This lesson includes scaffolded analytical writing tasks that provide examples for teaching Common Core writing.

This story uses a mixture of pictures and words to explore the idea of the changes of the seasons and the expected natural events that occur with it; colder weather, leaves changing color, Jack Frost and migration. Chris Van Allsburg walks a fine line between reality and fantasy to create a mystery about the identity of the stranger who will represent the seasonal change from summer to fall. The Houghton Mifflin authors identify the story’s theme as an allegory for autumn and the use of personification to make the association. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Reading, 2005)

This lesson was created as part of the Basal Alignment Project, during which teachers created CCSS-aligned lessons for existing literary and information texts in basal readers. All page numbers and unit/week designations found in this lesson relate to the edition of the basal reader named above. If you are using a trade book or different edition of this title, the page/unit/week references in this lesson will not match. Consult the content referenced in the body of the lesson to determine appropriate page numbers for your text.