LOOKING CLOSELY AT THE SEASON OF FALL

September - October 2014

Looking Closely At The Season Of Fall

Some friends were wondering why the leaves were falling on the ground.  So we decided to go outside for a Nature Walk to investigate. Here is our Fall Inquiry.

We made a list of some of the things that we might find outside.

Fall Exploration: What Can We Collect?

                            

NG: Pine cones

EL: Spiders

JA: Caterpillars

CC: Acorns
CS: Butterflies

CC: Leaves

AS: Ants

AG: Lady Bugs

BD: Grasshoppers
NG: Mouse 



We found lots of great Nature things.  We went back inside to write about our
observations. We took some Nature things inside too. We think we even found some of our snail friends from last year that we let go in the garden. Those baby snails grew up so big!  We noticed that some Nature things that were alive and some that were not alive. We decided to sort them into living and non-living things. We put the living things in a HABITAT container so that we could look at them more closely.

We made a chart about what we 

already know about Fall.

* The leaves are changing.

* It starts to get colour.

* There are different colours: red, green, yellow, brown.

* When they get cold, they change colour.

* When rain comes, they change colours.

After our Nature walk we had lots of Fall Wonders.

Why does it get cold in the fall?

Why is it not going to be Summer?

Why do the leaves change colour?

Why do you have to clean up the leaves in the Fall?

How can the leaves fall down?

We put some Nature things in our Science Centre so that we could look at them more closely. 

 

 



We used some of our Nature collection to make a Fall Picture. Then we documented our learning by drawing and writing about our Fall Pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

Then one friend at the art studio asked if she could paint her leaf. We really liked that idea so we set up a leaf painting station so we all could make some Fabulous Fall Art.

 

 

 

 

 

We thought that we should go outside and look more closely at leaves. After careful leaf examination and exploration, each friend picked their very own special leaf to bring into the classroom.

 

 

 

 



 

When we came back to the classroom Mrs. Johnston read us a book about a bear who liked to dance with the leaves that fell off the trees.  We liked when we did this too. At the learning circle we presented our special leaves. Then we put them all together to make a class leaf collection.

 
 

 

 

 

Here is what we had to say about our special leaves.

Edrian: This is my leaf.  It has red, green, orange and a hole and colours.

Carolina: It has red and green and a hole.
Dixie: My leaf is green and some holes on it.
Jonathan: A leaf is green.  It is big and can fly.
Ralph: This is my leaf, has lines and is green, lots of lines.
Chole S: My leaf is green and looks like sticks.
Nicholas: This is my leaf. It is green and has sticks and has some light green and black.
Jacob: My leaf has brown, green, and brown and a dot.  It’s another leaf.
Elfer: I like it.  It’s yellow, green, black and little holes and a little bit of white on the back and it’s small.
Akhash: It is green and yellow and looks like a snail.
Julian: It’s brown.  It’s a big leaf.
Amelia: My leaf is green, have brown and some black and white.
Mia: It has green, has a hole and is light green.  A snail made the hole or a worm.
Makayla: it is orange, little bit white and light green and dots.
Gianne: Has a stick.
Sebastian: It’s green, have a hole and the snail ate it and two more holes.
Raphael: It has a tinuy hole.  It’s green and there is a line.
Kherxian: It has veins and the colour is green, orange and yellow.
Chloe C: This is my leaf it is black and have some orange.
Sofia C: This is my leaf.  It has a hole.  It has a stick and is a green leaf.
Ashley: My leaf is red and has a stick and yellow and orange and has a pointy thing.
Isabella: It’s a little bit dirty and is big.
Gavin M: My leaf is a little dark and has spots and big holes.  It has a little brown and white and yellow.
Ayden: This is my leaf.  It has a stick and it’s pointy.  It has a hole and long..
Sofia G: This is my leaf. It has yellow and orange.
Breanna: This is my leaf.  It has a hole. Its dark green has holes and a stick.
Kate: I see black colour and dark green.
Matthew: I smell it.
Cassandra: My leaf is green and is big.

On our next Nature adventure we found a “Secret Nature Place.”  It had lots of big and little trees.  It was full of sticks, leaves, bugs, dirt, grass, berries and more.  It even had a tunnel made from branches.  We love this place and plan on visiting it every week. We had our learning circle outside too. It was amazing!  We found sticks that looked like letters and numbers. We made nature patterns. We documented our learning by drawing and writing. We had so much fun learning outdoors that we didn’t want to go back to school.

 

 

 

 

 

We loved all of the beautiful Fall colours. When we got back to school we were inspired to paint a Fall picture.  So we set up all of our materials in our art studio. Here are our masterpieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 



"Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year." ~Chad Sugg

We can all learn from The Season Of Fall.
These are some of the Ontario FDK Curriculum Expectations that we had the opportunity to experience during our “Looking Closely At Fall” Inquiry. As you can see, we have been very busy learning through our love of Nature.
Social Development Big Ideas: Children are connected to others and contribute to their world.
Social Development 1.2 Demonstrate the ability to take turns in activities and discussions(e.g., engage in play activities with others, listen to peers and adults).

Emotional Development Big Ideas:  Children have a strong sense of identity and well-being.
Emotional Development 1.3 Express their thoughts (e.g., on a science discovery, on something they have made) and share experiences (e.g., experiences at home, cultural experiences).
Emotional Development 2.4 Begin to demonstrate self-control (e.g., be aware of and label their own emotions, accept help to calm down, calm themselves down after being upset) and adapt behaviour to different contexts within the school environment (e.g., follow routines and rules in the classroom, gym, library, playground).
Emotional Development 2.5 Interact cooperatively with others in classroom events and activities (e.g., offer and accept help in group situations, engage in small- and large-group games and activities, participate in democratic decision making).

Language Big Ideas: Children are effective communicators.
Language 1.2 Listen and respond to others for a variety of purposes (e.g., to exchange ideas, express feelings, offer opinions) and in a variety of contexts (e.g., after read-alouds and shared reading or writing activities; while solving a class math problem; in imaginary or exploratory play; at the learning centres; while engaged in games and outdoor play; while making scientific observations of creatures outdoors).
Language1.4 Follow and provide one- and two-step directions in different contexts (e.g., in classroom routines; in music, drama, and dance activities; in outdoor play; in learning centres; in large-group activities).
Language 1.6 Use language to talk about their thinking, to reflect, and to solve problems.
Language 1.9 Describe personal experiences, using vocabulary and details appropriate to the situation.
Language 2.8 Demonstrate knowledge of most letters of the alphabet in different contexts (e.g., use a variety of capital and lower-case manipulative letters in letter play; identify letters by name on signs and labels in chart stories, in poems, in big books, on traffic signs; identify the sound that is represented by a letter; identify a word that begins with the letter).
Language 4.1 Demonstrate an interest in writing (e.g., choose a variety of writing materials, such as adhesive notes, labels, envelopes, coloured paper, markers, crayons, pencils) and choose to write in a variety of contexts (e.g., draw or record ideas at learning centres).

Mathematics Big Ideas: Young children have a conceptual understanding of mathematics and of mathematical thinking and reasoning.
Number Sense 1.7 Demonstrate an understanding of number relationships for numbers from 0 to 10, through investigation (e.g., show small quantities using fingers or manipulatives).
Number Sense 1.9 Use, read, and represent whole numbers to 10 in a variety of meaningful contexts (e.g., use a hundreds chart to read whole numbers; use magnetic numbers to represent the number of objects in a set; put the house number on a house built at the block centre; find and recognize numbers in the environment; write numerals on imaginary bills at the restaurant at the dramatic play centre).
Patterning 4.1 Identify, create, reproduce, and extend repeating patterns through investigation, using a variety of materials (e.g., attribute blocks, pattern blocks, a hundreds chart, toys, bottle tops, buttons, toothpicks) and actions (e.g., physical actions such as clapping, jumping, tapping).
Data Management 5.1 Sort, classify, and compare objects and describe the attributes used

Science and Technology Big Ideas: Children are curious and connect prior knowledge to new contexts in order to understand the world around them.
Science and Technology 1.1 Ask questions about and describe some natural occurrences, using their own observations and representations (e.g., drawings, writing).
Science and Technology 1.2 Sort and classify groups of living and non-living things in their own way (e.g., using sorting tools such as hula hoops, sorting circles, paper plates, T-charts, Venn diagrams).
Science and Technology 3.1 Identify similarities and differences between local environments (e.g., between a park and a pond; between a schoolyard and a field).

Health and Physical Activity Big Ideas: Children make healthy choices and develop physical skills.
Health and Physical Activity 2.1 Participate actively in creative movement and other daily physical activities (e.g., dance, games, outdoor play, fitness breaks).

Visual Arts Big Ideas: Young children have an innate openness to artistic activities.
Visual Arts 2.1 explore a variety of tools, materials, and processes of their own choice to create visual art forms in familiar and new ways (e.g., use natural and recycled materials at a learning centre).
Visual Arts 4.1 Express their responses to visual art forms by making connections to their own experiences or by talking about the form.