What Goes Crunch in Autumn? Lesson Plan

What We Are Learning

autumn season

autumn, cider, geese

gross motor skills

phonological awareness/rhyming

The Listening Walk by Paul Showers is all about the sounds you hear in a neighborhood. Tell children there’s a lot they can learn when they get really quiet and listen to sounds. Then ask them to turn on their listening ears! text pairing

SEL: Mindful Listening

Materials: none

Tell children you will be doing a listening challenge. They will need to get very quiet! Guide them in taking deep breaths, and encourage them to cover their eyes.
Ask children to listen for sounds outside. If you can, open a window. After 30 seconds, ask what they heard.
Repeat for sounds inside the classroom. Ask guiding questions like “Can you hear the clock ticking?”
Then have them listen for sounds inside their bodies. Again, ask guiding questions: “If you move your tongue, can you hear it?”
Finally, ask how it felt to be still and listen carefully. When your body is still, you notice sounds you didn’t hear before. self-regulation

Materials: leaves, butcher paper, marker, trays

This activity fosters curiosity about leaves and their qualities.
Have children collect fall leaves. Or you can bring some in yourself.
In the classroom, tape butcher paper to a table. Set out trays of leaves.
Ask children to sort the leaves on the butcher paper. Talk about different ways of sorting. Ask questions like “Can you sort more than one way?” and “How do we know if leaves come from the same tree?” Take pictures of how the children sorted their leaves.
When everyone is done, put the leaves out for exploration or put them in the sensory bin. categorizing