Autumn Across America is a collaborative Internet project for K - 4 classes and for older special education students in USA and Canada.   It offers students an opportunity to learn about their country and the fall season through Internet sharing of writing and pictures of their own communities.

Classes K - 4 and older special education students are welcome to participate. The project fits well in a study about seasons, communities, or weather, and includes whole-class and individual student literacy activities.  It's also a good project for teachers new to Internet collaboration as well as those more experienced, and it easily is aligned to literacy, science, and technology standards.  This is a great opportunity for teachers to develop and share a differentiated unit of study!

Suggested activities and resources are provided. 

 

Project Requirements

Students will:

Read about the season and pick a favorite book title to share with project participants.

Identify signs of autumn in their area, share with their class, engage in lessons/activities related to autumn. 

Select an activity to share with the project.

Teachers will submit no later than November 15, 2006:

• A brief narrative about their class activities related to the project including any book titles students enjoyed.

• A sample of written student work (1-2 examples of individual or whole-class)

• And 1-3 images (jpg or gif files only) of student work or your area (optional).

Please send all in email with images attached.
     * Sorry - Please do not send doc files, PowerPoint slides or videos.
     * Sorry - Whole class photos cannot be used.

If you prefer to post your own webpage, please make sure to  link to our project homepage.  A link will be made to your page from the project.

• Identify and share special events taking place in your community during the fall.

• Use a map show the location of towns from other participating classes.

• Write poem about your town/state/region/country (poetry formats). 

• Read or listen to an autumn book and respond in a creative way of your choosing.

• Collect leaves and identify.  See  Autumn Leaf Scrapbook and
  Tree Identification Guide

• Illustrate your area's features (see resources)

• Interview government officials or celebrities.

• Interview your local historian.

• Compare/contrast types of towns (urban/suburban/rural) in your area or use towns from participating classes.

• Draw a local or regional map.

• Map location of other class towns using  How far Is It?
  Use this information on longitude and latitude to explain why autumn looks the same or different in your region.  Check out the other links when you get there.

• Create a postcard about your area in autumn.

• Write a song about your town and sing to a familiar tune.

• Create a travel brochure highlighting autumn events in your area. 

• Write an email response to other classes about their projects.

• Create a slide show for visitors showing signs of autumn or special autumn events in your area. 

• Forecast the expected weather during autumn from data found on Internet weather sites. 

Use educational software to enrich this study and enhance student learning  (Kidspiration, Scholastic Keyes, Graph Club, Excel, Word, Word Art, KidPix, Paint and other programs).

• Read a book about autumn and create a graphic organizer

• Select an animal in your area and write how it prepares for winter; create a timeline with software showing this information.

• Create an illustration with graphic software.

• Take a survey and graph your classmates' favorite sports, colors, food, or activities for fall.

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