Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8, K-3

In the movie An Apple a Day (L1U4L5), Moby learns that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but he still wants to see the doctor! Students review the present simple tense and learn a new proverb as Moby’s plot is revealed. This lesson plan, which is adaptable for grades K-8, invites students to cite, discuss, and compare situations using the present simple.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Students will:

  1. Predict the meaning of a common proverb that uses the present simple tense.
  2. Compare their prediction of the proverb's meaning with the explanation from the movie.
  3. Record data from the movie and compare it to information about themselves.

Materials:

Vocabulary:

proverb

Lesson Procedure:

  1. An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away. Before watching the movie An Apple a Day (L1U4L5), write the proverb on the board. Tell the students to divide a paper into four quadrants, and label the top two squares: The Proverb and What I Think, and the bottom two squares: Ben's Explanation and My Explanation. Have the students write the proverb in the first square, and do a Quick Write in the second square: a sentence or two about what they think it means. As they watch the movie, students look for Ben's explanation of the proverb, and write his words in the third square. After the movie, tell students to write their own explanations in the fourth square, noting if it changed from their Quick Write explanation.

    Ask students to identify the tense that the proverb is written in (present simple), and discuss why this tense is used. They should recognize that the reason is that it is something that always or usually happens, or is always true. Ask students if they have a similar proverb in their languages. For example, in Spanish, people say: La mejor medicina es la buena comida.
  2. Healthy Habits. After a repeated viewing of the movie An Apple a Day (L1U4L5), divide the class into small groups. Within their groups, students discuss the characters’ eating habits. Have them take notes in a two-column table, identifying what Ben and Moby eat that’s healthy in one column, and what is unhealthy in the other column. Instruct them to use the present simple to describe the characters’ eating habits (e.g. Moby eats cookies.).

    Then invite students to discuss their own healthy habits. In each group, students should say one or two healthy behaviors they have, such as “I eat vegetables” or “I run every day.” One volunteer in the group records each student’s healthy habits. Have the group write a sentence describing a habit that all or some of them have, such as “We eat fruit every day.” Finally, each group presents their healthy habit findings to the rest of the class using both present simple affirmative and negative sentences. Presentations should include reporting on individual habits, such as “Kim eats an apple every day” and group habits, “Al, Katrina, and Marco play soccer.”