Fall lesson plans can be as bright and brilliant as the falling leaves. The tastes, sights, smells, sounds and textures of fall are a wonderful inspiration for art, reading, writing and more. So fill a science center with nature’s splendor, put on a pot of aromatic apple cider and let the reading and writing begin.
Reading our way through autumn.
All great lesson plans begin with great children’s books. The themes for fall include leaves, apples, pumpkins, garden harvest and animals. Here are 15 of my favorite books for autumn lesson plans that include both fiction and non-fiction and some of my favorite children’s authors like Margaret Wise Brown, Jim Arnosky and Betsy Maestro.
1. Autumn : An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur
2. Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins
3. Fall (The Four Seasons) by Maria Rius
4. Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro
5. It’s Fall (Celebrate the Seasons) by Linda Glaser
6. Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
7. How Do Apples Grow by Betsy Maestro
8. Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh
9. Picking Apples And Pumpkins by Amy Hutchings
10. The Autumn Equinox by Ellen Jackson
11. The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown
12. The Pumpkin Patch by Elizabeth King
13. Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White
14. Every Autumn Comes the Bear Jim Arnosky
15. Raccoons and Ripe Corn by Jim Arnosky
Fall-ing in love with poetry.
Rhyming poems:
Here’s on of my favorite poems, which helps to introduce the “autumnal equinox.”
It is the summer’s great last heat,
It is the fall’s first chill: They meet.
-Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt from Almanac.com.
Elementary students love to rhyme about fall as well.
Red, yellow, brown and gold,
Autumn colors bright and bold,
Leaves turning, falling, blowing,
Fall’s glory is now showing.
Acrostic poems:
An acrostic poem is a wonderful way to introduce poetry into your fall lesson plans. You can find a free printable Autumn acrostic poem prompt here from AtoZLearningTree.
Here’s one of my favorite examples to get you inspired.
Apples ripen
Under the autumn sky,
Turning leaves
Unabashedly fall,
Moon is brilliant,
Night comes early.
Shape poems:
Shape poems are also a fun poetry project for fall. In a shape poem the poem is written to create the shape of an object. Leaf, pumpkin or apple shapes are perfect for shape poems but cornucopias, scarecrows or even turkeys can be fun and more challenging shapes for fall poems too.
Creating fun fall bulletin boards.
Fall poem projects make great bulletin board ideas make for elementary schools. Skip the paper border and go green by making a border with leaves.
For preschool bulletin boards for fall combine a nature walk with phonics and a group art project. Create large letters FALL and set up a center table. Let kids glue leaves onto the letters in a collage fashion for a fall bulletin board with color and texture.
Here are more classroom resources for on Fall Lesson Plans.
Green Fall Crafts Projects for the Classroom
Science Lesson Plans for Fall: How do animals get ready for winter?
October Journal Writing Prompts
Halloween Bulletin Boards
