Have you ever been in the middle of a lesson and thought “oh my goodness! This would make the best activity for _____!”
I got so excited the other day while I was creating some activies for our upcoming apple unit and this happened to me. These days students are so stressed out from the pressures of tv and social media and the idea that everyone should be perfect. With my son beginning junior high this week, it is something I remember from my time at that age and something I am not looking forward to him experiencing.
This is a simple activity to remind students that even though they may not all be just alike, they all have something that makes them special.
Do you remember the first time someone showed you that if you cut an apple in half horizontally it creates a star? I have no idea how old I was when I learned this, but I know it was forever ago and I still think it's so cool!
I used different colored apples to emphasize this lesson. The apples were different sizes, shapes, and colors, which was a great introduction to how people are all different. I also pointed out how pretty all the different colored apples looked grouped together. We talked about how boring it would be if everyone looked and acted the same way.
I noticed one of our apples had a brown spot, which made a great improvised lesson. I pointed out that even though the apple had a little part that may not be perfect, the apple was still perfectly fine to eat. It was a great way to point out the fact that we all have imperfections, and they are only a tiny part of who we are as a whole.
We then talked about what we know about apples. My kids are pretty small so we just talked about the basic attributes of apples, but this could definitely be used with any age and answers from older kids are always fun!
After this discussion I cut one of the apples in half vertically. We discussed what the inside of the apple looked like and anything special about it.
I then asked them if they thought the inside of the apple would look the same if I cut it differently. You may have students who know it will make a star, but also some that don't. I cut the apple in half horizontally and my kids were surprised to see that the seeds inside now made a star pattern.
We took this opportunity to discuss how sometimes we can look at something over and over and not see the thing deep inside that makes us special or surprises us. Something we may not know is there until we look at each other or even ourselves until we take the time to look inside us in another way.
This was such an easy hands-on lesson with an extremely powerful message! If you want an easy way for students to record their observations (plus some prompts to encourage your students to write about the special qualities inside themselves and others!), you can find my Apple Growth Mindset resource in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Observation-and-Growth-Mindset-Activity-4006202
I noticed one of our apples had a brown spot, which made a great improvised lesson. I pointed out that even though the apple had a little part that may not be perfect, the apple was still perfectly fine to eat. It was a great way to point out the fact that we all have imperfections, and they are only a tiny part of who we are as a whole.
We then talked about what we know about apples. My kids are pretty small so we just talked about the basic attributes of apples, but this could definitely be used with any age and answers from older kids are always fun!
After this discussion I cut one of the apples in half vertically. We discussed what the inside of the apple looked like and anything special about it.
I then asked them if they thought the inside of the apple would look the same if I cut it differently. You may have students who know it will make a star, but also some that don't. I cut the apple in half horizontally and my kids were surprised to see that the seeds inside now made a star pattern.
We took this opportunity to discuss how sometimes we can look at something over and over and not see the thing deep inside that makes us special or surprises us. Something we may not know is there until we look at each other or even ourselves until we take the time to look inside us in another way.
This was such an easy hands-on lesson with an extremely powerful message! If you want an easy way for students to record their observations (plus some prompts to encourage your students to write about the special qualities inside themselves and others!), you can find my Apple Growth Mindset resource in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
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