The Fall Project

Autumn..."the leaves go from green to orange, the lattes go from vanilla to pumpkin, and girls toss their razors out the window for there'll be no bare leg seen until April." To kick off fall, we decided to take the family to an opening weekend at a local pumpkin farm. Unfortunately it rained all morning, but we still had a great time watching Rex eat pumpkins and riding on the cow train.

    

Of course, I rake my love of all things autumn right into and all over the classroom. I like to do a cross-curricular unit on the changes fall brings. It’s mainly science based but includes some great math and reading activities, too. The best part (and the kiddos would agree!) is we go outside for school!

In Art, we do a full page of leaf rubbings to make a cover page for our Fall Changes unit. Then we learn about our 5 senses and go outside to fully experience fall (I like to bring some sort of apple treat for taste). I’ve brought in squash and other gourds for pulling apart at the science table – they love to make a good, gooey mess. Side note: the first time I did this, I expected it to last for a full rotation of centres (which was 2 weeks). When I came in Monday morning for week 2 all of the gourds were moldy and smelly – not a good, gooey mess.

Also, we have an observation and reporting lesson on trees. The students like to find the perfect tree and are all over recording as many details as possible: the approximate height and width of their tree, drawing and labeling diagrams, etc. It really makes them feel like an expert scientist. For more about my Fall Changes unit, follow the link below.

Happy first day of fall!