Winter Wonderland Theme
January is a great time to do a “winter wonderland” theme in your classroom! Bring fun to your winter read-alouds by adding quick crafts for students to do! During the winter months, students are use to the routine of being in school. So changing up your winter read-alouds can help bring some excitement back into class! This month my team partners and I will be doing a winter thematic cross-curricular unit that we are calling “Winter Wonderland”.
I have two team partners and each of us will be incorporating winter activities that go with our “Winter Wonderland” theme as well as our state standards. The math teacher will do activities that involve math and winter. The science teacher will focus on temperature and weather. I will be doing writing, literature activities, and crafts that stem from winter read-alouds. We all teach a class period of social studies and will focus on winter survival and geography.
Our culminating activity will take place on the last day of our unit. We will be taking our students to a local polar research center to learn more about what scientists do in Antarctica. Since I love crafts, I always look for the chance to incorporate quick crafts into the lesson. Plus, I enjoy making sure my classroom has some decorative elements for each season. Currently, since it is January I have snowflake decals on the windows. I switch out the decals for each season. However, it’s important for students to have a sense of belonging! Hanging up student made crafts is more meaningful to the students who create them. Seeing their artwork displayed helps students feel like the classroom is their space and they belong. This helps to build class community. Read my blog post “5 Tips for Creating a Caring Community in the Classroom”
Winter Read-Alouds
Previously, I taught elementary school, and remember all the wonderful read-alouds I read to my students. Now that I teach middle school I have moved away from the read-alouds that are made for a younger audience (although middle schoolers still love them) to chapter books, poetry, and short biographies. To start off my lessons for our team’s “Winter Wonderland” unit, I will be using the books Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and Snowflakes in Photographs by W. A. Bentley. I choose these two books because they go perfectly with our theme. One book is a biography of Wilson Bentley’s life. The other book is a collection of photos of his works written by him. And lastly, I can tie in a snowflake craft!
Glitter Snowflake Craft
Here are the steps I used to create glitter snowflakes with my students…
Step 1: Model
Model how to make a snowflake for students who need help (if you need a refresher on how to make one, there are many tutorials online). If students already know how to make snowflakes, let them do it the way they know how.
Step 2: Supplies
Scissors, pencils, 1 piece of white paper or two precut white circles for each student, glue sticks, glitter, 4 containers for the glitter (the size of the lid of a box of copy/printer paper), and tape to hang up snowflakes. Since I teach ELA and have 3 class sections, I wanted to keep the supplies minimal!
Step 3: Make
Have students make their snowflakes. They can use one circle for their practice snowflake. The other snowflake will be used to add glitter. Make sure they put their name on the back of their snowflakes.
Step 4: Glitter Station
Here is what I did to help contain the glitter to one area of the classroom.
(1) Find an area in your classroom that will be the glitter station. I have an extra small table with four chairs that I used for my glitter station.
(2) Have four containers that will be used to hold the glitter. You can get some copy/printer paper box lids from the copy room. Or use some other type of disposable lid. I thought of this after the fact… When I did this in my classroom I used some extra containers I had and now they will just be my containers for glitter crafts (because I don’t feel like cleaning them out!)
(3) Pour glitter into each container.
(4) Have glue sticks available at the table (Glue sticks will work best since students will not apply too much. There is nothing like having liquid glue drip down and make a mess when your try to hang snowflakes!) Have students place glue on one side of the snowflake if you are hanging them up on the wall around the classroom.
(5) Work with four students at a time at the glitter station. (I had the rest of the class work on an independent assignment.) Have students place their snowflakes face down (glue side) and move it throughout the glitter. I had a tray of pink, green (looks like gold), blue, and purple. Some students chose to mix colors which added to their creativity.
When finished I had students place their snowflakes on the cabinet counter to dry. Once dry I hung up the snowflakes around the classroom. The snowflakes my students made turned out awesome, and we had plenty to hang up around the classroom!
The glitter snowflakes add a special touch to the classroom!
Snowflake Bentley Lesson
Now that I have kicked off the “Winter Wonderland” unit with my students. Up next is the lesson. Here is the outline of how I will be introducing and teaching the winter read-alouds this week…
Introduction
Winter Read-Alouds: Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and Snowflakes in Photographs by W.A. Bentley
First, I’ll introduce the book Snowflake Bentley by showing students the cover and reading the book summary. Next, I’ll do a brief picture walk of the book with students. I will probably start this off in front of the class and then move to the ELMO so students can see close-ups of the pictures on the smartboard.
Throughout the introduction, I will have students share any prior knowledge they have about “Snowflake” Bentley, Vermont, or snowflakes.
Background Knowledge
“Snowflake” Bentley lived in Vermont, to help strengthen students’ background knowledge about Vermont I will (1) show students the location of Vermont on a map. And (2) talk to them about things that are true to winters in Vermont.
Vocabulary
Here are the vocabulary words I will be discussing with students before and during reading.
Vermont, cold, snow, snowflakes, ice, icy crystals, microphotography, extraordinary, Wilson Bentley, perseverance, snowbelt, encyclopedias, intricate, microscope, molecules, evaporate, pneumonia, hexagon
Discussions
While reading Snowflake Bentley, I will be stopping throughout to discuss with students the following points…
-The time period he was born.
– How he attended school for a few years and his mom taught him until he was 14 years old.
-The activities he choose to do that were different from the other children in his neighborhood.
-How he wanted to find a way to save snowflakes to show others their design.
-How his parents spent their life savings to buy a camera for him.
-His experimentation with his camera to photograph snowflakes.
-How his neighbors felt about him and how he spent his time.
-How he shared his love of snowflakes with others.
-The plaque of remembrance that was built to honor him “Snowflake” Bentley Jericho’s world-famous snowflake authority.
I will also discuss some of the phrases used in the book.
-“cut the dark with lantern light”
-“snow as beautiful as butterflies, or apple blossoms”,
-He became known as “the snowflake man”.
After Reading
After reading and discussing the text Snowflake Bentley, I will show and discuss his book Snowflakes in Photographs. I will summarize the summary on the back of the book to students. Share photos taken by Snowflake Bentley and stress how no two snowflakes are the same but how each are based on a common hexagon. Since the book also has photos he took of nature I will show and also discuss these with students as well.
Concluding Snowflake Bentley Writing/Drawing Activity
To bring everything the students learned about “Snowflake” Bentley to a close, we will write a summary. Students will write individually but will be guided whole group with writing. Oftentimes students have difficulties with writing a summary. What better way to help students review writing a summary than by using the information that they just learned. I will be guiding students in writing important facts and details about “Snowflake” Bentley’s life. When they are finished, students can draw snowflakes on their paper. I will also give students a choice as to whether they want their work displayed in the classroom.
Conclusion
January is a great time to do a winter-themed cross-curricular unit with your students. It’s the time of year when everyone in the classroom is familiar with the routine. Which makes for a welcome change from the norm. Begin with winter read-alouds that you enjoy and that are a perfect match for a simple craft. Add elements of your winter theme throughout the length of your unit. Remember it doesn’t have to be complicated. Start small with winter read-alouds and crafts!
