The Leaf Thief Book Companion October Preschool Kindergarten 1st 2nd Special Ed

About this resource

This companion pairs with **The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming** (or any story about a squirrel and his

autumn leaves that you already have). This resource is not affiliated with or endorsed by the author or

publisher. You need your own copy of the book; nothing from it is reproduced here. The squirrel, the

tree and the leaves in this file are our own drawings, not the book's artwork.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (57 pages)

• 1 Start Here week plan: what to do after the read-aloud each day, plus what else it practices
• 1 book-and-words page naming the read-aloud, an original circle-time chant ("Where Did They Go?,"

written for this unit — no song or story text is reprinted), and the 9 circle-time vocabulary words

• 9 smartboard slides for whole-group circle time on a projector or interactive board: a title slide,

name the pictures, sort, count (3 slides), the letter hunt, the life skill in order, and the core word

• 9 circle-time vocabulary cards to cut out and use at the carpet (squirrel, leaf, leaves, tree, bird,

nest, basket, friend, rabbit)

• Day 1, Sort (a leaf or not?), at 3 levels: Level 1 errorless matching, Level 2 the standard two-group

sort, Level 3 a third group added (leaf, animal, or toy) — 10 cut-and-glue pieces on every level

• Day 2, Count the leaves, at 3 levels: Levels 1 and 2 count sets of 1 to 5 with a 5-piece numeral strip

to cut and glue; Level 3 counts sets of 6 to 10 and writes the number, no cutting

• Day 3, Letter L, at 3 levels: Level 1 glues 5 matching L's, Level 2 finds L among 10 look-alike

letters, Level 3 says 10 pictures aloud and glues the 5 that start with the /l/ sound

• Writing, at 3 levels: Level 1 traces the big letters, Level 2 traces letters and the word "leaf,"

Level 3 writes the letters and the word independently on primary lines

• Day 4, a life-skill sequencing page: 5 picture pieces (4 real steps to get ready to look for leaves

outside — put on your jacket, put on your boots, grab a basket, look for leaves — first/next/then/

last, plus 1 that does not belong)

• Day 5, a book craft: color and cut 6 pieces (a big squirrel holding a leaf to color, two large leaves

and three small leaves — every cut a straight line) and glue them into a line-art scene with a bare

autumn tree, a bird on the wind, and leaves on the ground

• 2 fine motor pages: a tracing-paths page (4 dashed paths from the squirrel to the leaf: straight,

wave, zigzag, loops) and a cutting-practice page (4 strips, easiest first)

• 4 core-word pages for the word of the week, "where": a big word card for the talker or core board, a

12-word find-and-circle grid (6 of the 12 are the target word), a tree to color, and 10 leaves to cut

out and glue around it

• 1 "Who Did What This Week" data page (one row per student, a prompt-level code for each day — handy

for IEP notes and progress reports)

• 1 family letter to send home on Day 1
• 1 credits page (art and font licenses)
• Ink-saver twins of 19 picture-based student pages (the craft and pure-coloring pages are color-only)

in outline art for a photocopier, so the color pages above are optional, not required

Three Levels On Every Academic Task

Sort, count, letters and writing each come in three levels, marked with a small shape instead of a

number so children don't compare theirs to a neighbor's: a circle for starting (errorless matching), a

square for building (the standard task), a triangle for ready for more (a real step up — a third sort

group, counting 6 to 10 with writing, or beginning sounds).

Cutting Built For Small Hands

Every cutting page carries 5 or more pieces, lined up edge to edge so each cut is one straight line.

Pre-cut them yourself for students who are not cutting independently yet.

Color Or Ink-Saver

Print the color pages, or use the ink-saver twins at the back on a photocopier — most picture-based

student pages have both (the craft and pure-coloring pages are color-only by design).

Who This Is For

Any teacher starting a self-contained preschool or early childhood special education classroom who

wants a whole week of circle time, ready to pull and go: one theme, a different simple activity every

day.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A print-and-go weekly theme unit built around a squirrel-and-falling-leaves autumn theme. It is not a

claim about any student's age or rate of progress, and it does not reproduce any book, its text, or its

artwork — only our own squirrel, tree, leaves and scene pieces are drawn here.