Winter Weather
Literature Focus Unit
EDU 315
Literature Selection
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The Mitten by Jan Brett
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Snowflakes in Photographs by W.A. Bentley
Robert’s Snowflakes by Grace Lin
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Blizzard by Jim Murphy
The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel
Going Along with Lewis and Clark by Barbara Fifer
Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Stranger in the Woods by Carl R. Sams
Weather Words by Gail Gibbons
Blizzard’s Wake by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Theme Study
• Students will take part in a thematic unit on
the winter season and snow. This unit will
integrate reading and writing with social
studies, science, mathematics, art, music, and
physical education.
• Students will develop an understanding of the
winter season and snow, survival, and weather
words.
Language Arts: Reading Activities
• Students will read various fiction and non-fiction
books and poetry about snow and the winter season
through silent reading, partner reading, guided
reading, reading aloud, and reader’s theatre.
• Students will read their winter stories and poems to
the class.
• Students will share their weather journals and dialogue
journals.
• Teacher will read aloud from Blizzard’s Wake by Phyllis
Reynolds Naylor
• Students will read personal entries about the good and
bad things about snow and winter on the class chart.
Language Arts: Writing Activities
• Students will write journal entries as they read The Long Winter by
Laura Ingalls Wilder about how they would imagine being pioneers
trying to survive in winter.
• Students will write a letter to someone who lives in a state or
country that doesn’t receive snow. They need to describe how
snow looks, tastes, and feels.
• Students will write and illustrate a story about how they survived
the winter based on Going Along with Lewis and Clark by Barbara
Fifer. They will participate in peer conferences.
• Students will write personal reflections on the good things and bad
things about snow and winter on the class chart.
• Students will write a winter poem.
• Students will add weather words to the Winter Word Wall.
Language Arts: Speaking Activities
• Students will participate in a “Simon Says” game with
winter gear and apparel.
• Students will participate in Reader’s Theatre.
• Students will have speaking parts during the reading of The
Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel.
• Students will join in a grand conversation on what they
like/dislike about winter.
• The students will take turns as the weather man to give the
daily forecast .
• The students will use the author’s chair to read their stories
and poems aloud.
• Students will participate in a small group discussion about
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin.
Language Arts: Listening Activities
• Students will listen to audio versions of winter and
snow literature.
• Students will listen as the teacher discusses winter and
snow and how/why it happens. They will listen as the
teacher shares information about North Dakota
winters.
• Students will listen respectfully to their peers as they
share their winter stories ,poems, journal entries, and
weather forecasts.
• Students will listen to their peers opinions during grand
conversations.
• Students will listen to winter songs.
Language Arts: Viewing Activities
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Students will view winter paintings by famous artists.
Students will view winter videos
Students will view photographs of snow and winter.
Students will view winter decorations such as paper
snowflakes made by their peers.
Students will take a nature walk to observe the winter
weather.
Students will view the Reader’s Theatre performance.
Students will view the Weather Word Wall
Students will view the following websites:
www.art.com and www.snowflakebentley.com
Language Arts: Visually Representing
Activities
• Students will take photographs on their nature
walk.
• Students will make paper snowflakes and
other winter decorations.
• Students will display their poems in an artistic
presentation.
• Students will create a Winter Word Wall.
Science Activities:
• Students will investigate the water cycle through experiments such
as making snow.
• Students will learn the types of clouds that bring weather events.
They will use the websites: www.scholastic.com/kids/weather and
eo.ucar.edu/webweather/blizzardhome.html to learn about
weather.
• Students will study what happens to trees in the winter season;
deciduous and evergreen.
• Students will identify how animals survive in the winter.
• Students will complete science experiments such as finding out
what is the fastest way to melt snowballs and the best types of
insulation to prevent a snowball from melting.
• Students will view snowflakes with a microscope.
• Students will develop winter survival kits.
Mathematics Activities
• Students will graph the daily temperatures and
the daily snowfall amounts.
• Students will understand negative numbers by
keeping a tally of the days where the
temperature falls below zero.
• Students will appreciate the symmetry of
snowflakes while studying geometry.
• Students will measure the inches of snowfall.
• Students will take a survey on who likes/dislikes
winter and will graph the results.
Social Studies Activities
• Students will learn about pioneer survival. Students
can dress as pioneers.
• Students will identify areas in the world that receive
snow on a map. They will identify areas that receive
the most annual amounts of snow.
• Students will create a Venn diagram by comparing
snowstorms in various parts of the United States.
• Students will learn about the survival techniques of
Lewis and Clark by taking a field trip to Fort Mandan.
• A local weatherman can visit the classroom.
Music and Art Activities
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Students will make paper snowflakes.
Students will mount and title photographs taken outdoors.
Students will visit a sensory corner.
Students will make winter decorations for the classroom.
Students will create an artistic background for their poems.
Students will create winter sounds such as storms and
wind.
• Students will perform winter songs and Christmas carols.
• Students will listen to recorded music.
• Students will create new lyrics to a traditional song such as
“Frosty the Snowman.”
Physical Education Activities
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Students will have a paper snowball fight.
Students will play Jingle Bells basketball.
Students will play a winter wear relay.
Students will make snow angels outdoors.
Students will build a giant snowperson or a snow
fort.
• Students will display sledding skills during a
outdoor day.
• Students will play “Jack Frost” tag.
Technology
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www.art.com
www.snowflakebentley.com
www.scholastic.com/kids/weather
Eo.ucar.edu/webweather/blizzardhome.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0321_050321_lewisa
ndclark.html
http:www.nd.gov/hist/lewisclark/weather.html
Discovery School: Earth’s Atmosphere, Weather, and Climate Video
Earth Science (K-4): Weather Changes and Measurement Video
Weather for Children: All About Rain, Snow Sleet & Hail Video
Digital photography
Snowflake Bentley movie
Newspapers
Audiotapes of recommended winter and snow literature
Language Arts Strategies
• Activating background knowledge: students will think what they
already know about winter and snow.
• Brainstorming: students will think of many ideas related to winter
and snow through writing activities.
• Connecting: Students will relate topics to the world around them by
journaling and creating a weather log and by role playing pioneers.
• Predicting and Monitoring: Students will predict the daily weather
and keep track of weather patterns in a weather log.
• Playing with Language: Students will use language creatively
through stories, poems, and journals.
• Revising: Students will make changes to written activities.
• Visualizing: Students will draw pictures in their minds.
Language Arts Skills
• Print: Students will recognize words on the Weather
Word Wall.
• Comprehension: Students will recognize literary genres
of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Students will
compare and contrast likes and dislikes of winter, and
snowstorms from around the United States.
• Language: Students will apply various skills in their
writing activities: stories, poems, song lyrics, weather
forecast.
• Reference: Students will make venn diagrams, graphs,
read newspaper articles.
Grouping Patterns
• Large Group: grand conversations, field trips, pioneer day,
outdoor snow activities of sledding, building snow forts and
snowpersons, jingle bell basketball and paper snowball
throwing, “simon says” and “jack frost” games, singing
songs, viewing videos, word wall, reader’s theatre,
weatherman visit and daily weather forecast.
• Small Group: Peer conferencing, snow experiments, small
group discussions, creation of storm sounds, winter gear
relay, sensory corner, writing weather reports,
identification of parts of the world that receive snow,
comparing how pioneers survived winters, mounting and
titling snow photographs.
• Individual: Writing stories, poems, letters, journal entries,
making winter decorations and snowflakes.
Assessments
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Journal entries
Participation in grand conversations
Analytical Writing Traits for stories and poems
Informal observation of author’s chair, reader’s
theatre, small group science experiments
Math graphs and Social studies maps
Spelling test with words from the Weather Word Wall
Active participation in physical education and music
performances.
Portfolio of art work: snowflakes, poetry presentation,
winter decorations, and photography.