A CROSS-CURRICULAR PROJECT: AUTUMN

This project will address the autumn from a point of view "experiential", in which the child is an active participant of the same, creating chances and living activities for the autumn: experiencing, creating and manipulating

CONTEXT

A PRESCHOOL CLASSKRTEK/MOLE IS THE “TRAVEL BUDDY”SQUIRREL, MOUSE, HEDGEHOG AND

RABBIT ARE KRTECK’S FRIENDS

TIME

October & NovemberKey dates:Halloween: 31st October“Magosta”: 9th November (in Spain)Day “with less cars”: 30 noviembre (walking

around the neighbourhood with a podometre: sum up the metres we all walk)

OBJECTIVES:

Sing various songs related to autumn Learn and recite poems. Feel the rhythm and rhyme to enjoy poetry Understand the meaning of the vocabulary of the

poem and the subject in general Understand the meaning of some words contained in

the poem and related to the autumn, well enough to play and follow instructions

Expand vocabulary referring to autumn. Follow simple instructions. Express likes and dislikes Understand changes in Nature Collect things related to the forest to tell the class about

them Be able to express likes and dislikes

OBJECTIVES

Recognize climate changes differentiating between overcast days, sunny, hot or mild.

Describe, using images, the climatic autumn landscape. Know the proper clothing for this season. Recognize typical autumn fruits and their characteristics. Select and classify the different fruits making groups. Differentiate sounds, silence and noise produced by objects

or natural phenomena (leaves, wind, rain, nuts ...) Experiment with different techniques to produce works of

art. Know and identify fall colors: yellow, brown and orange. Experiment with colors by mixing

CONTENTS

Identification of environmental characteristics. Recognition and differentiation of autumn fruits. Vocabulary of rainwear. Understanding of changes in Nature Description of climate and landscape in autumn. Identification and recognition of images, drawings and

photographs. Identification of autumn colors: yellow, brown and orange. Experimentation with the autumn colors. Development of a mural of autumn. Using different materials in artistic productions. Sound sources: recognition of noise and environmental

sounds. The Magosta. Autumn riddles.

POEM: SQUIRREL (You can choose any poem in mother tongue related to AUTUMN)

CONTENTS:TASK: TEACHING A POEM Vocabulary & grammar:

words related to the forest in autumn: tree, ground, feather, nutshell, squirrel, tail

Actions: I like ....-ing Prepositions: up, down, round, out The weather

Rhyme: identify it in a poem

Rhythm: follow it

Pre-teaching activities

Warm-up (CIRCLE TIME): checking previous knowledge about the topic (using mother tongue) while sharing some nuts

Introducing vocabulary: Flash cards interactive whiteboard game

Presenting the book in which the poem is written: what can you see, guess what is this book about, can you tell a colour that appears on the cover…

ACTIVITIES

Recognition of natural phenomena: during the assembly we talk about the weather (cold, rain, wind ...) and the clothes we need in each case.

We take dry leaves falling from trees and observe their colours, shapes and textures.

We play with autumn leaves, we tread on them to see how they sound, what happens, how they fly ...

ACTIVITIES

Make a mural with different art techniques: paint with wax sheets, autumn colours, and glue them together on a big paper. Chop in black cardboard trees, fruits and autumn leaves and paste it on the wall.

Make an autumn mobile using branches, leaves and autumn fruits to decorate the classroom.

We see the fruits of autumn, we compare, we taste them. We sort autumn fruits to do different classifications. We learn Autumn poems and songs. We make an ornament for the head to wear the day of

Magosta. Celebrate “La Magosta" with the whole school, eat chestnuts,

sang songs and danced (Spain)

Follow-up activities

Go on a walk to the forest to collect fruits, leaves, pebbles...

Make an “autumn box” and tell about it: touch something in the box and guess what it is without seeing.

Art and craft work: give the squirrel a nice furry-curly tail and draw its

footprints around the tree with finger paint (have the photocopies ready beforehand)

Build a walnut shell boat Make a musical instrument to play when singing the

song (the day before the children should be asked to bring plastic bottle caps to class)

Make a poster using autumn fruits and leaves

INGREDIENTS: biscuits, butter or margarine, cocoa powder, nuts, raisins, sugar (optional), foil to wrap the “salami”PROCEDURE: •Grind the biscuits to powder (put them in a plastic bag and let the children reduce them to crumbs)•Melt the butter or margarine and add to the biscuits crumbs•Add the cocoa powder and the nuts (in small bits), the raisins and some sugar (if necessary).•Put the mixture in foil, wrap it formimg fat “sausages”•Keep the “salamis” in the fridge•Take them out, cut in slices and•Enjoy!

Cooking a recipe: a chocolate and nuts “black pudding” or

“salami”

Tasting autumn fruits

Bring to class typical autumn fruits: apples, oranges, chestnuts, walnuts, pumpking…

Cut, squeeze, crack, grind…: see how everything changes

Taste the fruits and clasify: sweet/acid…Cut apples into shapes to stamp on a piece of

paper (a traffic light or traffic signs would be a great subject)

Rain, rain, go away…

Whatever the weather, come out and play! Road safety Show Krtek an outdoor game Picking leaves, fruits and nuts Making cider / juice Roasting chestnuts Planting bulbs for the spring

Tell us about autumn where you live

Which months are autumn where you live?Do you like the autumn?What's the weather like in autumn?What can you collect in the countryside

at autumn time where you live?What do you like doing in autumn?Next time you are in the countryside why not

collect some of the things you find on the ground in a special 'autumn box'? Then tell us all about your autumn box collection.

ASSESSMENT

ParticipationCollaborationVocabulary: animals and fruits in the forest in

autumn (I CAN NAME… I CAN RECOGNIZE)Oral interaction: I LIKE --------INGArt workTPRSelf-assessmentClass evaluation

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

•Children are able to

•Recognize autumn typical fruits and their characteristics•Recognize climate changes.•Difference between a cloudy day, sunny, warm or temperate.•Know the proper clothing for this season.•Expand its vocabulary referring to autumn.•Sing different songs themselves fall.•Describe, using images, the climatic and autumn landscape.•Correctly classify the various fruits of autumn.•Difference sounds, silence and noise produced by objects or natural phenomena (leaves, wind, rain, nuts ...)•Meet and identifies fall colors: yellow, brown and orange.•Correctly use different art techniques.•Enjoy the mix of colors.

Resources

Story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/story/pencil/sound.shtml

Book: “Jabberwocky and other poems”Toy squirrel, feathers, nuts, nutshells...Paper and cardboard, crayons, glue, finger

paintPhotocopies:

a squirrel’s body –without tail- on a tree

IWB

Teaching the poem (example)

Show a poster of a tree and the toy squirrelRead it and mime actions and wordsAsk the children in mother tongue about the

content of the poemAsk the children to imitate your gesturesIn turns the children take the squirrel up and

down the tree while you are reading the poem

Sing the poem to the tune of “Twinkle, twinkle little star” (karaoke version)

Ask them to repeat verse by verse, then stanza by stanza

TPR: Ask the children to sing along and do the actions

NUT TREE POEM

FLASHCARDS

Collect feathers and leaves in the garden/forest/park and stick them on the tail

GIVE THE SQUIRREL A FURRY TAIL

INTERESTING LINKS

Music: Twinkle, twinkle, little star: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZCSQbGeTo8

Game: BC games for ELT: http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/fun-with-english/nut-hunt

Story: The Gruffalo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzMa_dJGpJ4&feature=related

Nutcrackers: http://nutstocrack.blogspot.com La Ardilla Cotilla http://ardillacotilla.blogspot.com