. Closure:

Students will then go back to their seats and get some blank pieces of paper that have been

folded into a book. Students will create their own biography about themselves. They will draw

and write a sentence for each page. If time permits, they can share their books with their

classmates and/or class.

6. List 3 additional books in this genre to extend the learning:

 Jane Goodall: Champion for Chimpanzees by Jodie Shepherd

 Malala Yousafzai: Champion for Education by Jodie Shepherd

 Serena Williams: A Champion on and off the Court by Jodie Shepherd

References

Mrs. Clark's Reading Corner. (2017, August 26). Johnny Appleseed - My First Biography Read

Aloud. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=82yEZz13KlQ
 Children’s Literature Evaluation Form

Your Name: Ivana Salazar

Book Title: Johnny Appleseed

Author: Jodie Shepherd

Genre: Children's literature, Biography, Children's non-fiction literature

Illustrator: Masumi Furukawa

Publisher/Year: Cartwheel Books/2010

Evaluate the Book for the following elements

Style and Language: Using examples for the book, explain the following: Word choices,

dialogue, rhythm, rhyme, and sentence length. Share unexpected insights or interesting

information the reader learns from this story.

The word choices the book uses are good for kindergartners to hear and learn. The words they

use are simple for them to understand. There are some words that kindergartners are not

familiar with. For example, shone, wild, meadows, soaring, orchards, seedlings, and settlers.

The dialogue they use is perfect for them to understand. Throughout the book, the words

match the illustration which helps the children make connections. For example, when the

mention Johnny went west with the pot as a hat and no shoes the illustration shows that.

Children will be able to understand what Johnny Appleseed is well known for. We can ask the

children “Whom are we learning about?” “What did Johnny do that made him famous?” and

“How did he know how to grow apple seeds?” Students will be able to identify key details

from the story and tell me what happens throughout the book. There are some rhymes

throughout the book and the rhythm of the book is a good pace to keep the children's attention.

The sentence lengths are not short or too long. Some unexpected insights or interesting
information the reader learns about is how many siblings Johnny had and how he spread apple

seedlings across America.

Character: With examples from the book, provide the following

Who is the main character?

How can the reader relate to the character?

Who are the supporting characters?

The main character is Johnny Appleseed. We know he is the main character because this is a

biography about him. Readers can relate to the character because they may have planted

something before or someone they know does/has. Children have experienced this at home and

at school. The supporting characters in this book are the parents, big sister (Elizabeth), 10 little

stepbrothers and sisters, and the animals.

Plot: Summarize the major events of the story

At the beginning of the story, we meet Johnny Appleseed as a baby. We learn about his family

(parents and big sister Elizabeth). Later, we then learn about his 10 little stepbrothers and

sisters. We learn when he was a boy he liked to walk, read somewhere quiet, and would help

animals who were injured. When he got older, he worked at the apple orchards. He likes

planting seeds, taking care of trees, and eating fruit from them. When he was an adult, he

traveled west. While traveling, he would plant apple seeds. He would sell the seedling to

families who were traveling west. The family would plant the seedling when they settled. He

would plant more apple seeds every year and give them to settlers. This helped spread apple

trees everywhere in America. This is how he got his name, Johnny Appleseed.

Setting: Explain the place and time of this book.

Theme: What is the main message of this book?

day. We know he starts heading west when he is an adult. The book goes through his whole

life, so the time frame is 1774 - 1845.

The main message is what Johnny Appleseed did that made him well known, which is planting

so many apple trees across America.

Illustration: Analyze the book you selected with the following categories

Style (realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, naïve, cartoon art)?

The style of this book is realism and expressionism. The book is realism because the

illustrations show the family and their surroundings correctly. For example, Johnny’s house,

family, and when he is traveling and planting seeds. The book shows many expressions

throughout the book. For example, when he is playing with his sibling, we can see he is happy

and having fun.

Media Choice (paints, oils watercolors, pencils, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk):

The media choice for this book is watercolor. We can see this throughout the book. Where it is

seen the most is the front cover.

Give examples of describing how the following visual elements are used in the

illustrations:

Line: We see lines all throughout the book. For example, the branches/twigs, grass, the logs,

furniture, clothes, and their hair. The lines also help us to identify the expressions of the family

and pets. For example, when they mention all the siblings and show them, they all have smiles

on their faces.

Shapes: We see shapes throughout the book. For example, the illustration is in squares,

rectangles, circles, and ovals. Also, their furniture, apples, and carriages/wagons. This helps
children to identify the objects and gives more details.

Color: We see a lot of colors throughout the book. For example, when he starts traveling west,

we see lots of yellow and green. When it is nighttime, the colors are darker. Almost every page

has a different color background.

Texture: The texture throughout the book is smooth, soft, hard, and rough. For example, the

apples look smooth and hard to touch. The animal's fur looks soft to touch. The tree

branches/twigs look rough to touch.

Page design (placement of the illustrations, use of borders, white and dark space, and all

pages the same or different).

Throughout the books, each page has illustrations. A few pages took both pages to create one

scene. For example, when he begins to travel west, it takes both pages. The text remains black

throughout the book. The background color will change depending on what is happening, but

it was still easy to read. The text goes on the top of the page or at the bottom. When the

rhyming words would come up, they would be in the middle of the page that had illustrations

of branches, fruits, and/or flowers.

Child Development Theory: Choose either Piaget, Erickson, or Social-Emotional to describe

the connection to the book

Erickson:

Name the stage: Industry vs inferiority Age: 5-6. Explanation: Have opportunities to

develop skills and learn information. Example: Children will be able to identify Johnny

Appleseed and what he was known for. Children will also be able to explain what biography

books are about. They will then discuss their own biographies they created about themselves.
Your rating of the book: 3 highly recommended

Why? It demonstrates what Johnny Appleseed is known for. The illustrations are also very

colorful and expressive which will grab children’s attention.