Lattes And Lunchrooms: Scarecrows!

It's November! Can you believe it?! I hope that you all had a relaxing weekend after a most likely busy, fun-filled Halloween! So what does this month have in store? Scarecrows, Veterans Day, Turkeys, and Thanksgiving all come quickly to mind. Some teachers get off a whole week for Thanksgiving and others just a few days, either way it is sure to be another jam packed month.

The cute fonts above are from: www.kevinandamanda.com
and the adorable graphics are from: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Fun-Classroom-Creations

I like to start off November by talking more about the season fall and a fun way to do this is to talk about Scarecrows! These harvest helpers have been around for more than 3,000 years and today we see them all over as fun decorative characters for the season. I don't know about you but I'd have fun making this a theme for a week! So here are a few ideas I've created and found to help make planning a scarecrow week a little easier.

1. Why not start the week off with a class graph: Do you like Scarecrows? Hold a discussion all about these cuties and then have students decide if they like them or not. After creating the class graph have students record their results on a recording page like this:

Click to grab this Freebie :)

Clip Art from Fun-Classroom- Creations

2. We all know that teachers love to make scarecrow crafts with their kiddos, but before doing so I'd complete a scarecrow brace map with my class. I'd use a brace map like this to help students identify the parts of a scarecrow. I also created an emergent "My Scarecrow" printable book. Each page follows the pattern "My scarecrow has _________" and builds the scarecrow from hat to shoes.

3. For science I'd give a lesson on the 4 seasons. Following this introduction we'd spend the week talking more about fall. I'd start off by reading the book I made below called What Happens in Fall and we'd also discuss our fall 5 senses. Students would draw and write about their 5 senses for fall in the little book pictured below.

4. There are many great stories about scarecrows but one of my favorites is The Little Scarecrow Boy. Below is a picture of story map pieces to accompany this story. I'd do this whole class style in a pocket chart and then have students fill in their own follow up sheet.

5. And of course we'd do a scarecrow craft, just look at the cute one I found below under tpt products. But I wouldn't want to leave out the crow, so this is a torn paper crow I created along with a crow poem. Isn't he cute?! We'd for sure be making him!

All of the activities above can be found in my scarecrow unit on TpT.

Now here are a few more ideas to help you plan your perfect scarecrow week!

A great story by Ken Brown all about a chicken who is on a mission to solve a problem. Your littles will love the beautiful illustrations and the fun repetition.

This is one of my favorites! Margaret Wise Brown has written this super read aloud about a little scarecrow boy who doesn't give up. This story is great for story maps, sequencing, and making predictions!

If you're teaching about fall this book by Heidi Press Gray is perfect. Her water-color illustrations accompany simple text which describe the many happenings of fall. Ooooo this story could lead to a great art activity!