Fall
Slumbers
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Fall
Slumbers |
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I modified this activity and made a student packet for my primary students to use that is more at their level. Lisa Stiver
John Farmer I chose this unit because we were learning about fall. I liked that the students could go outside and observe the leaves. We did the unit Learning to Look, and this unit was a nice follow up. The students could use all of the observation skills that they had learned about in the previous unit. I liked the fact that this unit had a primary booklet. When I do this lesson in the future, I will add lines for the students to write in their booklets. My first graders had a lot of difficulty writing in their booklets without any lines. I would also trace a leaf from the tree and have that on each page where the students are expected to draw what the leaf looks like. Writing, predicting when the leaf is going to fall, drawing a leaf, and coloring took my first graders a very long time. I put my students in groups of three. Each group observed the same leaf. Next year, I would like to have 6 students in a group. This will allow the students to talk to more children about their observations. I used our Harcourt Brace science book to connect this to our study about fall. I used all of the books on the related resources page of the Fall Slumbers unit. Misty Anness, First Grade Teacher Thank you for the feedback about needing lines, Misty. The Fall Slumbers primary booklet has been updated as per your suggestion. John Farmer I've done this inquiry for two years. The kids seem to really enjoy it. I chose it because I felt my students needed to sharpen their observations skills. This was a great lesson for this. This was also a way to review a 5th grade proficiency objective without taking too much class time. It worked great. I wouldn't change anything about this inquiry. I plan to continue this every year. I also plan on doing Spring Awakenings in the spring. I hope to have the students use the same tree they used in this lesson. One thing I did this year that I didn't do last year is I had the students keep all their observations in a file folder. At the end of the inquiry, they put the observations all together and created a flip book. The students loved this. It was also a good way for the students to observe change over a time period. Winifred E. Oliver The students enjoyed getting outside and observing the leaves and all their colors. I used several of the books from the related resources list and added a few videos. I used the "Magic School Bus Gets Planted" video reviewing the "Learning to Look" lesson and introducing the term chlorophyll for the "Fall Slumbers" inquiry. I also showed the Reading Rainbow - "Once There Was A Tree" midway through the "Fall Slumbers". When I use the primary student booklet from "Fall Slumbers" again, I plan to enlarge the pages so the students can select a larger leaf. My students had much difficulty tracing leaves on the grid in the booklet. I had to use leaf cutouts for the students to trace. Also, the booklet pages for the writing needed to be lined. Early first grade students need lines to guide their handwriting. Our leaf has not fallen from the tree; therefore, we will continue to observe to verify our hypothesis. Susan Godsey--Grade 1 I used this inquiry with
a class of 10 gifted third graders. Since we only meet twice a week,
I will choose trees at school when I do this inquiry next year so I
can more directly model and check the leaf observation process... During
the inquiry I laminated leaves on construction paper and they loved
to see who could correctly identify the most leaves... The best result
from studying this unit is that my students can identify the leaves
of many trees and they have developed a real interest in trees and nature.
One girl has now announced that she wants to be a botanist! I chose this activity because we have been working outdoors, writing in journals, finding things for the rotting log activity, and we have been studying leaves. I liked this activity because the students enjoyed being outside and this activity became more of a competition between the students (whose leaf wouldn't fall, whose leaf had more holes, or whose leaf had more yellow?). The only thing I would change for my students is the amount of writing required. We started with writing, measuring, then journaling, and finally just worked coloring in a leaf shape. For them to get the concept that the tree was resting and leaves stopped making chlorophyll was a challenge. I used this activity in relation to the Seeds in Fall... activity. This was a fun activity for my class when I simplified the work. We tied different color yarn to the stem of the leaf and when the leaf finally fell off the branch, we could find the exact leaf on the ground because the yarn stayed on the stem! Sherie Davis I used the Primary version of the Fall Slumbers inquiry (Seasonal Changes) which is completed at school. I chose this inquiry because it gave us a chance to get outdoors. In the spring we study plants and I thought that this would also be a good connection, and help introduce some key concepts for when we get to plants. I really enjoyed this inquiry because the children thought that it was exciting and enjoyed being outside looking at things in nature that they see every day. They never thought why do some leaves fall and change colors before others do. The only thing that I would change about the inquiry was the booklet pages where they had to trace the leaf. One, I would use one leaf and have them all trace it, but I would also use smaller graph paper. We haven't talked about area yet in math, so it did make it harder. I would make sure that I covered area before doing this activity. The larger squares gave the children a hard time counting when they were not whole squares. Smaller grid paper I think would work much better. I did connect this activity to our unit on plants. The students have a basic understanding of photosynthesis in all plants now and when they make their food. I also used The Giving Tree with this activity. We talked about the uses of each part of the tree, etc. I really liked this activity and the students did too! They were excited everyday to see when the tree would lose its leaves. The tree that we chose was a cherry tree and it actually didn't drop its leaves until the first weekend in December. It was one of the last trees to loose its leaves in our area. Kim Large This
activity gave my students the opportunity to look at seasonal change in
a way that will help them to build an appreciation for the wonders of
nature in their surroundings. I also liked the measurement integrations.
One of my students (Jim Shoe) took the following photos
of his leaf throughout the observation. I really enjoyed this inquiry because it got the students out of the building and really was a sensory experience for them. I "borrowed" a second grade class and they got so excited about going outside with me to check on their leaves. I also liked the schedule of observing the leaves for 15-20 minutes each session. I think this would encourage a teacher who might think there is not enough time in the day to do an activity like this. Once the kids understood the format of the packet, they did a great job of self-directing for the rest of the sessions. Nature was the big problem in this inquiry. It did not cooperate with us. I was a little worried about starting the inquiry on October 14 because I had already seen so many leaves changing color. But little did I know that the three trees my students used (all Bradford pears?) did not really change color in the four weeks we observed them. A few leaves fell off or changed a bit, but in general, the leaves are still as green as the day we started. The only thing I did actually change in the inquiry was the tracing aspect. I felt that it was hard for students to trace the leaves the first day so I had them draw their leaf after day one. I also had them each choose a leaf so they had more independence in the inquiry. I read the book Autumn Leaves by Gail Saunders-Smith to introduce the second graders to the concept. They loved the story and remembered really specific tree names when we reviewed the book later. All in all, I would highly recommend this inquiry to any teacher interested in teaching students about fall changes. Kimberly Carlson |
Thank you for your valuable feedback, Lisa. I have implemented your modified packet in the lesson for the benefit of other primary teachers. The Primary icon shown appears throughout this inquiry to denote special information for primary teachers.