40 AWESOME AUTUMN-THEMED WORDS - LEARNING OBJECTIVES, SEASONALITY, & AGE RANGE FAQs

WHAT ARE THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES & OUTCOMES OF THIS RESOURCE?

This resource is designed to help students move beyond basic descriptions and develop the kind of precise, connotation-aware vocabulary that is key for stronger writing in KS3 and KS4.

One focal point of this list, therefore, is language that is a bit more literary. Words such as ‘bleak, ‘cascade’ ‘eerie’, ‘forage’, ‘gilded’, ‘pyre’ and ‘spectre’ are precisely the kinds of words that students are more likely to encounter in the novels, poems, and plays they study.

Another aim of this list is to present students with a list of words from which they can make their own subgroups.

For example, one possible subgroup could revolve around colour: ‘amber’, ‘crimson’, ‘drab’, and ‘russet’.

Another grouping might be of words relating to food: ‘abundance’, ‘decay’, ‘feast’, ‘forage’, harvest’, ‘hoard’, and ‘withered’.

And so on.

By becoming more sensitive to a wide range of shades of meaning, students’ ability to produce more astute analysis of literary texts will improve. At the same time, their writing skills will also benefit – whether they are producing non-fiction texts or creative, narrative pieces.

IS THIS AN EVERGREEN OR SEASONAL RESOURCE?

This resource is clearly designed with autumn, the harvest, and Halloween in mind, and as such will be useful in relation to a range of seasonal reading and writing tasks.

That said, you may also find this resource useful at other times of the year if your child or student is writing a story set during the autumn months or is reading a novel or poetry that contains supernatural themes or imagery.

CAN YOU PROVIDE FURTHER GUIDANCE REGARDING AGE RANGE & SUITABILITY?

The years and ages listed above are intended as recommendations only; please feel free to use this resource in any educational context that suits your needs.

40 AWESOME AUTUMN-THEMED WORDS - USING THIS RESOURCE FAQs

I AM A PARENT: DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER USAGE SUGGESTIONS FOR ME?

As well as being a useful reference resource, the list also works well as a starting point for various extension activities.

You and your child may want to select a word from the list and see how many alternative contexts you can think of to use the word in. You may want to keep track of these associations by drawing a word map (i.e. a diagram like a mind map that shows connections between words and associations).

You may also wish to go through the list and divide the words into three types: positive connotations, neutral, negative connotations.

For a third activity, you might focus on the word endings of the words and identify common suffixes for nouns (e.g. ‘-ance’), adjectives (‘-y’), and gerunds (‘-ing’).

Please also see below (HOW DO I USE THIS RESOURCE IN ITS PRINTED FORMAT?) for further suggestions as to how to use this resource in conjunction with writing tasks.

DOES THIS RESOURCE SUPPORT GCSE PREPARATION? AND IF SO, HOW?

In Years 7, 8, and 9, students are laying the foundations for their GCSEs, whether this is just the mandatory English Language or the English Literature papers as well. In either case, a wide, sophisticated vocabulary is central.

This resource helps students towards a stronger vocabulary in two ways.

On the one hand, the list gives students a wide range of words to draw on when writing, particularly if they are describing atmospheric, autumnal, or supernatural settings or events.

Writing 'the bleak fields stretched in every direction' demonstrates a far more sophisticated vocabulary than simply writing 'the empty fields stretched in every direction’.

On the other hand, some of these words such as ‘cascade’, ‘forage’, ‘migrate’, and ‘pyre’ can be an obstacle to comprehension.

Naturally, if the student knows the words, there is no obstacle.

However, if the student does not, then even if students can’t remember the exact definitions, a prior encounter with the words increases students’ chances of inferring the meanings from the context.

HOW DO I USE THIS RESOURCE IN ITS PRINTED FORMAT?

Once printed, you could use this resource as a word mat that you keep visible during your child's or student's creative writing sessions. Encourage them to go through the list at regular intervals to remind themselves of the words and to see if they can use any of them in their work.

Another way this may be useful is in the editing stage of their work. As your child or student is revising, encourage them to consult the list to see if they can use any of the words to strengthen their text.

You may also wish to add this sheet to a ring binder or folder of word mats (if you already have one).

Alternatively, you might want to hang it on the wall as part of a word wall or learning wall display in your classroom or at home.

HOW DO I USE THIS RESOURCE IN ITS DIGITAL FORMAT?

There are several ways to use this PDF on a screen.

If your child or student types their stories on a computer, laptop, or tablet, they can keep the PDF open on one half of the screen as a permanent, digital word bank they can glance at when they need inspiration.

Save the PDF to a tablet or an iPad. Using any basic PDF reader, your child or student can highlight words they want to include in their work or cross off words as they use them.

If you are a teacher and want to use this resource in your classroom, consider projecting this PDF onto an interactive whiteboard during a creative writing lesson to use for whole-class brainstorming or group work.

Note: Given the vibrant nature of the full-colour version of this resource, it works particularly well in its digital format.