🍂 Discover Autumn's Charm with Colorful Art Projects and Literary Adventures! 🍁

anpoipinsf
Oct 3, 2024
3 min read

It's hard to believe October is here and Fall is well under way. As the leaves turn and the days grow shorter, we welcome the cozy charm of the season in our classrooms. I've always loved the shift that happens this time of year as students and teachers alike settle into routines and new friendships form.

This month's edition includes a review of one of my favorite books for 4-6 graders and ideas for bringing Fall into the classroom with colorful art projects, as well as highlights our newest addition to the shop! Thank you so much for all of your support; it's so great to see you here!

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Novel Study Flip Books: By the Great Horn Spoon!

Product Image. By the Great Horn Spoon Novel Study Flip Books. Pictures of flip books, list of included topics, images of characters panning for gold. — Visit an Poipín to learn more!

Lighter than an in-depth novel study, the By the Great Horn Spoon! Novel Study Flip Books guide and support students and give teachers a quick way to gauge student comprehension. Keep students engaged while reading independently, or use as a replacement for tedious reading logs.

Because of its half sheet size, it also doubles as a bookmark! Best of all, your students can access the audio version of By the Great Horn Spoon! for free with a school account on Epic! Books for Kids.

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Extra Credit by Andrew Clements

About ten years ago, in October, 2014, Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Prize for Peace. It was around this time I came across Andrew Clements’ Extra Credit, which partly takes place on the other side of the Hindu Kush Mountains from Malala’s village in Pakistan.

Picture of Andrew Clements' book Extra Credit on yellow and rust colored fabric background.

My students were so excited to read about Malala in Time for Kids and learn about the circumstances of her upbringing and activism. Adding Extra Credit, as a novel study really encouraged my students to appreciate their own circumstances while fostering within them a sense of global awareness.

Clements skillfully addresses themes such as empathy, resilience, and the importance of education. The book also highlights the role of personal connections in bridging cultural divides. It works equally as well for a whole class novel study as it does for independent reading or for a book report project.

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I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai

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Colorful Art Projects with ANDY GOLDSWORTHY and RUNDE'S ROOM

Art by Andy Goldsworthy. Red to yellow sumac leaves arranged in a circle around a black hold — Andy Goldsworthy, Sumac leaves laid around a hole

One of my favorite ways to approach Fall themed art projects is through the lens of artist Andy Goldsworthy. If you’re lucky enough to live in a place where Mr. Goldsworthy has completed an installation, you’ll know how special his work is.

Andy Goldsworthy, Bright yellow to dark brown sycamore leaves laid in a gradient from light to dark around a sycamore tree — Andy Goldsworthy, Sycamore leaves around a sycamore tree

Drawing inspiration from the landscape, many of Goldsworthy’s works last only as long as the weather holds up or as long as the materials survive the elements. I usually complete the following projects in 2-3 weeks, but they can be stretched or condensed as needed.

I love using the Falling Leaves in Warm and Cool Colors project by Runde’s Room to introduce color theory and give students the opportunity to engage with patterns and creativity in a low pressure way. They even get to give their brand new crayons a spin!

Sample artwork exploring color theory. Leaf shapes over concentric circles. Leaves in the foreground using warm colors. Background using cool colors. — Falling Leaves in Warm and Cool Colors with Runde's Room

The following week, we watch a quick video about Goldsworthy and his accomplishments.

I spend some time doing a Google image search with the students, so they can see some of the ways he has used leaves, rocks, and branches to create patterns and sculptures that follow the natural shapes and land formations.

A wreath of paper cut-put leaves. Each leaf is colored differently and arranged in a gradient from green in the middle to brown on the outer edges. — Leaf wreath in the style of Andy Goldsworthy

We live in an area without deciduous trees, so we don’t get typical “Fall Colors” and have to improvise. Using the leaf patterns from the previous week’s Falling Leaves project, I assign each student a set of colors and ask them to color and cut out 3-5 leaves each. We then assemble the leaves in a spiral and color gradient on the bulletin board or chalk board in the same style as Andy Goldsworthy’s leaf art.

The students are always proud of creating a large scale work of art, and they are able to contribute in a way that prevents overwhelm. They also pay greater attention to objects in nature once they have to opportunity to see them as pieces of art.

If you don’t have space for a larger finished piece, consider a smaller, more personal scale. When we were distance learning, I had each student trace a leaf and color it black for contrast. They then used construction paper to create a torn paper collage gradient around the leaf shape.