Snow, Snowmen, and the Letter S

All about letter S
and
the Science of Snow!

Daily Question: Have you ever built a snowman? (I was surprised that a few of the students had never made one. The class was evenly divided on this one.)

Toys: Play-Doh and Train Set.


Snack: Build a (banana slices, grapes, apple bites, raisins, craisins, carrots, pretzel rods, and fruit leather). The children had a lot of fun "playing with their food" and making unique snowmen.

Circle Time Discussion: SNOW

We enjoyed watching Jack Keats Caldecott winning The Snow Day (Scholastic). We also sang and reviewed Frosty the Snowman (song, book, and movie).

"What is snow?" I asked. Most of the children raised their hands and were eager but had trouble telling me what it was. "A snowflake!" was one answer. Susie expanded her answer by saying, "A snowflake is a kind of flake that melts on your tongue." Yes, but what is it made of?" "Snow!?"

Science: We had a fun time reading Look-a Snowflake! (Troll) In the simple, small book it discusses the Water Cycle. Water is in vapor in the air all around us. On hot days, the water vapor evaporates (rises up) into clouds. When the clouds get heavy, and the air is cold, the water freezes and falls to the earth as ice crystals. As the ice crystals fall, they stick to one another and form snow flakes.

Snow helps us by giving us water to drink (as it melts), waters plants, covers the ground protecting plants from freezing winds, and keeping the hibernating animals warm.

Fun activities to do in the snow: snow angels, skiiing, snowman building, sledding, snowball fights, etc.

Weather Calendars: We talked about weather (windy, partly cloudy, sunny, snowy, rainy) and passed out a Winter Calendar. (Parents, If the students would like to fill out the weather chart for one week and bring it back into class, they can choose a treat.)

We also learned about S the snake and the "s" sound she makes as she slithers from side to side.

We practiced writing our Ss and had fun forming Ss in shaving cream.

Snow Books:
Look--A Snowflake by Janet Craig, Ill. by Susan T. Hall (TrollFirst Start Science)
Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, Ill. by Richard Cowdrey
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Caldecott Medal Winner)
A Perfect Day for It by Jan Fearnley* Great book ("It" is sledding).
The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss, Ill. by Marc Simont
The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steve Kroll, Ill. by Jeni Bassett
The Snowman Storybook with words by Raymond Briggs
One Snowy Day by Jeffrey Scherer (Hello Reader, Lvl. 1) Presch-Gr. 1

Snow Shapes; A Read and Do Book by Judith Moffat (Hello Reader, lvl. 2, K-2)

The BIG SNOW by Berta and Elmer Hader (Caldecott Medal Winner), Advanced, Read Aloud.
Snip, Snip...SNOW! by Nancy Poydar
The Biggest Snowball Ever! by John Rogan
Winter; An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur, Ill. by Leslie Evans
The Tiny Snowflake by Arthur Ginolfi, Ill. by Louise Reinoehl Max (Individual Worth, Christian)
White Snow Bright Snow by ALvin Tresselt, Ill. by Roger Duvoisin
All About Snow and Ice by STephen Krensky, Ill. by ANna DiVito (Do it Yourself Science)
Snow and Ice; A Science is Fun Book by Stephen Krensky, Ill. by John Hayes (Advanced)

*Please note we continue to study S on February 27 because of the other sounds it makes (sc, sh, sr, st, sw.)

Optional Snowmen Activities:

• Build a marshmallow snowman or make a snowman face on cocoa with whipped cream, chocolate chips, and a candy corn nose. (See Disney's Family Fun Magazine online, keyword Snowmen.)
  



• Cut out simple shapes from felt (white circles, orange triangle, black circles, colorful scarf) and have your child "build a snowman" INSIDE, over and over again. See ideas online.



• Use cotton balls to make a snowman ornament.



• If you have "real" snow--go outside and work together to build a snowman, come inside for cocoa (see above), and to listen to The Biggest Snowman Ever!