All About Fall - FREEBIE
ALL ABOUT FALL
Fall is almost here! Those long hot days in August at the beginning of the school year are just about the hardest days of the entire year for me. I am just so tired.
But as soon as the mornings are cool and the days start to get shorter, I get a huge burst of energy.
Fall brings so many fun things to the classroom!
I am so excited to share this All About Fall unit with you, and you can even print a fun FREEBIE right here on the blog post.
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I do an enrichment unit every month.
These activities are based around the read alouds I choose. September is All About Apples, October is All About Pumpkins and November is All About Fall.
I used to think I had to read a new book every day, and this is simply not true.
I read one enrichment book a week. If this doesn’t sound like a lot… well you are right. I would rather cover one story really well than none at all, and this is all my schedule allows for. But we go in depth and usually read the story at least twice.
Doing this kind of theme really helps with background knowledge, engagement, comprehension, and more.
Plus the kids love all the fun, hands-on learning we do with each story!
To kick off our fall unit, I start with our fall slideshow.
I show one slide at a time and we read the sentence together (it comes in a PDF format so you can project it on your front board directly from your computer.)
We discuss the pictures and students tell me what they notice. They love seeing the pictures of fall!
After we go through the slideshow the first time, I give students their coordinating mini book.
The book has sentences that are almost the exact same as the slideshow. They can draw a picture to match the sentence.
I leave the slideshow up so students can look at it as they illustrate. We build our fluency by rereading the sentences a few times.
Students love making their own All About Fall mini book. We buddy read and then students take them home to read to their family.
Week 1 - Awesome Autumn
This book is perfect for kicking off your unit about fall.
So many kiddos have never heard the word autumn before, and this teaches them that another word for fall is autumn right off the bat.
The kids love this book because it covers so many facts about autumn, and the pictures are super colorful and engaging.
It covers everything from what fall looks like, sounds like, feels like, smells like and tastes like. We learn about how some animals migrate and the days get shorter and cooler.
It even shows pictures of how our clothes change in the fall.
This book is just the perfect introduction to autumn!
You can see how this book lends itself to a few days of reading, review, discussion and activities. Students will always rush to pick this book up during free reading time too because they love the pictures.
After we read the book on Monday, we dive right into our fall enrichment activities.
This anchor chart is perfect for learning new fall vocabulary that we discussed in the book.
On the black and white version students can trace the words and color the pictures.
Next we talk about using our senses to describe fall (just like we did in the book!)
These adorable cards can be printed, laminated and used in a pocket chart. Students love to sort them under the correct heading.
You can use these cards whole group or in a center. They are perfect for expanding students’ vocabulary.
Finally we fill out the graphic organizer shown above using what we learned about our senses.
I end our enrichment week with this fun writing prompt. Students trace the sentence starter “Autumn is awesome because…” and then they finish writing the sentence.
I always love to see what they come up with after we spent the week discussing and learning about how autumn is so awesome in so many ways.
Week 2 - Leaf Man
This is a super fun book about leaves and imagination, and it is a much lighter read than our story from last week Awesome Autumn.
We look at and discuss how leaves are the same and how leaves are so different.
We look at the shapes and colors of leaves and how when you put them together they look like different things… including a little leaf man.
This book is the perfect introduction into our study about leaves this week!
Kiddos love this leaf sorting activity, and it is trickier for them than it looks. It helps to do the color version first (whole group or in a center) and then they can cut and paste the black and white version.
This week we also do leaf patterns (two version included) plus a cut and paste “build a sentence” activity. Students cut out the words and match/paste them in the correct spot. Then they can write the sentence on their own and illustrate a picture to match.
These fall themed sentence builders are so helpful for students to learn how to write a complete sentence. All seven are included! I usually can fit in one a week… sometimes two!
If we have time, we end the week with leaf art (students can build their own leaf man/creature) and leaf coloring.
Also included is a leaf rubbing page which can be super fun.
Week 3 - The First Thanksgiving Day
This is such a cute book to get students ready for Thanksgiving!
The story rhymes and teaches children about how Thanksgiving started, and it also lends itself perfectly to practicing numbers 1-12.
I teach them the words Native and Pilgrim and we discuss what these words mean. We talk about how they are similar and how they are different and students are always really engaged with this story.
The story starts at number 1 and goes through number 12.
Each page switches from showing what the pilgrims did to the next page showing what natives did. We practice counting the people on each page to make sure it matches with the number. Students love this!
This book also lends itself really well to comparing and contrasting.
We then make our own numbers and counting book with all things fall!
They turn out so cute and students love to color them and bring them home to read to their families.
Next we practice labeling! We learned these vocabulary words with the story, so now we get to practice labeling. All three versions come in both color and black and white. The color works great in a center and the black and white work well for a cut and paste activity.
For our writing prompt this week, students can write one thing they learned from the story. At this point in the year, many of my kiddos tell me what they want their sentence to say, and I write it in highlighter. This way students can be successful and they simply can trace it.
Week 4 - Bear Says Thanks
Do your students absolutely love the Bear Series?
Oh my.. we sure do! And this one is so cute. All of Bear’s friends stop by and bring goodies over, and bear says, “Thanks!”
Bear begins to feel worried he has nothing to offer since his cupboards are bare. His friends remind him he has stories and friendship to share.
The kids are always so excited to chime in and help me read, “…. Bear says, ‘Thanks!’”
We talk about what Bear and his friends bring to their Thanksgiving feast, and how it is a little different than what people like to eat.
I use our “Fall Tastes Like” cards and we share what we like to eat for Thanksgiving.
This sentence builder is perfect for this week! We cut out, match and paste the words.
Then some students are able to write it on their own.
(Tip: for your struggling writers, write the sentence in highlighter for them to trace.)
This is a fun writing prompt to do this week with your students that coordinates perfectly with the book.
It always makes me laugh to see what students write… “_____ gave me ______ and I said, ‘Thanks!’”
Do you teach your students how to graph? This is a super easy and fun way to start!
Both the color and BW versions are included in this unit, so I can do it on my overhead projector with the kids.
We count, graph and color these charts.
Use these whole group, in small groups or in a center.
WE LOVE LEARNING ALL ABOUT FALL!
Watch this quick video to see our fall unit in action.
PRINT A FREEBIE!
How fun is this cut and paste leaf activity?
Plus students trace the sentence and then can try writing it on their own.
*BONUS* - this download includes a FREE label the pilgrim activity too!
CLICK HERE
Ready to start your All About Fall unit?
READ THE REVIEWS ON TPT
“I have purchased the Apple and Pumpkin Unit, so getting the Fall Unit was a no brainer! I really look forward to these and enjoy the PowerPoints component too!”
“What a wonderful unit!!!”
“I love this Fall unit! The power point was awesome!”
SAVE WITH MY YEAR LONG BUNDLE
“I am so excited about these teaching resources! I'm going to have so much fun teaching them. They're perfect and just what I've been looking for. Thanks tons!!!”
“I loved using the slide show with my first graders! They learned to read the mini book that went along with the slide show.”
CLICK HERE TO VISIT MY NOVEMBER LESSON HOMEPAGE
I share my free lesson plans, read-aloud activities, crafts, Thanksgiving activities and so much more!
Need more ideas and activities for your read-aloud stories in November?
Enrich your entire year of science + social studies with read-aloud stories!
“Great resource to use for kinders and I love your products!”
“I can't wait to use the vibrant pictures in the slideshow with my students”
“Love this unit!!! I already ordered the October unit! I can not wait for the other units to become available thank you so much for all your hard work!!”
“Amazing resource. I love the slideshow with real pictures. I can't wait to use this with my kids. I will be replacing several items in my apple unit with activities from this packet. Thanks!”
