Blogs The leaves are changing colors and beginning to fall, which means it’s a great time to integrate autumn-related activities to engage your students. For some interesting autumn activities across grade levels and subject areas, check out our ideas below!
Fall Brainstorm and Writing (ELA and Social Studies)
Many different fun activities are associated with the fall, so it’s a great time to engage your students in a fall-focused brainstorm. Start with a brainstorming session that asks students to list different ideas and topics that they associate with autumn. This list may include things like pumpkins, apples, leaves, football, school, Halloween, costumes, scarecrows, etc. For younger students, you can use this activity to develop vocabulary. To encourage vocabulary development, write and display the list your class came up with at the front of your classroom, create classroom flashcards, and add these words to your spelling lessons and quizzes.
In upper grades, use the list your students brainstormed to create the following:
Poems
To accompany your lesson about different types of poetry (haiku, concrete, free verse, etc.), ask students to write poems in a variety of styles using fall themes.
News Report
Ask students to develop a list of interview questions about the fall. They can use the brainstorm list as a starting point. Then ask them to interview two to three people and prepare a news report about how people in their life feel about the fall.
Fall Back (Science and Geography)
In the United States, the clocks change in the fall and the days become shorter. However, this is not the case in many parts of the world. Assign different cities from around the world to your students and/or student groups:
- Have your students chart the time that the sun sets in their hometown and in international cities for one week.
- Ask students to record temperature differences between the cities and research how the changing temperate affects agriculture and the economy.
- Have students create a graph or chart to display their findings and then present their research to the class.
Fall Wardrobe Budget (Math and Economics)
With cooling temperatures comes the need for warmer autumn wardrobes! Bring in a bunch of clothing store catalogs or have your students visit clothing store websites with the goal of creating a fall outfit/wardrobe that stays within their budget. Here are a few suggestions for this activity:
- Give students a budget of $200 and task them with creating one fall outfit that stays within their budget. The outfit should include shoes, socks, pants, a top, and a coat.
- Provide a budget of $500 and let students dress two children for a week without exceeding the $500. No clothing can be worn more than once except shoes.
The options for educational fall fun are endless, and don’t forget about Halloween! To get a jump start on your Halloween classroom plans, take a look at these awesome Halloween STEM ideas.
