Engaging Nonfiction Winter Lesson Plans with The Story of Snow
Winter lesson plans for kids!
The winter season is a great time to learn all about snow! Not every classroom has winter weather in during winter months (Hello, Florida and So. Cal!). However, learning about snow is a great addition to your winter theme activities even if you don’t live in cold weather.
In this blog post, you will find some great ideas and fun winter activities for kindergarten, first grade and second grade classrooms.
One of the best books to use to learn about snow is The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder by Mark Cassino and Jon Nelson. This is the perfect nonfiction book to welcome winter into your classroom! The beautiful photographs capture students’ attention and allow for an engaging 5-day study using these snow lesson plans found in our reading comprehension lesson plans:
SNOW LESSON PLANS
The Story of Snow – Day 1 Lesson Plans
On the first day of the book, The Story of Snow, classroom teachers create an anchor chart with the class to display their schema about snow. We encourage students to think scientifically – not just that snow is cold. Ha!
Students can also record their schema in a journal. After reading the story, students can add what they’ve learned.
The Story of Snow Read Aloud Video
We ALWAYS recommend teaching reading comprehension with books, but if you’d like to preview this book, you learn why this book is a huge hit with students.
OH and an absolutely adorable little review of this book! I CAN’T EVEN!
Winter-Themed Lessons Day 2
On the second day with this book, we sive deeper into the text to explore nonfiction text features. Students identify a vocabulary word (or 5) that are found in the book. They also draw various snow crystals.
The Story of Snow Day 3
Students flex their literacy skills and become authors. After learning so much about snow, these young children plan their own informational books about snow. The amount of text written depends on the age of your students. Younger students will draw picture to convey meaning. Older kids will add words. The example below is from a second grade class.
This is a great way to write across subject areas and learn more about informational writing. Click here for informational writing resources included in our writing curriculum:
The Story of Snow Lesson Plans Day 4
Students continue their informational writing, being sure to include some nonfiction text features of their own!
One more piece of writing! Students completed some opinion writing to finish up the unit by telling the most interesting thing they learned about snow. They loved sharing their writing with the class and comparing their opinions with each other.
A Winter Craft… Of Course!
Students love a fun snowflake craft, so why not throw one in? After learning about the different types of snowflakes and that they have six sides and are symmetrical, students created their own snowflakes. They LOVED this activity! These pattern blocks are copied on white paper, and students arrange them in a variety of ways and get creative! Could there be a simpler materials list?
Drawing a few additional snowflakes on blue construction paper is a perfect way to finish this winter activity.
Turn this into one of your winter bulletin boards or hallway displays after winter break.
The Story of Snow is one of my favorite picture books for learning the science behind snow crystals. The wintery photographs are perfection!
You can find all of the activities from above by clicking:
Winter Themed Activities for English Language Arts
Here are a few more hands-on activities that students can do for independent work or as part of their small groups. You can click on the images to find the resource.
Hello Winter Literacy Activities
Students spin the spinner and find a picture that has the same ending sound.
Penguin Blends Literacy Center Game
This is the same game, but students will be looking for the beginning blends.
Winter Themed Activities for Math
This math game has adorable snowmen, and students are working with ten frames.
Additional Winter Lesson Plan Ideas
Would you like other winter and snow lesson plans? Check these out here:
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Deedee Wills
My teaching career allowed me to experience teaching in different classroom environments and grades. My heart belongs to early childhood education. My job is to make teaching FUN, ENGAGING, and EASIER. Welcome!
Hi, I'm DeedeE.
My teaching career allowed me to experience teaching in different classroom environments and grades. My heart belongs to early childhood education. My job is to make teaching FUN, ENGAGING, and EASIER. Welcome!
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