Free Technology for Teachers: “Dad, It’s Still Autumn”

Those of you who have been following my blog with regularity over the last couple of years have probably seen my informal series of posts titled Questions from My Daughters. Those posts have been about answering the questions that my daughters (now ages five and six) ask me. Questions like “what do worms eat?” and “what are freckles?” have been answered in those posts. Well now it’s time to start a new series that I’m going to call Corrections from My Daughters.

Over the weekend it became apparent that my daughters have reached the phase of childhood in which they like to be very precise with their words and want their parents to do the same. This was revealed when I was lamenting the lack of snow that we’ve had here in Maine so far this winter. As soon as the words were out of my mouth my oldest daughter said, “well Dad, it’s still autumn.” Her younger sister quickly confirmed that I was wrong to say that it was winter because winter doesn’t start until December 21st (as she learned at school last week).

All of the above is to introduce my short collection of resources for teaching and learning about winter.

Why do we have seasons? What causes the changes in weather patterns throughout the seasons? The answers to those questions and more are found in the following SciShow Kids video and Crash Course Kids video.

Why the Full Moon Is Better In Winter is a good companion resource to go with those videos featured above.

PBS Learning Media’s Classroom Posters collection contains more than a dozen colorful PDFs featuring the letters of the alphabet with representative icons, numbers, shapes, and short words. In the posters collection you’ll also find seasons of the year, months of the year, and weather. Finally, the collection also includes posters about emotions and classroom routines.

We’re Counting Birds is a winter activity that my family enjoyed doing last year and will be doing again this year.