Lessons & Units :: The Snowy Day Kindergarten Unit

Read-Aloud Lesson: The Snowy Day

Lesson Plan

The Snowy Day | 500L

The Snowy Day
Learning Goal
Identify and recall at least two ways in which the main character enjoys snow, and use information from the text and illustrations to infer information about snow.
Duration
Part 1: Approximately 20 minutes
 
Part 2: Approximately 10-15 minutes
 
Part 3: Approximately 10-15 minutes
Necessary Materials

Provided:
1. Detailed lesson plan
2. Graphic organizer for guided practice
3. Independent student worksheet

 
  1. This lesson is a close reading of the entire text. So it’s important to engage students often, to enhance their learning. Here are two tips:

    •   When you ask the more complex questions from the lesson, ask students to “turn-and-talk” or “buddy-talk” before answering.

    •   Once you are deep into the lesson, instead of asking students every question provided, ask them to share with you what questions they should be asking themselves at that point in the text. This is also a great opportunity to use "turn-and-talk."
       
  2. Suggested teacher language is included in the lesson.

  3. We recommend you read the book once to your students, either the day or morning before teaching the lesson.

  4. This research-based, read-aloud lesson may seem long. Why do students need the lesson to be this way?
 

Part 1: Teacher Modeling and Questioning

 

Write the following student-friendly learning goal on the board, then read the learning goal out loud with the class: 

We will see how the boy enjoys being in the snow, and we will learn about snow.

 
Transition Students into the Text
 
Teacher says: In a moment, we are going to read The Snowy Day. Remember, when it gets very cold outside, snow falls from the sky instead of rain. It falls slowly in tiny white flakes that cover the ground, the roads, houses, cars, and everything else outside. And snow is cold. Let’s read to understand how the main character in this book plays in the snow.
 
Read the first page out loud (in the hardcover edition, they are numbered pages 6 and 7), then stop. Page 7 ends with, “It covered everything as far as he could see.”
1.
Teacher asks: What time of the year does this story take place?
 
Students answer: The story takes place in the winter.
2.
Teacher asks: The book tells us two things about the snow that Peter saw that morning. What two things does the book tell us about the snow?
 

Students answer:

  • The book says that the snow covered everything.
  • The snow had fallen during the night.
Read more
3.

Teacher says (models thinking): The book says that the snow covered everything, so I know that snow can stay around for a while. It doesn’t soak into the ground right away like rain.

You also told me that the snow fell, and that it covered everything as far as Peter could see. So it must have fallen from the sky. So I learned that snow falls from the sky. And I learned that when snow falls it can cover things and stay around for a while.

 
Read pages 8-9 out loud, then stop. Page 9 ends with, “...to make a path for walking.”
4.

Teacher says (models thinking): This page says that the snow is piled up very high along the street to make a path for walking. I am wondering how the snow got piled up high to make a path for walking. My conclusion is that somebody must have pushed the snow from the walking path into big piles along the street. So when it snows people can push the snow into piles.

 
Read pages 10 -13 out loud, then stop. Page 13 ends with, “...that made a new track.”
5.
Teacher asks: What did Peter do in the snow on these pages?
 
Students answer: Peter made tracks in the snow with his feet and with something he found.
6.
Teacher asks: So what happens to snow when you step on it?
 
Students answer: When you step on the snow, it gets squished under your foot and you can see the shape of your foot.
7.
Teacher says: So snow is easy to move and press down. When we step on it, we push the snow down and leave a hole that is the shape of our foot, and when we slide something through the snow, it pushes the snowflakes aside, making a track.
8.
Teacher asks: What does the book say snow sounds like when you step on it?
 
Students answer: The book says that snow goes "crunch, crunch" when you step on it.
9.
Teacher says (models thinking): I wonder what Peter found to make tracks.
 
Read pages 14-21 out loud, then stop. Page 21 ends with, “...he made angels.”
10.
Teacher asks: What are three things people can do with snow?
 

Students answer:

  • People can have snowball fights.
  • People can make a snowman.
  • People can make angels in the snow.
 
Read pages 22-26 out loud, then stop. Page 26 ends with, “...thought and thought about them.”
11.
Teacher asks: Peter played for a long time in the snow. How did Peter or the older children play in the snow?
 
Use the book's illustrations to facilitate the asking and answering of this question. As students name ways Peter and the other children played, turn back to the corresponding pages and show the pictures. If students struggle to remember what Peter and the other children did, turn to a page with an illustration of one of their activities. Then ask students to identify what the picture is showing.
 

Students answer:

  • Peter made footprints in the snow.
  • Peter made a track in the snow with a stick, and he knocked down snow from a tree with the stick.
  • Peter watched the big kids have a snowball fight. (You may need to prompt this answer by asking: How did the big boys play in the snow?)
  • Peter made a snowman.
  • Peter made angels in the snow.
  • Peter climbed mountains of snow and then slid down them.
  • Peter made a snowball.
 
Read page 28 out loud, then stop. Page 28 ends with, “He felt very sad.”
12.
Teacher says (models thinking): I wonder why Peter is sad. To figure this out, I should think back about what I remember from the story. I remember that Peter played all day in the snow. I also remember at the end of the day, he made a snowball and put it in his pocket. Then he went into his warm house. My conclusion is that Peter is sad because his snowball is gone.
13.
Teacher asks: What does the temperature have to be like for there to be snow?
 
Students answer: The temperature has to be cold.
14.
Teacher asks: What is the temperature like in Peter’s house?
 
Students answer: It is warm inside Peter’s house.
15.
Teacher asks: Let’s try to explain what could have happened to the snowball.
 
Students answer: The snowball melted because it was too warm/hot inside Peter’s house for the snow to stay a snowball.
 
Read page 30 out loud, then stop. Page 30 ends with, “...had melted all the snow away.”
16.
Teacher asks: What else can melt snow besides a warm home?
 
Students answer: The sun can melt the snow away!
 
Read the remainder of the book.
 

Part 2: Guided Practice and Discussion

 
For this oral lesson, it is suggested to have the completed graphic organizer on the board with the answers concealed. After students provide a correct answer, reveal the corresponding answer on the graphic organizer.
1.
Teacher asks: We are going to make a list on the board now of all the things that we learned about snow from The Snowy Day. Please raise a quiet hand if you remember something that we learned about snow.
 

Students answer:

  • We learned that snow covers things.
  • We learned that snow can stay around for a while if it is cold.
  • We learned that snow falls from the sky.
  • We learned that snow is cold.
  • We learned that snow melts when it gets warm.
Read more
 

If your students seem to have forgotten some of the facts about snow, use the prompts below to elicit each of the 5 facts about snow.

  • What did Peter see when he looked out of his window at the beginning of the book?
  • Can snow stay for a while if it is cold?
  • Where does snow come from? 
  • How does snow feel?
  • What happened to Peter's snowball when he brought it into his warm home?
2.

Teacher asks: Now we are going to make a list of the ways that the characters in the book The Snowy Day enjoyed the snow. Please raise a quiet hand if you can tell me one way that people from the story enjoyed snow.

 

Students answer:

  • The big boys had a snowball fight.
  • Peter made tracks in the snow with a stick and his feet.
  • Peter knocked the snow down from a tree with the stick.
  • Peter made snowballs.
  • Peter climbed mountains of snow and then slid down them.
  • Peter made angels in the snow.
  • Peter made a snowman.
 

If your students seem to have forgotten some of the things that the characters did in the snow, use the prompts below to elicit each of the 7 activities.

  • What do big boys like to do in the snow?
  • What can you make in the snow if you step on it or push it down with something?
  • Can you do something to the snow on a tree?
  • What does snow become when you squish it together?
  • What might you do if you see a really big pile or mountain of snow?
  • What do you make if you lie in the snow and move your arms up and down?
  • What can you make out of three giant snowballs?
 

After the answers for the graphic organizer have been completed and discussed with the class, ask and discuss the following two extension questions:

 
Teacher asks: We know from the book that snow must stay cold or it will melt. What is a way that Peter could have prevented or stopped the snowball that he brought into his home from melting?
 

Students answer (may vary):

  • Peter could have left the snowball outside.
  • Peter could have put the snowball in the freezer.
 
Teacher asks: At the end of the book Peter and his friend from across the hall went out together in the deep, deep snow. What kinds of clothes and shoes were they probably wearing to go outside and play in that deep snow?
 
Students answer: Answers will vary but should include a description of layers of warm clothes (jackets or snowsuits, with long underwear or warm clothes underneath), warm socks, gloves, boots, and hats (clothes to stay warm and dry).
 

Part 3: Student Independent Practice

 
Read each question out loud to your students and have each student complete the worksheet independently. For questions 5 A) and 6, you can have students draw their answers, answer orally, or write their answers depending on your students’ progress. If you have them write their answers, you may want to write the word(s) on the board for them to copy.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

(To see all of the ReadWorks lessons aligned to your standards, click here.)

User Comments

This is so great!! Awesome lesson!

Submitted by dubinetskiy3_2564196 on 1/19/17

Great lesson! Thanks.

Submitted by mhall on 12/17/16

Great ideas about letting students ask students questions.

Submitted by Gayle on 2/11/16

Looks like a great lesson! Thanks!

Submitted by Liz Deason on 2/3/16

Thank you for this great lesson. I will use it real soon.

Submitted by jsskyee_1461228 on 1/19/16

Great lessons for home and allows you to attack key areas!

Submitted by tamarrawood8_1516110 on 9/17/15

So neat that this is similar to a lesson we already work on. Can't wait to add more details.

Submitted by sunshine322 on 6/25/15

These are so well done! Thank you!!

Submitted by Rhonda on 4/29/15

Thanks. This is thorough and user friendly.

Submitted by dlebron3 on 2/22/15

Fits right in with our work on winter and weather words!

Submitted by fbw on 1/21/15

Wonderful!! Cant wait to teach this!!

Submitted by SDWard1_1125197 on 12/11/14

love this lesson/can't wait to use it!

Submitted by carol_maddox on 11/29/14

Can't wait to use Readworks. Thanks for included the lesson plan.

Submitted by mhall on 1/26/15