What better way to kick off a Snow Unit in kindergarten than reading The Snowy Day? Following a lesson which included the students drawing what they like to do on snowy days as well as comparing and contrasting what they like to do with the adventures that Peter had.
The following week, the students shared wondering questions about snow and began to share they they know or think they know about snow. Here's a link to our snow grid.
We spent the next two lessons trying to find answers to the wondering questions (and check our thinking). The students and I used books from our Wonder Wall (nonfiction neighborhood) as well as two articles from PebbleGo.
As we found answers, we would fill in our grid:
These two books were ideal for reading small parts, thinking about what we had read and seeing what answers we had discovered:
The real magic happens when wondering questions lead to answers which lead to new wondering questions. Here are three questions that arose as a result to answers from other questions:
Why are all snowflakes different?
Wonderopolis comes to the rescue again! Why are all snowflakes different?I found this video from the Weather Channel: Why is Snow White?
Where did the biggest snowflake fall?
Thanks New York Times! Snowflakes as Big as Frisbees?
Here are some additional questions my students had:
How does a cloud get water from places that are frozen?
How do animals survive in water under the snow and ice?
I wonder if we will get a ton of snow tomorrow?
Where does it snow all the time?
Why do cats hate snow?
Why do you sink in snow?
Here are some additional things kindergarten students think they know about snow:
snow has lots of coldness - that’s why animals hibernate or stay inside when it is snowing
snow can cover ice and make the ice look it is not there, so it is possible to slip - then people put down salt
snow can be so tiny you can’t see it
snow is fun to play in
sometimes it forms icicles
sometimes snow has salt in it
ice is hard to break
hail is cold raindrops
snow can be soft
snow can make slush
people can go skiing and sledding
What are you wondering about snow?
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