Unit Two A fall unit study
Leaves
In this unit we find out that the yellow was in the leaf all summer, hiding behind the green. We tear one into a jar, wait an hour, and watch the hidden colours climb a strip of paper.
Every page, nothing held back
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1 The cover
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2 The books
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3 The poems
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4 The science lesson
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5 The activity and the craft
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6 Sorted, and sorted again
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7 The copywork page
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8 Leaf math, one
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9 Leaf math, two
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10 A devotion, five days
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11 The recipe
Page two
The four books
Read aloud, more than once, in no particular order. Each one is annotated — why it is here and what to watch for. If one of the four is out at the library, four is not the point.
- Leaf Man — Lois Ehlert
- Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf — Lois Ehlert
- Why Do Leaves Change Color? — Betsy Maestro
- Fletcher and the Falling Leaves — Julia Rawlinson
The books are not included and they are not for sale here. They are library books, which is the point.
Page four
The science lesson
Chlorophyll catches sunlight so the tree can make food. When the days shorten the green drains away and the yellows that were there all along come through — they were never added, only hidden.
It opens with what the parent needs to know, written for someone who has not thought about it since school. Then a demonstration to do at the table, and one question afterward.
“Where was the yellow all summer?”
Ask it once. Then be quiet and let the answer come, however long it takes.
And then the rest of it.
- The poems
- “The Little Leaves” — George Cooper, said aloud once a day until it is theirs by Friday. Then “Autumn” — Emily Dickinson, read once on the last day and deliberately not explained.
- The activity
- Ten leaves, sorted twice — once by colour, then again by a rule the child chooses and does not tell you.
- The craft
- Leaf rubbings — underside up, where the veins stand proud, until every one shows.
- Math
- Counting, number bonds to ten, tally marks, which pile has more, and word problems to read aloud — all of it about leaves.
- The copywork page
- “Come, little leaves, said the wind one day.” on three-line ruling — two lines traced, the rest left blank.
- A devotion, five days
- 5 days, two minutes each at the table — a verse, a sentence, and one line to pray together. King James Version. Ecclesiastes 3:1 · Isaiah 40:8 · Psalm 104:24 · Matthew 10:30 · Psalm 96:12.
- Cinnamon sugar pastry leaves
- One sheet of puff pastry, twenty-five minutes, about twenty leaves. Best warm, eaten standing up. The child’s job and the adult’s job are written out separately, so nobody has to guess who holds the knife.
- What you will need
- Four books from the library, a walk, a jar, rubbing alcohol, a coffee filter, and a printer.
Take the leaves unit.
$5.95, once, for the whole unit as a print-ready PDF. No account and no login — it arrives by email, and it is yours to print as often as you like for the children in your own house.
On its way.
Check your inbox for the copywork page — and the spam folder, if it isn’t there in a few minutes. I’ll write again when the next unit is done.