First Signs of Fall

The season of Fall has arrived and with it wonderful opportunities for learning about and exploring the world around us.  We began our look at Fall by going on a scavenger hunt.  The children searched for signs of Fall such as the changing leaves, seeds fallen from trees and signs of animals.  

                  

                                                    

The children used what they found to create a leaf creature modeled after the story Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert.

             

             

             

                                    

We talked about the seasons that we experience throughout the year and how we can observe changes in the trees.  As a class we read Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson which illustrates the changing leaves, budding flowers, growing fruit and bare branches that illustrate the seasons.  Students then created their own trees.

                                                    Free Play

During Free play, the children used their imaginations to play with farm animals.  They also baked apple pies in the dramatic play area and visited our apple orchard where they can go on a tractor ride, pick apples or walk through the corn maze.

                 

                 

                                                           

 Students played Farm Bingo together.

 Each week there are letter recognition games for students to                                                                         choose during free play.

Art

Students colored coffee filter leaves using eye droppers and liquid watercolors.

Literacy

Each week the students learn different letters and sounds through our Fundations program.  We are currently on the letter E.  We practice beginning sounds and look for the letters in our names and other words.

Many literacy activities accompany our read alouds.  Below students are working on cutting, gluing and sequencing after reading When the Leaf Blew In by Steve Metzger.

Math

Math concepts that we have been working on include comparisons (size, shape), sorting, counting with 1:1 correspondence, and patterns.

Circle

During Circle time we engage in a variety of activities to reinforce our theme.  Below children are sorting leaves by different attributes.  First we sorted by size, then shape, and finally by round or pointed edges.  The children also sorted pictures by those that happen in the Fall and those that occur in other seasons.

Science

As we talked about the changing colors of the leaves, it was important to understand that some colors are hidden.  We tried a simple chromatography experiment where the students added water to a drawing done with a black marker.  When water was added, some of the hidden colors emerged.  We connected this to the hidden colors in the green leaves that emerge in Fall.

A second experiment we conducted was a simple vinegar and baking soda experiment. We looked at how two colors can mix to create a new color.  The children mixed red and yellow fall colors to make orange.

Recess

 

We had our first indoor recess and played some parachute games!