Summer is swiftly coming to a close. Before we know it, we’ll all be wading knee-deep through autumn leaves and picking out pumpkins to carve for decorations or dessert. For kids, fall is an especially exciting time of the year—a time of ghost stories and crackling fires, a time of hot chocolate and diving headfirst into neatly raked piles of leaves.
You may not have a cozy campfire around which to tell them, but there are plenty of wonderful stories that are perfect for sharing with your students this time of year. Take a page out of some of the best autumnal children’s books and celebrate the season together with your class using these three fall writing prompts for 1st graders.
Prompt #1: “Amelia Bedelia loves apple pies. What is your favorite autumn treat? Describe it.”
Prompt #1: “Amelia Bedelia loves apple pies. What is your favorite autumn treat? Describe it.”
In the book Amelia Bedelia’s First Apple Pie by Herman Parish, the titular Amelia goes to great lengths to save her family’s tradition of feasting on apple pie together every fall. This prompt asks your students to consider what delectable fall dessert or other seasonal snack they love as much as Amelia loves apple pies. It’s also a chance for your 1st graders to practice their descriptive writing skills by explaining in detail what that food looks, tastes and smells like as if they are writing to someone who has never seen that food before. The more mouthwatering details they include, the better!
PROJECT IDEA
This writing prompt also makes for a delightful class project. After their responses have been written and edited by you or one of their peers, ask your students to rewrite their responses carefully using markers. Then, ask them to draw their food of choice. Finally, publish their tasty treats and descriptions in a classbook that’s sure to get a few tummies rumbling just in time for Thanksgiving dinner.
Prompt #2: “During his first fall, Mouse discovers how much fun it is to play in the leaves. What is your favorite fall memory?”
This sweet, fall writing prompt provides the perfect opportunity to introduce your 1st graders to the art of the personal narrative. Inspired by Lauren Thompson’s Mouse’s First Fall, this prompt helps your students hone their memory recall skills by asking them to think back to an autumn memories from years past and describe it to the best of their abilities. Be sure to ask your students to share their stories after they finish writing; there’s nothing like a few good happy memories to warm hearts on even the chilliest autumn mornings.
PROJECT IDEA
This prompt can easily be turned into a fun publishing project in just a few extra steps. After writing, ask your students to peer edit each other’s work and rewrite their responses accordingly. Once their stories are ready to print, ask them to draw illustrations to match. Then, ask them to each draw and color one autumn leaf, just like the ones Mouse frolics through in Thompson’s book. Cut the leaves out and hang them around the classroom and take a fun class photo. Publish their work and their photo in a classbook full of fun fall memories. Be sure to leave their leaves up for a little while—they make excellent decorations for a fall-themed publishing party to celebrate the day your students become published authors.
Prompt #3: “How do you know when it’s autumn?”
Inspired by Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak, this fall writing prompt asks your 1st graders to think about what makes fall special. When do they know, for sure, that summer is over and fall is here? Is it seeing pumpkins for sale on the side of the road or at the supermarket? Is it the changing of the leaves, or the first chilly breeze that carries with it an early hint of the holiday season? Whatever says “fall” to them, that’s what they should write about.
PROJECT IDEA
To really dig into this writing activity, start with a unique brainstorming session. When the weather is agreeable, take a walk outside with your students to help them think of ideas for their responses—they may spot a few signs of autumn they wouldn’t have remembered otherwise! See how many fall-like things you can spot together before heading back inside. Then, once they’ve written their responses, ask your students to draw an illustration of themselves walking through a scene that incorporate the things they’ve described, just like the scenes in Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn. Finally, publish their art and writing in a beautiful autumnal classbook they’ll be proud to share with their families this holiday season.
Falling for Fall: Writing About Autumn in 1st Grade
Writing prompts like these, of course, aren’t just about getting your 1st grade students into a festive fall mood. Writing about things like seasonal desserts, favorite memories or the first signs of fall encourage your students to think more deeply about their experiences and about the world around them. They call attention to the little things—which, as often as not, turn out to be the things that matter most—and help your students become more adept at expressing their own unique perceptions and points of view. And, by publishing their writing and art, you’ll be able to not only help them achieve something truly exciting, but also create a priceless snapshot of who they are today for the person they will someday become. Their one-of-a-kind book will be something they can look back on some future fall day with fondness and amazement at just how much they’ve grown and changed, and will remind them of the wonder with which they saw the world when they were kids.
For more fun (and free!) classroom resources, check out our online teacher’s lounge, and be sure to sign up for your free classbook publishing kit!
Image sources: Lead image via Unsplash; Images 1, 2, 3 via OpenClipart.org