Weekly Theme: SNOW!

Happy New Year!  It’s hard to believe 2015 is here!  I’m heading back to school January 5^th and looking ahead at the month.  I am going to focus on weekly themes.  I actually have 5 theme ideas for January, but only 4 weeks to plan! I am planning to be prepared for all five themes to give me some options.

The theme for my first week back is SNOW!  (I’m not including snowmen, as that is a theme for another week!) Here’s what I have planned…

Preschool/Early Elementary-

1.  We will make snow and play with Playmobil snow people and arctic animal figurines.  

You can download the recipe here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6xKfs4xuK-_TGZ2WFhMbl9ERXc/view?usp=sharing

It’s pretty simple to make.  I’ll have the kiddos follow the pictorial directions to take the lead in making the snow.  This will hopefully spur lots of spoken language!

2.  Read There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro.  Following reading, I will target goals with the Secret Door game.  (See this post to see what you need to make this versatile game:  http://listening4language.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-new-cariboo-secret-door.html )

I have uploaded the cards for the doors with the pics from the story here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6xKfs4xuK-_d0tpdmFtVE5HblE/view?usp=sharing

After your game is assembled with the above cards on each door, you can target comprehension, listening, sequencing, vocabulary and more!

I also will have each kiddo make their own There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow reader, courtesy of Mrs. Lindsay.

This freebie can be found here:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/There-Was-a-Cold-Lady-Who-Swallowed-Some-Snow-Emergent-Reader-Freebie-504552

Late Elementary-

1.  Use YouTube videos to spark discussion and/or writing.  I’ve compiled 4 different video clips, featuring snow.  After viewing, the kiddos working on writing can use a graphic organizer to complete the 5 W’s prior to writing a summary.  Kiddos working on other language goals will discuss, evaluate, make inferences, etc.  There are lots of possibilities for these videos and they’re always highly engaging.  

The QR code links to the videos can be downloaded here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6xKfs4xuK-_OTB3QUNYNFJ5SzQ/view?usp=sharing

2.  Complete a non-fiction reading and either discuss, answer questions, or write a response.  Here is a passage I found on the Web about Snow Science:  

http://www.readworks.org/sites/default/files/passages/720_snow_science%21.pdf

It says it’s 2^nd grade level, but I’m using it with older kids, and think it will be fine!

3.  Complete a fiction reading, and complete some or all of the accompanying activities, depending upon their goals.  A freebie about a Snow Day, courtesy of Common Core and So Much More, can be found on Teachers Pay Teachers.

 

Here is the link to this awesome download:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Weekly-Close-Reading-FREEBIE-Snow-Day-1063947

If we have extra time, for either age level, we will make paper snowflakes. 

Here’s a link to a pdf:  http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/snowflak.pdf

This is nice for students who have following direction goals.

Hopefully the above ideas will be helpful to you for planning a week of SNOW!  (I’m hoping the snow we make at school will be the only snow I see next week!)