Celebrating Fall

Students begin a year-long exploration of the seasons and how weather, plants, and animals are different depending on the season by reading about the beauties of fall and fall harvests.

icon/ela/white

ELA

Unit 3

Kindergarten

Unit Summary


In this unit, students begin a year-long exploration of the seasons and how weather, plants, and animals are different depending on the season by studying the beauties of fall and fall harvests. This unit is a chance for students to stop and think about the changes that are happening in the natural world around them, and what causes said changes. It is our hope that by the end of the year, after studying winter and spring in subsequent units, students will have a deeper understanding of the unique features of each season.

This is students' first introduction to informational texts and reading to learn information. Students should be challenged to brainstorm original research questions, then to use their research to answer questions. Students will also begin to identify the main topic and key details of a text. Additionally, students will begin to think about how details are connected. 

When discussing the text, students continue to work on clarifying and sharing their thoughts by asking and answering questions orally. Students also begin to learn strategies for continuing conversations through multiple exchanges.

Students continue to build their writing fluency by responding to the Target Task question in writing. Students learn strategies for how to write words to tell their reader more about their responses. Students also begin to write informational texts about the topics they research including leaves, pumpkins, and apples. 

Please Note: The text Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins used in Lesson 6 is out of print. If you can't access this text, this lesson can be skipped. In March 2025, this unit and its lesson plans received a round of enhancements. This unit is now 18 instructional days (previously 17 days). Teachers should pay close attention as they intellectually prepare to account for the updated pacing, sequencing, and content. 

Fishtank Plus for ELA

Unlock features to optimize your prep time, plan engaging lessons, and monitor student progress.

Texts and Materials


Some of the links below are Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click and make a purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which supports our non-profit mission.

Core Materials

Assessment


The following assessments accompany Unit 3.

Content Assessment

The Content Assessment pushes students to synthesize unit content knowledge or unit essential questions in writing. The Content Assessment should be used as the primary assessment because it shows mastery of unit content knowledge and standards.

Cold Read Assessment

The Cold Read Assessment tests students' ability to comprehend a "cold" or unfamiliar passage and answer standards-based questions. The Cold Read Assessment can be given in addition to the Content Assessment as a pulse point for what students can read and analyze independently, a skill often required for standardized testing.

Unit Prep


Intellectual Prep

Unit Launch

Before you teach this unit, unpack the texts, themes, and core standards through our guided intellectual preparation process. Each Unit Launch includes a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning to ensure you're prepared to support every student.

Essential Questions

  • What makes fall special?
  • What is the weather like in the fall? How does the weather impact different living things?

Reading Focus Areas

  • Readers ask and answer questions about key details in a text to learn more about a specific topic. 
  • The main topic is what the text is mostly about. Key details tell more about the main topic.
  • To understand an informational text, readers think about how details are connected. 

Writing Focus Areas

Informational Writing Focus Areas

  • Writers name the topic at the beginning of each page. 
  • Writers write 2–3 facts about their topic.

Emergent Writing

Use the Emergent Writing Teacher Tool to regularly study students' Target Task responses. During independent writing, prompt students using the supports relevant to their individual Emergent Writing phase. By the end of Unit 3, students should demonstrate mastery of the majority of skills within Phase 2 and several of the skills within Phase 3: Transitional Writing. 

Speaking and Listening Focus Areas

  • Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions. 
  • Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges. 
  • Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally by asking and answering questions about key details. 
  • Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly. 

Vocabulary

Text-based

chlorophyllconfusedcropfall/autumnfadeharvestjaggednarrowobserveoverriperootseasonsmoothstemtemperaturevineweatherwide

To see all the vocabulary for Unit 3, view our Kindergarten Vocabulary Glossary.

Supporting All Students

In order to ensure that all students are able to access the texts and tasks in this unit, it is incredibly important to intellectually prepare to teach the unit prior to launching the unit. Use the intellectual preparation protocol and the Unit Launch to determine which support students will need. To learn more, visit the Supporting all Students teacher tool.

Content Knowledge and Connections

  • Identify autumn/fall and characteristics of local weather patterns during fall (chilly, windy, frost, cloudy, rain).
  • Explain why leaves change colors and describe the different types of leaves they may see.
  • Identify apples and pumpkins as fall harvests.
  • Identify the basic parts of a pumpkin plant (seed, root, stem, branch, leaf).
  • Identify facts about apples and how they grow.

Lesson Map


Common Core Standards


Core Standards

K-ESS2-1
K-ESS2-2
K-ESS3-2
L.K.1
L.K.1.b
L.K.1.c
L.K.1.d
L.K.1.e
L.K.1.f
L.K.2
L.K.2.b
L.K.2.c
L.K.2.d
L.K.6
RI.K.1
RI.K.2
RI.K.3
RI.K.4
RL.K.1
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
RL.K.5
SL.K.1
SL.K.2
SL.K.3
SL.K.6
W.K.2
W.K.8

Supporting Standards

L.K.1.a
RI.K.5
RI.K.6
RI.K.10
RL.K.4
RL.K.9
RL.K.10

Read Next

Celebrating Fall
Lesson 1
icon/arrow/right/large

Request a Demo

See all of the features of Fishtank in action and begin the conversation about adoption.

Learn more about Fishtank Learning School Adoption.

Contact Information

School Information

What courses are you interested in?

ELA

Math

Any other information you would like to provide about your school?

We Handle Materials So You Can Focus on Students

We Handle Materials So You Can Focus on Students

We've got you covered with rigorous, relevant, and adaptable ELA lesson plans for free