illustration of two children playing with leaves of different colors
ART BY NATASHA DONOVAN
Poetry,

Falling Leaves

A poem of appreciation for the colorful leaves of autumn

By JaNay Brown-Wood | Art by Natasha Donovan
From the October/November 2021 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will read a poem about falling leaves and identify various elements of the poem that bring the scene to life.

Complexity Factors
  • Purpose & Levels of Meaning
    The poem uses personification and descriptive details to bring to life a familiar fall scene of playing in autumn leaves. On another level, the poem is an expression of appreciation for nature and our connection to it.
  • Structure
    The poem consists of four stanzas. Three of the stanzas are composed of four lines, and the last stanza contains six lines. The poem includes perfect rhymes and slant rhymes. Its rhyme scheme is AAAB, CCCB, DDDB, EEEEBB.
  • Language
    The poem includes some words that may be challenging for students, such as vibrant, tread, trot, and flit-flew. Two of these words (vibrant and tread) are defined on the page. Flit-flew is an invented compound word.
  • Knowledge Demands
    Some familiarity with the changing of seasons and the life cycles of trees will be helpful to understand the poem.
Featured Skill: Poetic Structures,
Other Key Skills: vocabulary, visual literacy, setting, figurative language, interpreting text, key details, summarizing, rhyme, connecting to text
Standards
  • Common Core
    RL.1, RL.2, RL.4, RL.5, RL.7, RF.4, SL.1, SL.2, L.1, L.4
  • TEKS Grade 3
    1a, 1c, 3b, 4a, 6a, 6c, 6d, 6e, 6f, 6g, 7d, 7f, 7g, 8d, 9b, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d
Content-Area Connections
  • Social Studies
    nature, seasons
  • Social and Emotional Learning
    social awareness (expressing gratitude)

Presentation View
See Student View
Think and Read: Elements of Poetry

As you read, think about how the poet brings this scene to life.

Falling Leaves

I loved the leaves

That dropped from the trees

And danced in the breeze

In Autumn.


The  vibrant  reds

That fell on my head

Or the lawn where I  tread

And trot on ‘em.


And all around

Shades of yellow and brown

Flit-flew to the ground

As I caught ‘em!


A special thank-you

To the trees that grew

The wind that blew

My hands that threw

And my heart that knew ‘em

In Autumn.

 Copyright © 2019 by JaNay Brown-WOod.  Reprinted by permission of Miranda Paul Books. All Rights Reserved.

Audio ()
Activities (4)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Audio ()
Activities (4) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Can't Miss Teaching Extras
From the Storyworks 3 Archives

Pair this poem with another seasonal poem from the October/November 2019 issue: “October Saturday.” Ask students to compare and contrast the different ways autumn leaves are described in each poem.

Make a Science Connection

Students will learn how and why some leaves change colors during autumn in this fascinating 3-minute SciKids video. 

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Table of Contents

1. Preparing to Read

2. Reading and Discussing the Poem

3. SEL Focus

4. Skill Building

5. Differentiate and Customize

Struggling Readers, Multilingual Learners, Advanced Readers, Independent Readers or Small Groups

1. Preparing to Read

Set a Purpose for Reading 

  • Read aloud the title of the poem and the poet’s name, and ask students to predict what the poem might be about.

  • Read aloud the bubble labeled Elements of Poetry, and instruct students to keep this prompt in mind as they read the poem.

Preview Text Features and Vocabulary

  • Direct students’ attention to the blue bubbles explaining the meanings of vibrant and tread. Ask how these words might relate to a poem called “Falling Leaves.”

  • Indicate any other vocabulary terms that may be challenging for your students, and ask if anyone knows their definitions. Explain to students that flit-flew is an invented word created by putting two words together, and that poets sometimes use invented words in their poems. Ask students what action they think this invented word describes.

  • Invite students to describe the illustration.

2. Reading and Discussing the Poem

  • Read the poem to the class, play the audio version, or use text-to-speech.

  • Next, ask students to take turns reading aloud each line in the poem.

  • If appropriate for your students, you might want to point out that many of the rhymes in this poem are slant rhymes (also called near-rhymes). Slant rhymes are words that are similar but not identical in their ending sounds. Examples in the poem include leaves, trees, and breeze; reds and head; around and brown; and ՚em and Autumn.

  • Discuss the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions. (Alternatively, assign all or part of the Learning Journey Slide Deck, which contains the questions as well as other activities from this lesson plan and a link to the poem.)

  • Follow up with the SEL Focus activity.

Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions  (30 minutes)

  • Where and when does the poem take place? (setting) The poem takes place outside on a lawn with trees on it during the fall.
  • Read the first stanza (group of lines) of the poem. What do the words “. . .  the leaves/ That dropped from the trees/And danced in the breeze” help you imagine about the leaves? (figurative language/interpreting text) The words help me imagine falling leaves turning and spinning in the breeze in a way that looks like they’re dancing.
  • Read the last two lines of the second stanza. In your own words, describe what the speaker in the poem did on the lawn. (key details/summarizing) The speaker walked across a lawn that had fallen leaves on it. 
  • The poet uses the invented word flit-flew in the third stanza. Flit means “to move or fly quickly from one place or thing to another.” What does the word flit-flew tell you about the movement of the leaves? (figurative language/interpreting text) The word flit-flew tells you that the leaves moved in a way that looked like they were quickly flying from place to place, like a bird or insect might move.
  • Which words rhyme in the last stanza of the poem? (rhyme) The words thank-you, grew, blew, threw, and knew rhyme. Students might also include the words ՚em and Autumn, which are slant rhymes. 
  • Read the last stanza. How is this part of the poem “a special thank-you”? (interpreting text, key details) In the last stanza, the speaker thanks the trees that grew the leaves, the wind that blew the leaves, her hands that threw the leaves, and her heart that understood the wonder of falling autumn leaves.
  • How does the poem’s illustration help you understand the poem? (visual literacy) The poem’s illustration helps you understand the poem by showing some of the actions that happen in the poem. Leaves that are shades of brown, yellow, and red are blowing around. The children are trying to catch them like the speaker of the poem describes doing.

3. SEL Focus

Appreciation

The poem is “a special thank-you” to the various things that created a wonderful moment for the speaker in the poem: the trees, the wind, her hands, and her heart. It reminds us all to appreciate moments of beauty and excitement in our lives. Ask: What is a special, happy moment in your life that you’d like to express appreciation for? Students might choose a special outing with a grandparent, learning a new skill, a great birthday party, reuniting with a friend, playing with a pet, watching a butterfly, or any other moment that’s special to them.

4. Skill Building

Featured Skill: Elements of Poetry

Distribute or digitally assign our Elements of Poetry Skill Builder and have students complete it in class or for homework.  

Differentiate and Customize
For Struggling Readers

Read the poem aloud as students follow along. Pause after each stanza to discuss what is happening in those lines. Assign a stanza to pairs of students and have each pair write a one-sentence summary.

For Multilingual Learners (MLL)

The poem uses a variety of verbs in its description of falling leaves and the speaker’s interaction with them. Reinforce the meaning of these action words with your multilingual learners. Read the poem in unison with your students. Then read the poem again aloud. For the second read, instruct students to circle or highlight any action words in the poem (such as dropped and danced). Then have your students act out these actions with their bodies, or describe these actions with words. (When students read the articles online in Presentation View, they can use the highlighter tool to mark the text.) 

For Advanced Readers

Have students write a paragraph from the perspective of one of the leaves in the poem. What does it feel like to fall from the tree? Encourage students to include descriptions of how things look, sound, smell, and feel to their leaves.

For Independent Readers or Small Groups

Ask students to come up with their own ideas for illustrating the poem. Their illustrations could be drawn or collaged—or created using another art medium of their choosing. Alternatively, they might choose to describe their ideas in detail.

Text-to-Speech