Do not worry about the leaves being Fall colors or perfectly cut out. Neither is the point. However, you could notice some Fall colors as you observe. For instance, “That red you’re using on your leaf reminds me of the deep Red leaf I had during our story time” or “That orange leaf you’re making looks a lot like Fletcher’s leaf in the story.” You will need at least one leaf per child. It is best if you can use the real thing. Try to gather a collection of leaves that vary in size, shape and color. If you’re doing this at home or with a classroom of kids, consider including them in the leaf gathering before you do this story time together. Begin Activity Alliterative and evocative, the rich, well-crafted language stirs the senses...This high-quality selection will serve as a seasonal feast for the senses and provide inspiration for budding young artists and writers who love nature." - School Library Journal Starred Review (Fletcher's Seasons Story Collection) I love creating a fall tree and this is the perfect time for my learners to make a tree like the ones in the books we read. We use a brown bag , pencil, scissors, glue, some fall colored construction paper and set to work. Fall leaves in bright shades of orange, yellow, and red transforming our trees mark the change in seasons. Long before children can read a calendar or understand the mystifying concept of daylight savings time, kids notice the changing leaves.

What happens to the leaves on a tree when autumn and winter comes around the corner? Well, that is what we are about to find out! “Fletcher and the Falling Leaves” is a children’s book by Julia Rawlinson along with illustrations by Tiphanie Beek and it is about a young fox named Fletcher who tries to save a tree’s leaves from falling off during autumn and winter. “Fletcher and the Falling Leaves” is a cute story about the beauty of changes in weather that I am sure that many children who are interested in knowing what happens to the trees during winter and autumn will easily enjoy for many years! The picture book was introducing a lot of themes here from the melancholy of Fletcher's feelings to the grief of his favorite tree changing to only being able to hold onto just a few leaves, seeing animals take the falling leaves leaving him with a sense of worry and much more...but of course being an older reader, it felt like these really impactful themes just weren't explored too much in the sparse text. Originally published in Britain as Ferdie and the Falling Leaves (and subsequently published by Scholastic, for the American school-market, as The Fox and the Falling Leaves), this delightful autumn picture-book follows the story of a young fox, and his somewhat less-than-graceful adjustment to the changing of the seasons. Deeply attached to his favorite tree, Fletcher was terribly worried, as autumn proceeded, to notice it losing leaves. Determined to do something about it, he soon discovered that it was impossible, either to prevent the tree from shedding its leaves, or to reattach them, once they had fallen. Would Fletcher's tree ever be the same?

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The setting is an important element of this story. Discuss how the setting affects the character throughout the book. One of my favorite books to read during the fall is Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson. I adore the main character and how he interacts with the changes that happen in his forest during the fall. My learners are able to see fall from a different perspective and become enlightened on why the changes during autumn are so important for the animals. The Goodbye Train is Leaving. ( Watch on YouTube) from Jbrary Fall Leaves Activity for After Story Time: Cooperative Tree

Now it is time for them to glue their leaves onto the tree. Talk with your learners while they glue and many will tell you about how the leaves have fallen and some of the branches are bare, etc. All great ways to show what they learned from the week’s read aloud. If you are doing this at home or in a classroom, I encourage you to let your kids know that you will be putting the leaves in specific spot so they can explore them more later. For example, you could say “we’re going to set these aside right now, but you can investigate them some more on the science table after our story time.” Goodbye song. Use the leaves for further sorting at your math table or next group time. This time you might have more creative categories, such as rainbow leaves or leaves with purple vs leaves without.Are you a member of the amazing Weekly Virtual Book Club community on Facebook? It is free and fantastic weekly fun. Together a team of co-hosts (including yours truly) share a favorite children’s book and related activities each week. Join our community of over 6,000 creative parents, teachers, and childcare providers! Encourage them to explore the leaf with their senses by modeling, describing what you are doing, and asking a couple of questions. For example, you could say “I’m seeing that my leaf is a lovely deep red color” or “What does your leaf feel like between your fingers?” Introduce Sorting Activity

Depending on what you gathered, be prepared to sort by size, shape or some other category. It is helpful to make some visual cue indicating the categories. For example, if you are sorting by size. Have an outline of a really big leaf and a really little leaf with the words BIG and SMALL printed out will aid the sorting process. One of the skills I like to teach when I read Fletcher and the Falling Leaves is cause and effect. There are many parts in the story that can be used to demonstrate cause and effect. For older children – encourage them to write either something they are thankful for or something they love about Fall on their leaf.The fifth and final day of our close read, we read another text to compare Fletcher and the Falling Leaves to. We paired the book Leaves by David Ezra Stein. Which tells the story of another forest animal witnessing the changes of autumn for the first time. We pair and share how the books are the same and different before completing the a fall craft together. When I taught first grade over five years ago I began doing a version of close reads with my learners. Close reading wasn’t “a thing” then, but I couldn’t stand spending so little time with some of my favorite texts with my learners. I chose to spend a week focusing on a piece of quality literature during our read aloud time. With gentle music by John Jennings, this appealing story about nature, seasons, feelings, change and compassion is recommended.' - Video Librarian Starred Review

The first day of our reading, we focus on determining the main idea of the text. I set the purpose of reading before I begin and we make predictions based on the title and cover of the book. Then, I read the book straight through and let the learners enjoy it. After reading, the learners pair and share what they believe the main idea of the text is. Then we discuss as a group what the text was mostly about to determine if we all came to the same conclusion.

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Read the book to students without showing the pictures. Encourage them to close their eyes and visualize the story. Discuss their visualization as a class. Based on the song “Going on a Bear Hunt” this Fall twist on a classic makes for a fun read aloud. Filled with Fall colors and repetitive language the illustrations and words will draw in young readers for a playful romp in the woods and leave them eager to go on their own leaf hunt.