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sing a song of seasons! Something bright in all! Flowers in the summer, Fires in the fall!
Autumn Fires by Robert Louis Stevenson
With the autumn equinox, we have been thinking about autumn.
There is more to this GIF than you think – watch carefully!
We have been looking into why this season has two names, fall and autumn.
Did you know that, originally, British English used the phrase, the fall of the leaves? This was replaced by ‘autumn’ from the French word, automne. However, North Americans continued with the original phrase, shortened to just, the fall.
You can find out more about this season, here, including some good news for people with autumn/ fall birthdays: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/seasons/autumn/autumn-facts
Here is the full poem by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Autumn Fires
In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!
Before lighting a bonfire, don’t forget to check beneath it for any hedgehogs that might have made it their home! You can find ten tips for making your garden hedgehog-friendly, here: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Hedgehog-Street-Top-Tips-leaflet.pdf
We have been rereading…
Charlotte’s Web, and listening to the audiobook.
Busby says, “I really love listening to the author, E.B. White, read his book. What a lovely voice he has!
And I do love a book where, despite the danger, you just know that nothing bad or sad is going to happen to any of the characters.”
Oh dear. Just a warning to younger readers, and to Busby, that something sad does happen.
You can listen to a clip of E.B. White’s beautiful narration, here:
http://Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White – Audiobook – Audible.co.uk
You can listen to the book being read on YouTube, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqEP9rPXePw Note to parents: I have not checked this beyond the first few minutes. And watch a spider spinning its web, here:
We have been thinking about the composer, Carl Orff…
Here he is aged around nine. We have been wondering whether he minded being a one hit wonder of classical music.
For younger readers, this is the piece of music for which Carl Orff is most famous:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXFSK0ogeg4
However, he was an immensely talented educationalist and actually devised a whole system of musical education for children, Schulwerk, which is still taught today.
Photo, Carl Orff in 1904, from the Carl Orff website, here: https://www.orff.de/en/start-englisch
We have been watching some Schulwerk in action…
in this piece, called Gassenhauer.
If you have two minutes to spare, try watching the first 80 seconds of this video and then see whether you like it. At one minute forty seconds, we are pretty confident you will see why we chose it. It is pretty amazing what some drums and xylophones can do! And we certainly think this deserves a much bigger audience. You’ll see what we mean(!) https://youtu.be/iOJyCG3LAHE
You can watch his method being used in classrooms, here: https://aosa.org/about/what-is-orff-schulwerk/watch-children-inorff-schulwerk-classrooms/ Suitable for younger readers, but the site is aimed at teachers.
We have been finding out about rainforest animals…
using this wonderful child-friendly website: https://www.activewild.com/animal-habitats/. The class I was teaching loved this clip about the sloth. You can see why, here: https://youtu.be/ndMKTnSRsKM
The website looks at many different habitats. It includes sections on endangered and weird species, as well as a section on dinosaurs. It is packed with information, photos and film clips.
You can also test your knowledge using the quizzes that appear in different sections of the website. Here is one of the ones about the rainforest: https://www.activewild.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/active-wild-rainforest-animals-question-sheet_1.pdf
And finally, here are some more hands-on easy activities we have been, or will be, trying out this autumn – or fall…
Take a photo of something little or unusual that you spot in nature. The red growth is on a wild rose and there are several others nearby. Does anyone know what they are?
The fridge cake can be adapted for children. Here’s a link to the recipe: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chocolate-fridge-cake
Here’s the link to the mandala: https://mondaymandala.com/fall-coloring-pages/
Finally, Busby says, “You might have noticed that I’ve been a bit quiet. It’s the whole Charlotte’s Web thing. However, I have been told that getting outside and doing something you enjoy, is a great antidote to sadness. So, I am very much looking forward to trying out this activity. May I advise readers to check for hedgehogs etc. before you launch though.”
Thank you…
everyone who has signed up to follow this blog. Every time we see a new name, I feel great and Busby feels (p)awesome.
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