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 CLASS KRTEK/MOLE IS THE TRAVEL BUDDY SQUIRREL, MOUSE, HEDGEHOG AND RABBIT

ARE KRTECKS FRIENDS

TIME
October & November Key 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

Cooking a recipe: a chocolate and nuts black pudding or salami

INGREDIENTS: biscuits, butter or margarine, cocoa powder, nuts, raisins, sugar (optional), foil to wrap the salami PROCEDURE: G r i n d t h e b i s c u i t s t o p o w d e r ( p u t t h e m i n a p l a s t i c b a g a n d l e t t h e children reduce them to crumbs) M e l t t h e b u t t e r o r m a r g a r i n e a n d a d d t o t h e b i s c u i t s c r u m b s A d d t h e c o c o a p o w d e r a n d t h e n u t s ( i n s m a l l b i t s ) , t h e r a i s i n s a n d some sugar (if necessary). P u t t h e m i x t u r e i n f o i l , w r a p i t f o r m i m g f a t s a u s a g e s K e e p t h e s a l a m i s i n t h e f r i d g e T a k e t h e m o u t , c u t i n s l i c e s a n d E n j o y !

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
Participation Collaboration Vocabulary: animals and fruits in the forest in

autumn (I CAN NAME I CAN RECOGNIZE) Oral interaction: I LIKE --------ING Art work TPR Self-assessment Class 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/so und.shtml Book: Jabberwocky and other poems Toy squirrel, feathers, nuts, nutshells... Paper and cardboard, crayons, glue, finger paint Photocopies:

a squirrels body without tail- on a tree

IWB

Teaching the poem (example)

Show a poster of a tree and the toy squirrel Read it and mime actions and words Ask the children in mother tongue about the content

of the poem Ask the children to imitate your gestures In 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

GIVE THE SQUIRREL A FURRY TAIL

Collect feathers and leaves in the garden/forest/park

and stick them on the 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/funwith-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