Why do grade-school teachers feel the need to teach so much about johnny appleseed.?

Question

really, who cares?

Answer 1

Yeah, why tell kids about a guy that got along with the Indians, and spent his life trying to make sure there would be plenty of trees that produced food. They should be watching Jerry Springer.

Answer 2

LOL, I think that's a fair question. I teach 3rd grade and even I loosely cover Johnny when we do a study of tall tales. I don't go all out like the younger grade levels though. It's probably a subject that lots of resources can be found on. The information is readily available for the teachers, so they can easily adapt lesson plans to suit their students' needs. You can tie the story of Johnny to social studies, science, math, and language arts/reading pretty easily. We're constantly taught to make connections between subjects, so I can see the appeal of doing a unit centered around Appleseed. Studies also show that students learn well when working around a theme. You can teach lots of different concepts through one theme. Plus apple orchards make for fun field trips with little kids.

Answer 3

Because most grade school teachers (at least the ones I've met) run out of material to teach after the 4th or 5th week in and then fall back on the old standards, like Mr. Appleseed.

I can't believe the yahoos they let teach America's youth.

Answer 4

oh thats fuuuunnnyyy!! i was wondering the same thing!! my kids have all come home with a bunch of stuff about johnny appleseed when they were in 1st and 2nd grade.... seriously... what is the big deal? nobody else to talk about when its fall??

Answer 5

I agree with you-Really, who cares? From pre-k to 3rd grade, we talked about him. We even learned a song about him! I forget how it goes though. Has that come in any use to me later in life? No! I think that we should teach our children about more important people!