Home Geography for Primary Grades · Lesson XL · Unit 8: Animals and the seasons
40. The signs of the seasons (poem)
Goal: Your child names signs of each of the four seasons from the poem and from their own neighborhood.
You'll need
- The book open to the poem
- A large sheet of paper folded into four
- Colored pencils
What's in the book
A poem in four verses, each asking "What does it mean when...?" and naming the signs of spring (bluebird, violets), summer (ripe berries, butterflies, bees, cattle in the shade), autumn (crickets, robins flying south, falling apples, brown leaves) and winter (short days, bare trees, frozen brooks, snow).
The lesson, step by step
Read it aloud
Read the poem. Your child answers the last line of each verse.
What does it mean when the bluebird comes
And builds its nest, singing sweet and clear?
List the signs
Go verse by verse and list the signs of each season the poem gives.
Which season is it now?
Look outside. Ask: What season is it now? Which signs from the poem can we see? What other signs do you notice?
Our own signs
Ask your child to think of signs of each season in your own town: school starting, pumpkins, snow shovels, sprinklers, a certain tree turning red.
Four seasons page
On the folded sheet, your child draws one box for each season and draws two signs in each.
Afterwards
Your child may learn the verse for the present season by heart.