Here in Arizona we only have two seasons: hot and hotter and oh, how I miss Fall! Each year I practically clean out the dollar store adding to my collection of strands of fall leaves. Sometimes you have to create your own seasons!
Shades of Fall Vocabulary
We’ve been working with synonyms and identifying the different levels of intensity or shades of meaning that words with similar
meanings can have.
My class sorted the synonyms then arranged them in order of strongest meaning. To practice, I had everybody work in pairs with a thesaurus to look up synonyms for familiar words and write them in order of intensity in their notebooks. Next, they wrote them on paint chips die cut into leaf shapes.
For some added practice, I made this page and added it to our literacy centers.
You can grab a copy {HERE}
Writing About Nocturnal Animals
We’ve spent the better part of October learning about nocturnal animals and reading lots of informational books about bats and owls. My favorite book to begin learning about bats is Stellaluna. Teaching with Stellaluna is a dream for building comprehension and addressing many ELA standards. This post explains how I use Stellaluna to turn my readers into comprehenders.
As we study nocturnal animals, students research and write informational books about them. This one is about Geckos which are very common here in Arizona.
We also have over 28 different species of bats in Arizona! I got this incredible poster from the AZ Dept. of Fish and Game and it’s been a really fun resource PLUS my kids think it’s about the coolest thing ever!
We’ve learned a lot about echolocation and wrote about how bats use this adaptation to find food and fly in the dark.
I hope you’ve found some fall vocabulary and writing ideas you can use in your classroom. Be sure to subscribe by email so you don’t miss a new post!
Happy teaching!
Where did you get your template for your informational books?
Hi Amber,
The template I used is actually from an author study resource I created a while back that you can take a look at here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Tomie-dePaola-Author-Study-241368.
Thanks so much for asking!
Thank you.
Your bulletin board is ADORABLE!!! I live in Mesa, and am hoarding all the fall leaf garlands. #sorrynotsorry I usually do Shades of Spring activities, but may need to sneak in a mini Shades of Fall lesson soon. It's too cute not to! Did you make the smartboard lesson, or did you find it somewhere? I love it all so much! 🙂
Janae
The Sharpened Pencil
You're welcome, DeAnne! So glad you can use it and thanks so much for stopping by!
So much fun in these pictures!! Thanks for the freebie! 🙂
ღDeAnne
First Grade and Fabulous
Thanks, Kate! I'm so glad you found something you can use and I appreciate your kind words!
Hope you're having a great week!
I love your shades of meaning leaves! What a great idea! Thanks for the shades of meaning fall activity, too. My students can always use extra practice with this skill! Your bulletin board turned out great! 🙂
Kate
EduKate and Inspire