Second Grade Celebrates "Johnny Appleseed Day!"

Everyone had a GREAT time today as we celebrated our first theme day: Johnny Appleseed Day! The Owls got to visit each second grade classroom and participate in an apple related activity. After learning about Johnny Appleseed himself, it was all about those apples!

Their first stop was next door to do some apple math with Ms. Donlon! In there, students used their art skills to do some stamping which they then completed with apple seed double facts!

After that, it was time to learn about apples as scientists with Ms. Bucklin! Students investigated the life cycle of an apple and then created a project to demonstrate their understanding. We'll have to revisit these great projects when we study plants later in the year!

 

After their first two stops, they headed back to our classroom where they worked together to create homemade applesauce! A HUGE thank you to Mrs. Nash for helping us with this delicious endeavor. Many thanks to YOU all as well, for donating an apple to make this possible! Students helped core, peel, and slice the apples! After placing them in the crock pot, we topped it off with some apple cider and cinnamon, set it on high, and let it cook!

 

 

 

 

The apple spiral was a huge hit! 

Toss them into the pot!

While the applesauce was cooking, 2H headed to the next activity in the Giraffe class! In Ms. Riley's room, the Owls had to use careful listening ears to follow along as they learned how to draw Johnny Appleseed! What success they had! Check out their amazing artwork!

 

 

 After recess, lunch, and ENCORE, we were welcomed back into our classroom by the delicious wafting smell of our applesauce! While it cooled, we completed another Mystery Science exploration which had us thinking about why some apples are red and some are green. This led us into discovering how today's farmers end up with the biggest, sweetest, juiciest apples! Ask your child about this discovery. The natural next step was to TASTE some of these yummy apples! After tasting four types of apples (granny smith, golden delicious, red delicious, and macintosh), we voted on our favorite! Granny Smiths have the 2H vote!

 

After the tasting it was time for our final apple activity. Putting our problem solving and communication skills to the test, each table group was tasked with trying to build the tallest structure possible using only 1 apple and a handful of toothpicks. While it was very tricky and only a few groups were successful, everyone did a phenomenal job with showing flexibility, optimism, and perseverance! These Owls can expect many more challenges like this in the future---they sure can handle it!

 

 

The winning team with a 9 inch tall structure!

FINALLY it was time to enjoy our homemade snack! All I can say is YUM!!

 
  

 

 

I have to commend our Owl Class for all their excellent behavior and hard work. I received numerous compliments from the other second grade teachers. Way to go, Owls! Thanks for making Johnny Appleseed Day such a huge success!!