Fall vs. Spring

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The students will learn about fall and spring through hands-on activities that connect science and language arts.

OBJECTIVE
Students will:

1. Identify pictures of fall and spring
2. Compare and contrast fall and spring
3. Engage in a color science experiment
4. Identify the different characteristics of a flower
5. Participate in independent writing

MATERIALS

1. Magazines (Add to your parent wish list. Specify that you want magazines about food, clothing, animals, and plants.)
2. Paper plates
3. Ten pieces of 18" x 11" construction paper, any color
4. Glue
5. A Venn diagram comparing fall and spring, to be made beforehand
6. Red and yellow tempera paint
7. 18" x 11" piece of white construction paper with a leaf traced on it (one per student)
8. Paint smocks
9. 10" x 10" piece of white construction paper (one per student)
10. Water colors
11. Paint brushes
12. Water and cups
13. Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell
14. It's Spring by Pamela Chanko and Samantha Berger
15. Spring by Maria Rius
16. The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

DIRECTIONS
Day 1

Step 1: Read Apples and Pumpkins (or any other book that describes what fall is like).

Step 2: Discuss the different characteristics of fall.

Step 3: Have the students go to their seats and cut out pictures from the magazines that correlate with fall. (Have the students put the pictures on a paper plate in the middle of the table.)

Step 4: After students have accumulated a substantial pile of pictures, have them glue the pictures in collage form to construction paper. Make sure you have enough pictures to fill up five pieces of 18" x 12" pieces of construction paper. (The teacher is to cut out each piece of construction into the letters that spell "fall." For example, take the first collage and trace a large "f" out of the paper and cut it out.)

Step 5: Display the collage in the middle of a bulletin board.

Day 2

Step 1: Read It's Spring by Pamela Chanko and Samantha Berger (or any other book that describes what spring is like). Another good book to read is Spring by Maria Rius.

Step 2: Use the Venn diagram to compare and contrast what is similar about fall and spring and what is different about fall and spring.

Step 3: Have the students go to their seats and only cut out pictures from the magazines that correlate with spring.

Repeat steps 4 and 5 from Day 1.

Day 3

Step 1: Sing this poem (sung to the tune of "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain").

Oh, the leaves turn red and yellow in the fall.

Oh, the leaves turn red and yellow in fall.

Oh the leaves turn red and yellow,

the leaves turn red and yellow,

oh the leaves turn red and yellow in the fall. Yee-Haw!

Step 2: Squirt a little red and yellow paint on a paper plate. Let the students guess what color will result when the two colors are mixed. Mix the two colors.

Step 3: Have the students go back to their seats and cut out the traced leaf.

Step 4: In small groups, have students squirt a little bit of red and orange tempera paint on the cut leaf. Let students use their fingers (it's best to have them use one hand only) to mix the two colors. Have them cover the whole leaf.

Step 5: Have the students write this sentence independently: "In the fall leaves change colors."

Step 6: When the artwork is dry, glue the students' writing to their leaves.

Day 4

Step 1: Read The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. Discuss how flowers bloom and trees blossom in the spring.

Step 2: Use the 10" x 10" white construction paper. In a small group have the students come back to the tables and put paint smocks on.

Step 3: Have each student pick any color watercolor paint to make a medium sized dot in the middle of their paper, forming the center of a flower.

Step 4: Students use another color to paint the outline of the petals.

Step 5: Students use another color to paint the inside of the petals.

Step 6: Students use another color to paint the stem of the flower.

Step 7: Have the students write this sentence independently: "In the spring, flowers blossom."

Step 8: When the artwork is dry, glue a piece of construction paper to the back of the watercolor flower. Add the student's writing sample to his or her flower.

ASSESS STUDENTS

• Could the students name one thing that is the same and one thing that is different about fall and spring? 
• Could the students verbalize what color red and yellow make?
• Could the students identify the parts of a flower?
• Could the students write phonetically?
• Could the students write conventionally?

EVALUATE THE LESSON

• Could the students respond to the Venn diagram?
• Could the students follow one- and two-step directions?
• Could the students stay on task?

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