Fall is Here - We Love It!

	Fall is Here! We Love It! Marci McGowan is back with her wonderful collaborative project, Fall is Here! We Love It! For our work for the project, we chose Linda Glaser's It's Fall! This book is filled with rich images, and amazing cut paper illustrations by Susan Swan - sure to inspire young poets. This book is one of four by the author/illustrator on the seasons. Click on the book for more info.

Our WorkThis project was a great catalyst for exploring descriptive writing - a "senses" or sensory poem would be a perfect choice. I had each of the children create a "describing wheel" - a type of graphic organizer which listed the senses. As they listened to me read It's Fall! they listed ideas for our class poem in their describing wheels.	Our Poem Fall in New EnglandGreen leaves becoming magnificent, colorful foliage, Noisy, honking geese overhead in the sky, migrating on their way South, Delicious pumpkin pie baking in the oven for Thanksgiving, Freshly picked, ripe apples from the orchard, so tasty and juicy in our mouths, Wearing warm sweaters, some itchy and prickly, some soft and comfy. Fall is here! We love it!

Lois Ehlert's whimsical new book, Leaf Man provided us with a fantastic fun fall experience. First we just enjoyed the book - Lois Ehlert is such an amazing graphic artist! We then listened a second time, and using a 5w graphic organizer, we filled in the who, what, when, where, why. We used our ideas from our 5w organizer to create a 5W Poem (see below).	Leaf Man Click on the book to take a peek inside.
Colorful, wrinkly, fascinating Leaf Man found himself traveling in the season of autumn East, West, South, and North - in every direction because a Leaf Man's got to go where the wind blows. We had collected leaves to create our own Leaf Men, Leaf Ladies, Leaf Flowers, Leaf Insects, etc. Unfortunately, just as Lois Ehlert mentions in her author's note, we had great problems with leaves losing their colors after we pressed them. We did manage to get a good picture of "Leaf Baby" (right).	Our own "Leafbaby"

Links to Learning Here are a few resources that I used for this project - thought others might find them helpful, too! Enchanted Learning has an amazing array of graphic organizers! Graphic Organizer Index 5 Ws Graphic Organizers Note: You must be a member to print most of these, but the $20 or $25 yearly fee is truly worth it for the wealth of information on this site! Vicki Blackwell has some outstanding resources on her pages: Writing Paper Templates (We used the Fall Scene to make copies of our collaborative poem.) Making Books Ideas and Patterns Ideas for Using Leaf Man Some great book extensions I found on the Net.

Addressing the Standards Language Arts Curriculum Frameworks Learning Standard 2: Students will pose questions, listen to the ideas of others, and contribute their own information or ideas in group discussions and interviews in order to acquire new knowledge Elements: Identify The learner will be able to identify poetic elements Word Choice: Senses/Imagery/Mood The learner will be able to recognize and examine how author's word choice appeals to the senses, creates imagery, suggests mood, and sets tone and provide textual evidence to support understanding Expand: Vocabulary The learner will be able to expand his/her vocabulary Writing: Use/Expand The learner will be able to use an expanded vocabulary when writing Dictate: Poetry The learner will be able to dictate the writing of a poem Poetry: Original The learner will be able to write original poetry Purposes: Variety The learner will be able to write for a variety of purposes Audience: Variety The learner will be able to write for a variety of audiences Science Curriculum Frameworks The learner will recognize that people and other animals interact with the environment through their senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. The learner will recognize changes in appearance that animals and plants go through as the seasons change. Email us To our classroom website, Window to Our World