The teachers began the week by asking the students what happens in the Fall.  Hands flew into the air as responses such as “the leaves fall down” and “the leaves change color” were shared.  But Fall is not just about leaves!   Other answers such as as “we do not go swimming at the pool anymore” or “we wear sweaters and coats” were mentioned. One student brought in a football to share because as she said, “Fall means Football!”  Regardless of what the students associated Fall with, one thing was for sure – Fall is Fun!  Throughout Fall/Autumn Week, the students created beautiful Fall-inspired art to honor this beautiful and dynamic season!

After a brief discussion about what happens in the Fall, the teachers drew the students’ attention to one of the classroom bulletin boards.  On the bulletin board was a large tree with many bright green leaves, each one bearing the name of a student at PPA.  On top of the bulletin board read the phrase, “What happens in the Fall…” The teachers asked if these leaves would be changing color like the leaves outside?  The students giggled as they explained to the teachers that these leaves were made out of paper, they were not real leaves, so they would not change color.  The teachers wondered how the bulletin board could show what happens in the Fall without the color of the leaves changing.  Thankfully the students had a great idea – “Let’s change the color ourselves!”  Using paint, the students transformed the paper leaves from plain green to vibrant and beautiful Autumn colors including (but not limited to) orange, red, and yellow!  Once the painted leaves had dried, they were added to the bulletin board to show phase one of Fall – The leaves change COLOR!

On Monday (and Tuesday) afternoon, the students created a list of all things Fall!  Here is what they came up with!

Tuesday morning was all about Fall leaves again but in a mathematical way!  For their morning work, the students were asked to create then count colorful leaves!  Working one on one with a teacher, each student glued on green, red, and yellow leaves onto their bare tree branches.  Once they had added a sufficient amount of leaves, the students were asked to count how many leaves there were of each color!  Depending on the age/ability of each student,  the numbers were either written or colored in!  Take a look below to see how the “Counting Colors” Fall project turned out!

During the afternoon on Tuesday (and Monday too!) the students learned a Fall song!  Here are the lyrics:

Red and yellow, green and brown,

All the leaves are tumbling down.

Days are nippy, Nights are clear,

Summer’s over, Fall is here!

Here is the tune:

Wednesday was an exciting day at PPA!  The students began their art exploration of Fall by creating their very own Scratch-Art Leaves!  Using various tools, the students scratched away the top layer of paint on a paper leaf to reveal a fabulous and colorful design beneath!  Take a look!

Before heading outside to the park on Wednesday, the teachers read a special book called, Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins.  From the story, the students learned that different types of trees have different types of leaves.   They also learned that you can figure out which type of tree a leaf came from by looking closely at the leaf!  The teachers asked the students to put on their scientific thinking caps as they posed the question, “Do you want to figure out which types of trees are in our park?”  The students put their coats and pinnies on and headed outside to begin gathering leaves from the park to analyze!  The students raced through the park and quickly filled up a large garbage full of leaves to examine later that day!

Finally the time had come to examine the leaves and figure out which trees they came from!  During rest time, the teachers had sorted out the bag full of leaves and determined that there were four different types of leaves collected which the students realized meant that there were four different types of trees in the park!  The first of the four types of leaves was brought out and the students were asked to describe what they saw.  Was it a big leaf or a small leaf?  Was it long and thin or short and wide?  Did it have smooth edges or jagged edges?  The students did a great job of identifying and describing each of the leaves!  In fact, they did such a great job that they were able to identify all four leaves to match four different types of trees photographed in the pages of the Autumn Leaves book!  Using comparitive picture analysis, the students learned that the following four trees are in our park – Oak, Maple, Birch, and Gingko Trees!

As if their scientific discovery was not exciting enough, the students then learned an AMAZING fact about the Gingko Trees!

Can you believe that?  The classroom erupted with laugher when the students realized that the dinosaurs would be having lunch in OUR park if they were still around!

The Fall exploration continued on Thursday as the students learned that they would be making some Fall-inspired Jell-O Jigglers!  Working in small groups, the students mixed together and stirred the various ingedients needed to make the jigglers.  With some help from the teachers, the Jell-O mix was poured into a large tray and placed in the school refridgerator to cool.  By the time Thursday afternoon rolled around, the jigglers were ready to be sliced and served!  Seeing that it was “Fall/Autumn Week”, the students used assorted Fall cookie-cutters to pop out and enjoy their jiggly snack!

The afternoon wrapped up with a technology presentation all about – yep, you guessed it – FALL!  However, to really understand the Fall, it is important to consider what happens in each of the seasons!  Watch below to play the game “Guess The Seasons!” like the students did!  They got an A+, how about you?

The yummy Fall fun continued on Friday as the students baked mini-pumpkin muffins!  The students carefully followed the recipe instructions while pouring and mixing the muffin batter.  With a little help from the teachers, the muffins were baked and enjoyed during the afternoon!  As you can see from the photographs, these muffins were delicious!

On Friday afternoon, the students learned another Fall song – this time there was a bit of a dance with it!  Here are the lyrics that the students learned.

Autumn winds begin to blow,

Colored leaves fall fast and slow,

Whirling, twirling all around,

Till at last they touch the ground!

And here is the dance!

Wow!  What an amazing week!  Although “Fall/Autumn  Week” has come and gone, the students have a while left to enjoy all of  the fun and wonder that the Fall brings!  As always, thank you for  reading and have a wonderful and safe weekend!

-PPA

Reminders:

Next Upcoming School Closing:

Monday, October 8th

Observation of Columbus Day

Upcoming School Events:

School Picture Day

Friday, October 12th

ALL STUDENTS (regardless of enrollment  schedule) should arrive by 8:45 a.m.  Individual portraits and class  photographs will be taken. Students who do not attend school on Fridays (2 dayers) will be picked up before lunch at 11:45 a.m. Students who attend school on Friday will stay for the full school day.

PPA Pumpkin Picking and Decorating Party

Friday, October 19th

(2:00-3:00 p.m.)

All PPA students and parents are welcome to attend this event.

Aftercare is not available.

PPA Halloween Party

Wednesday, October 31st

(2:00-3:00 p.m.)

All PPA students and parents are welcome to  attend this event.

Aftercare is not available.

Theme for Next Week: