Winter: Introduction- Bring in an assortment of winter items (a scarf, hat, mittens/gloves, snow boots, etc.) and ask the students when we wear these items and why. Explain that the season is winter and that in winter we see changes outside. I use the following resources throughout the week to review the concept of winter by putting them on the SmartBoard for the whole class to review as a group:(http://www.brainpopjr.com/ & http://www.pebblego.com/ )
Essential Question: What changes in winter?
Teaching concept: There are four seasons. Winter, spring, summer, and fall. In winter we see changes outside. There are no leaves on the trees, the air is cold, and the days are short. Sometimes during winter it snows. Some animals hibernate during the winter months.
**The teaching concept answers the essential question. It is what you want the students to learn from the unit. I underline the key words and add pictures. As a class we add movements to the key words and read the whole thing together each day of the unit. ** See picture below:
**The teaching concept answers the essential question. It is what you want the students to learn from the unit. I underline the key words and add pictures. As a class we add movements to the key words and read the whole thing together each day of the unit. ** See picture below:
Winter scavenger hunt pdf. I take the kids on a scavenger hunt for winter objects outside on the first day of the unit to build upon their background knowledge.
Upon returning to the classroom have your students reflect (individual think time, partner, small group, or whole group) upon what they found on their scavenger hunt. As a class make a plan for a board within your classroom to show what you know or have learned about winter. This board is totally student generated and created through supplies found within the classroom. As the unit progresses and more knowledge is gained about winter add more creations to the board. See our winter board below:
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| Students added words or sentences depending on ability level to the item on the board that they made. |
Books read during the unit:
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| By: Caralyn Buehner |
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| By: Jan Brett |
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By: Kathryn White
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| By: Lois Ehlert |
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| By: Ian Schoenherr |
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| By: Michelle Meadows |
Poems I charted:
'Snowflakes' pdf
Centers and Activities:
Guided Reading Books: 'What can we do in the snow?' from http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/ (They have TONS of other great books and activities). If you have an account with http://www.readinga-z.com/ you can download this great book:
Snowman sequence: pdf original coming soon! Each student gets a sheet with 5 snowballs on it. Each snowball has a number and corresponding number of dots. The students must make their snowman with the biggest snowball on the bottom with the number 1 and go in order through number 5. To make this harder, you could cover the numbers. For some of my students, I added a sentence strip on the bottom for them to describe their snowman
The Mitten
Read The Mitten by Jan Brett and go over the story elements and beginning, middle and end of the story.
story elements PDF and BME or BME
This unit also discuss winter animals which can tie into your science animal standards. We also make an immersion board with winter animals and writing. COMING SOON!
Activities to follow:
character masks I read the stories several times in a week and do the various activities. At the end of the week we act out the story. I bring in a large fitted sheet as the mitten and the kids take turns being the different characters. They love acting out the end of the story. This is fun and it helps them understand the beginning, middle and end.
Sequence Sheet- Use the characters in the story and sequence them according to their entry into the mitten! Take a sentence strip and glue it to a mitten. Then have them color the animals, cut and glue.mitten pattern, animals
'The Mitten' lacing and coloring activity:
I give each student two mittens facing out so that the design is visible on both sides. Then I punch holes along the outside edge except for the bottom of the mitten where the hand goes in. Each student gets a piece of yarn and has to lace the two sides of the mitten together. When they have laced the whole mitten, I tie a knot at the end.
Leave the bottom of the mitten open and give them animal pictures. have them color and put on Popsicle sticks. As you read they can put the characters in their mitten or act out the story in small groups. Reading A-Z has this book as a printable along with many worksheets.
Writing "M" words
Have them browse magazines for pictures that start with "M". Then they will glue them to their mitten and write the word. They could also stamp out "M" words etc.
We also read The Hat by Jan Brett. You can compare the two stories. Or You can read The Mitten by Alvin Tresselt
Compare the different animals from the two stories The Mitten. You could easily do this in a venn Diagram or you could cut out 2 large mittens and animals from each story ( like above).
Another option: make a large Venn Diagram. Create the venn diagram using string and have the kids create the animals. Then make an immersion wall to show their work. They could write too to describe the stories and animals.
More to come soon!
