Many leaves begin to turn colors in the fall and fall to the ground as the trees get ready for winter.
   ~ usual fall leaf colors are red, orange, and yellow

Weather conditions are constantly changing.

People  change their activities and clothing in response to these changes.

Plants and animals react to these changes as well.

We can observe, measure, and record the weather.

Some different kinds of weather are sunny, windy, rainy, hot, cloudy, snowy, cold, and stormy (weather that has rain or snow and often has wind).

There are four seasons: fall, winter, spring, summer.

The seasons occur in a predictable cycle.

Certain weather conditions are associated with each season.

Plants and animals have seasonal changes to adapt to the changes in the weather.

These are the ideas we touch on for spiders, pumpkins, and apples:

Spider Fun:
   ~ they have eight legs and eight eyes
   ~ most spiders spin webs
   ~ spiders eat insects such as flies and mosquitoes 
   ~ there are many different kinds of spiders
   ~ spiders are arachnids, not insects

Pumpkins:
   ~ pumpkins grow on vines on the ground and are picked in the fall
   ~ they are used for making jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin pies
   ~ their seeds are very tasty
   ~ planting their seeds will grow new pumpkins

Apple Time:
   ~ they are good for us
   ~ they grow on trees and are ready to pick in the fall
   ~ apple seeds grow into apple trees
   ~ apples can be made into many yummy things

Thanksgiving ~

We can learn about the Pilgrims, why they came to America, their difficulties, and how they survived.

We can learn about the Indians who helped the Pilgrims in many ways.

We can learn about the First Thanksgiving – how it is similar and different from how we celebrate it today.

We can share how our families celebrate this holiday.

We can name many things we are thankful for.

Fresh Fall Leaves
Betsy Franco

We Love Fall
Diane Muldrow

Fall Leaves Fall!
Zoe Hall

also . . .

Fall ~ Maria Rius	It's Fall! ~ Linda Glaser	Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf ~ Lois Ehlert	Nuts To You! ~ Lois Ehlert
The First Red Maple Leaf ~ Ludmila Zeman	Why Do Leaves Change Colors? ~ Betsy Maestro	When Autumn Comes ~ Robert Maas	Leaves Fall Down ~ Lisa Marie Bullard

Five Little Autumn Leaves

Five little leaves in the autumn breeze

Tumbled and fluttered from the trees.

The first little leaf said, “I am red -

I shall rest on a flower bed.”

The second little leaf, an orange one, said,

“Pick me up!  I’m cold and wet!”

The third little leaf said, “I am yellow.

I’m a happy-go-lucky fellow.”

The fourth little leaf said, “I’m still as green

As when I was a part of the summer scene.”

The fifth little leaf said, “I am brown,

And I shall blow all over town.”

When the Leaves Are on the Ground

When the leaves are on the ground,
Instead of on the trees,
I like to make a great big pile of them
Way up to my knees.
I like to run and jump in them
And kick them all around.
I like the prickly feel of them
And the crickly, crackly sound.
 

Fall Into Fall
one of my favorite sites for any theme -
great fall ideas and resources

Leaf Activities

 Why Do Leaves Change Color?

Leaf Stamps – A Craft Idea

 Fall Unit – Great Ideas with Leaves

My Favorite Time of Year
Susan Pearson

A Book of Seasons
Alice & Martin Provensen

A Busy Year
Leo Lionni

also . . .

What Will the Weather Be? ~ Lynda DeWitt	The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree ~ Gail Gibbons	It Looked Like Spilt Milk ~ Robert Shaw	Four Seasons Make a Year ~ Anne Rockwell
Our Seasons ~ Grace Lin	What Makes the Seasons? ~ Megan Montague Cash	Tree For All Seasons ~ Bernard	Weather Words and What They Mean ~ Gail Gibbons
W Is for Wind: A Weather Alphabet ~ Pat Michaels	Maisy's Wonderful Weather Book ~ Lucy Cousins	What Will The Weather Be Like Today? ~ Paul Rogers	Caps, Hats, Socks, and Mittens: A book about the four Seasons ~ Louise W. Borden

I like the rain,
I like the rain,
R-a-i-n
I like the rain!

I like the sun,
I like the sun,
S-u-n
I like the sun!

I like the wind,
I like the wind,
W-i-n-d
I like the wind!

I like the snow,
I like the snow,
S-n-o-w
I like the snow!

I like the clouds,
I like the clouds,
C-l-o-u-d-s
I like the clouds!

Another Weather Song
(to the tune of "Bingo")

Today the sun is in the sky,
And sunny is the weather.
S-U-N-N-Y, S-U-N-N-Y, S-U-N-N-Y
And sunny is the weather.

Weather

Whether the weather be mild or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot,
We'll weather the weather whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not.

Wonderful Weather

I like to watch the way the wind
can spin a weather vane.

I like to wear my big blue boots
to splash with in the rain.

I like to ride my bright red sled
on cold snowy days.

I like to feel the sun's warm rays
when I wade in the ocean waves.

Wind, rain, snow, and sun
Every kind of weather
is wonderful and fun!

Fun In the Rain
(to the tune of "Three Blind Mice")

Stormy Weather

Thunder crashes.
Lightening flashes.
Rain makes puddles,
So I can make splashes.

Easy Seasons

Spring’s all buttercups
And breezy.
Summer’s hot and
Bumblebbes-y.
Autumn’s bright with
Colored trees-y.
Winter’s snowy,
Sniffly, sneezy.

                             ~ Alan Benjamin

 Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall 
[to the tune of “This Old Man”]

Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
There are seasons, four in all.
Weather changes, sun and rain and snow,
Leaves fall down and flowers grow.
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
There are seasons, four in all.
Look outside and you will see
Just what season it will be!
 

Click HERE for a listing of those poems.

Seasonal Apple Tree
We make an apple tree for each season
after reading
The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree
by Gail Gibbons
 

Weather Unit
from Teaching Is A Work of Heart
- an excellent website

Weather Links
from WeatherWizKids
lots of information for teacher, activities can be adapted for Kindergarten

Weather Poems
good collection of poems for weather from CanTeach

Weather Unit
from StepByStep Childcare
check out her Theme Page 
(be sure to see page 2!)
– great ideas, cute site

Seasons Theme

Weather Unit

 Weather Related Words & Weather Activities

 Weather Theme

 Weather Unit – With Pictures

 Weather

 Kids Weather Links

Learning About the Seasons Online Resources
 

Spin, Spider, Spin

Spin, spider, spin!
Spin your web round and wide.
Spin your silky web with pride.
Greet your guests who come inside.
Spin, spider, spin!

The Spider

Up in his web
Old spider waits
Using that web
Just like a plate.
When a little insect
Flies too near,
That will be the end of him –
Oh, dear!
 

Spiders Word Bank
We brainstormed words that describe spiders!
 

Six Creepy Sheep
Judith Ross Enderle

Go Away Green Monster
Ed Emberley

Franklin's Halloween
Paulette Bourgeois

Bony-Legs
Joanna Cole

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not
Afraid of Anything
Linda Williams

A Dark, Dark Tale
Ruth Brown
 

Spider Ideas Galore!
tons of great ideas about spiders!

Spiders!
More ideas than you could use – great collection
– be sure to see her recipes
(a favorite site of mine!)

Spider Sites & Ideas

 Spiders ~ Eek!

  Arachnology for Kids

Along Came a Spider

Spider Ideas

Pumpkin Magic
Marcia Leonard

The Big, BIG Pumpkin
Joan M. Lexau

also . . .
 

I Like Pumpkins ~ Jerry Smath	The Runaway Pumpkin ~ Kevin Lewis	Pumpkin, Pumpkin Jeanne Titherington	Pumpkin Soup ~ Helen Cooper
Apples and Pumpkins ~ Anne Rockwell	Picking Apples and Pumpkins ~ Amy & Richard Hutchings	It's Pumpkin Time ~ Zoe Hall	A Day at the Pumpkin Patch ~ Megan Faulkner
The Biggest Pumpkin Ever ~ Steven Kroll	The Pumpkin Patch ~ Elizabeth King	Pumpkin Circle ~ George Levenson	Too Many Pumpkins ~ Linda Williams

This is Jack'O happy,
This is Jack'O sad.
Now you see him sleepy,
Now you see him mad!
This is Jack in pieces small,
But in a pie, he's BEST of all!

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting by the gate.
The first one said, “Oh, my it’s getting late!”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air!”
The third one said, “Well, I don’t care!”
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run!”
The fifth one said, “It’s Halloween fun!”

 Then “Whoooooooo” went the wind
And OUT went the lights!!
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

Pumpkin Graph
What kind of pumpkin face is your favorite?

Painting Pumpkins
adding faces to our little pumpkins

Anatomy Of a Pumpkin
great resource for teachers
– I didn’t realize a pumpkin had so many parts!
check out entire site

PumpkinsTheme ~ Lesson Ideas
From A to Z Teacher Stuff
lots of links to many, many pumpkin ideas

Pumpkins ~ From KinderThemes
 

Oh, What A Thanksgiving!
Steven Kroll

also . . .
 

Thanks for Thanksgiving ~ Julie Markes	Thanksgiving Is For Giving Thanks ~ Margaret Sutherland	Happy Thanksgiving, Biscuit! ~ Allysa Satin Capucilli	My First Thanksgiving ~ Tomie dePaola
Samuel Eaton's Day ~ Kate Wathers	Sarah Morton's Day ~ Kate Wathers	The First Thanksgiving ~ Jean Craighead George	The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving ~ Ann McGovern
What Is Thanksgiving? ~ Michelle Medlock Adams	The Night Before Thanksgiving Natasha Wing	Thanksgiving In the Barn ~ Nadine Bernard Wescott	Thanksgiving Is Here! ~ Diane Goode

Turkey Gobbler

I met a turkey gobbler
When I went out to play.
“Mr. Turkey Gobbler,
How are you today?”
“Gobble, gobble, gobble,
That I cannot say.
Don’t ask me such a question
On Thanksgiving Day!”

The Turkey

The turkey is a funny bird,
His head goes wobble, wobble,
And all he says is just one word -
"Gobble, gobble, gobble!"

Little Pilgrim

 The brave little pilgrim
Went looking for a bear.
He looked in the woods.
He looked everywhere.

The brave little pilgrim
Found a big brown bear!
He ran like a rabbit!
OH!!  What a scare!
 

Thanksgiving Dinner
A Mailbox book
(I Can Make It, I Can Read It - Fall)
The children had fun using sponge shapes and paint to illustrate the pages
 

The First Thanksgiving
a short coloring book about the
first Thanksgiving - the children write one word titles for each page and color the pictures
(I've had this for years and do not know the source)
 

Thanksgiving for Kids
from Rexanee’s Thanksgiving Website
lots of links for kid activities for the holiday

Thanksgiving Songs
lots of song ideas!

Thanksgiving Activities
from DLTK’s Printable Crafts For Kids
good craft ideas and other printable activities
– and more Thanksgiving links, too