Autumn (1) · The Tree Is Changing

2 min Magic Box hook

The box is longer than usual today — something is sticking out of the lid. Whole class chants:

Shake it — a dry, papery rustle, nothing else. Sniff the lid: (eyes closed) “It smells like… outside.”

Turn it. Two leaves at the tip are gold; the rest are still green. Let them touch one gold leaf each, one at a time.

4 min Teach · Autumn

Hold the branch across your two open hands, low, so everyone can see both colours at once.

Say the word three times, getting quieter: autumn, autumn, autumn. Littles just say it with you — “Autumn!” Bigs take the frame: “It is autumn.”

Now the photograph. Stand the branch up where everybody can see it, get the whole circle to say “cheese” to it, and take the picture in front of them — ceremonially, like it matters, because on Thursday it will. Tell them plainly: “I am keeping this picture. When we come back after the holiday we will look at it again and see what the tree did without us.”

Teacher fails: hold up the gold tip, look at it with total confidence and announce “Ah — green.” Nod. Wait. They will shout you down, and the shouting is the lesson.

Lay the 秋 card beside the branch on the mat. Say it once, in Chinese — 秋天到了 — and leave it there. One character a day, no drilling.

3 min Song · Autumn Is Here! — chorus + Monday verse

The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning, right through the holiday and out the other side. Chords and the full sheet are on the Song tab. The chorus is a finger-play: they will do the actions before they can sing the words.

3 min Game · Green or gold?

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Two hoops on the floor, well apart. A green leaf in one, a gold leaf in the other — those are the labels.

Tip the pile of leaves out in the middle. One child at a time: pick up one leaf, hold it high so the circle can see, and run it to the hoop it belongs in. The circle calls the colour as it goes.

Go round twice. Then hold up a leaf that is half and half and let them argue about it — there is no right answer, and that is exactly the point: it is changing.

Real leaves, never paper ones. The dry crackle is half of what they are learning.

1 min Close

The week's line, every day. Whisper → normal → shout, with the leaves fluttering down on the last word:

Got 3 spare minutes? Leaf Man (Lois Ehlert) — every page is real leaves, and they will start seeing faces in the pile outside.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box is heavy and light at the same time. Let two children lift it. Chant:

Shake it hard — a huge dry rustle, like rain on a window. Peek in, and make your face enormous.

Leaves come down over everybody. Let the shrieking run for five whole seconds before you say anything. Then, quietly: “Leaf!” — one hand fluttering down to the floor.

4 min Teach · Leaf

Everyone picks up one leaf from the floor in front of them. One each, no swapping, and hold it flat on the palm.

Now go round the circle: each child holds their leaf up and says one thing about it. Littles say the word — “Leaf!” Bigs take a frame: “My leaf is big.” “The leaf is red.”

Then all together: hold the leaf as high as you can reach, and on three, everybody lets go at once. Twenty leaves falling in silence is the best three seconds of the week.

Teacher fails: try to make your leaf fall upwards. Throw it at the ceiling, twice, and look genuinely puzzled when it comes back down.

The 叶 card goes down beside yesterday's 秋 — 树叶变黄了。The row is starting to build.

3 min Song · Autumn Is Here! — chorus + Tuesday verse

Sing this one sitting inside the fallen leaves. Nobody tidies until after the game — the mess is the material.

3 min Game · Leaf, leaf, drop

Everybody stands up. “You are not children any more. You are leaves, and you are still on the branch.” Arms up high, fingers spread, completely still.

On the word windy, every leaf spins slowly down to the floor and goes absolutely still where it lands. Then back up on the branch, and again. Four or five rounds — and make them wait for it, longer each time.

The stillness is the game, not the spinning. If they land and stay down for three silent seconds, you have taught self-regulation and the word windy in the same breath — and Friday's word is already in the room.

1 min Close

Everyone holds one leaf. Whisper → normal → shout, and throw the leaves up on the last word:

Now they tidy — every leaf back into the basket, and the basket goes onto Tray 2 for the shape-matching work.

2 min Magic Box hook

Two things in the box today, and they are the same colour. Chant:

Lift out the maple leaf first, high, and turn it slowly. Then the little flag beside it, and hold them together.

Point at something red on your own clothes. Then they hunt their own: “Red!”

4 min Teach · Red

The maple leaf goes round the circle, one child at a time, held up against something of theirs. Same or not the same?

Littles point and name: “Red!” Bigs take the frame: “The leaf is red.” “I see a red flag.”

Lay the red leaf beside a green one and a gold one from Tuesday's basket. Three colours, one week, one tree.

Teacher fails: hold the bright red maple leaf up, admire it, and call it green — with your whole chest. Say it twice. Let them physically take it off you.

The 红 card joins 秋 and 叶 on the shelf edge. 国庆节快乐！

3 min Song · Autumn Is Here! — chorus + Wednesday verse

Sing this one at the window, facing the actual tree. It is a goodbye song today, and they should be able to see who they are saying goodbye to.

3 min Game · Red hunt

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Then: “Find me five red things — before the song ends. GO!”

Sing the chorus, slowly, on the ukulele while they scatter. They bring red things back to the middle and pile them up. When the chorus ends, everybody sits, and you count the pile together — out loud, in English and in Chinese.

Last round: everybody holds one red thing, and the 红旗 goes to whichever child has been waiting most patiently, to wave for the class.

Cap it at five, count it properly, and stop. A hunt that never ends turns into a room-wrecking, and today ends with a ceremony.

1 min Close

Standing at the window, flag in one hand. Whisper → normal → shout:

Before you go 再见, tree — keep changing without us 🇨🇳

Take the whole class to the window, or outside to the tree itself if you have five spare minutes. Hold up Monday's branch. Then say it, slowly, and mean it:

Everybody waves the 红旗 once. 再见，树！ Then check the photograph is safe on your phone — that photograph is Thursday's whole lesson.

What stays out over the holiday: all four trays, exactly as they are. The row of 汉字 (秋 · 叶 · 红) stays on the shelf edge, and the branch stands beside it. Nothing gets packed away — the room should look like it is still mid-week when they walk back in, because it is.

2 min Magic Box hook

The box has been sitting on the shelf, shut, for a week. Say so. Chant:

Shake it — a rustle, and something sloshes. Peek, and go very still.

Then the jar of cold wet grass. Everyone touches it. “Cold!” That is 寒露 — 寒露到，露水凉。

4 min Teach · Yellow — and What changed?

This is the big one. Hold Monday's photograph up in one hand and the real branch in the other, right next to each other, and say nothing at all for five seconds.

Now round the circle: each child names one thing that is different between the photograph and the branch. Littles point at the gold and say the word — “Yellow!” Bigs take the full frame: “The tree changed while we were away.” “The leaf is yellow now.”

Then the honest part, said plainly: “Nobody watched it. It did it anyway.” Beijing's 银杏 trees all turned at once while they were on holiday, and every single child walked past it.

Teacher fails: look from the photo to the branch and back, frown, and announce “Hmm. Exactly the same.” Hold your ground for a good long moment.

The 黄 card joins 秋 · 叶 · 红 on the shelf edge. Ask what colour the trees outside their own homes are — every answer is right and every answer is evidence.

3 min Song · Autumn Is Here! — chorus + Thursday verse

This verse starts on Am — the one darker chord in the song, and it lands on the day they come back to a changed tree. Slow right down for it.

3 min Game · What changed?

Monday's photograph propped up in the middle of the circle; the real branch lying beside it; the gold ginkgo leaves in a pile.

One child at a time comes into the middle, points at one difference and names it. The circle answers together: “It CHANGED!” Nobody may repeat somebody else's difference — which forces them to look properly.

Second round, harder and quieter: everyone shuts their eyes, you move or turn one thing on the mat, and they open them and find it. Three times.

This is the sensorial memory work the whole week was built around, and the holiday is what made it possible. Take every answer, even a wrong one — “the pot moved” counts, they are looking.

1 min Close

A gold leaf in every hand. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Fletcher and the Falling Leaves (Julia Rawlinson) — a small fox worries about a tree losing its leaves. Read it today, of all days.

2 min Magic Box hook

Last box of the week, and it is completely silent. Chant:

Shake it. Nothing. Shake it harder. Still nothing. Look worried.

Whoosh both arms sideways and sway. “Windy!”

4 min Teach · Windy

Tip the week's whole basket of leaves onto the mat in one heap. Then kneel down and fan it, hard.

The fan goes round the circle, one child at a time: three fans each, and the rest of the class makes the wind sound. Littles say the word with the whoosh — “Windy!” Bigs take the frame: “The wind blows the leaves down.”

Then blow with your mouths instead: one big class breath, all together, on three. The leaves barely move. Try the fan again. Which is stronger? That is a real question with a real answer, and they can see it.

Teacher fails: fan yourself elegantly and wonder aloud why the leaves are not moving. Point the fan at your own face for a good ten seconds before somebody turns your wrist round.

The 风 card completes the row: 秋 · 叶 · 红 · 黄 · 风. Read it left to right with them once — that row is the week, and it is also your display.

3 min Song · the WHOLE song — this is the review

This run-through IS the week's review. Do not add a second review activity — five verses in order is the five words in order, and they will sing it without knowing they are being assessed. Watch for the two-year-olds doing all four chorus actions: that is a pass.

3 min Game · Red basket, yellow basket

Two baskets, far apart. One leaf at a time, one child at a time: pick it up, hold it high, name the colour, run it to the right basket. The circle calls the colour with them.

Go until the mat is clear. Then count both baskets out loud — which one won? Fan the winner over the floor and watch it all come down again, and let them groan.

Then the awards: one star each, name read out, on the spot. And the leaf worksheets (page 16) go home with them.

1 min Close

Everyone holding a leaf, fan in the middle. Whisper → normal → biggest shout of the week:

Next week we stay in autumn — the tree finishes giving its leaves away, and the field gives us food.

The four chords

Tempo: unhurried and swaying, like something drifting down — this is a falling song, not a marching song. Slow right down on the Am in the third line, then lift again for “down below!” Chant it without the uke first; add chords once they know the actions.

Chorus — sing it every single day

Sing the chorus twice each time. The actions are the whole point — a two-year-old who flutters, whooshes and crouches has understood autumn, whether or not a single word comes out.

One verse a day — the verses are C and G7, except Thursday's Am

The build: each day sing chorus → today's verse → chorus. The holiday sits between Wednesday's verse and Thursday's, and the song is what carries the week across it — open Thursday with the chorus before you say anything else and watch them remember. Friday's finale is the whole thing top to bottom, and it doubles as the review of the entire week.

If you're brand new to ukulele

Practice this loop for five minutes tonight: C (4 strums) → F (4 strums) → C → G7 → C. Add Am last: it is one finger on the same string as F, so slide from Am to F and back until it stops feeling like a change. That is the entire song — and four of the five verses are only C and G7. If your fingers get stuck, put the uke down and do the finger-play instead: the class will not notice, and the actions carry the meaning either way.