An Autumn Leaf Project
I have joined with classes throughout the country to celebrate the season of autumn through Mrs. McGowan's 'Leaf Man' Project 2008. Autumn is a wonderful time of year to celebrate the beauty of nature of New England through its changing leaf colors. It also ties in well with our Harcourt story: "Henry and Mudge Under the Harvest Moon". The activities that follow comprise the integrated unit that I created using reading, writing, science, social studies, technology, and art. We hope you enjoy viewing the following projects as much as we did doing them!
Mrs. McGowan's Project
Mrs. McGowan's Project
Our first activity was to make a 'leaf person' at our art center. This was followed up with writing directions on how to make it. Learning how to do procedural writing tied in well with our writing curriculum for the second half of the first trimester. This writing activity took us through the entire writing process: prewriting, drafting, editing, revising, and publishing. Here is some of our best work.
Our next activity was to study actual leaves that were brought in by some students and myslf. This was done at the science center using magnifying glasses and books about leaves. I added some laminated leaves that I had received from a past leaf project from classes around the country. We wrote facts about we we knew and learned about leaves. Here are some of the leaves we found around our community. This is what we learned about leaves:
Then we did leaf rubbings at our art center. This was a learning experience in of itself. We had to learn how to correctly place the leaves under the paper and how to hold the crayon to achieve the best rubbing results. Aren't they beautiful!
At the computer center, we create a web of fall activities using the program "Kidspiration'. We copied this web into our writer's notebook for 'seeds' for future writing.
Finally, we created our class project book called 'Leaf Man, Leaf Man, What Do You See?' at the writing center. We created a list of places in our community, the city of Pawtucket, together which tied in well with our social studies unit. Each student chose a place to illustrate and write about for their page of the book. I used the leafman stickers that were part of the project resource page. This book is now in our classroom library for all to enjoy! Here is our book cover and my introduction to the book.
Now you know what we did for this project. I also created a choice enrichment center for additional fall activities that involved games, writing, reading, and art. Here are some of those projects.
