Picture Book Science Lessons: Over and Under the Snow

Hi!  It's Ari from The Science Penguin.

I've been working on a new blog series, Picture Book Science Lessons. Each post contains a favorite picture book for teaching science concepts and activity ideas to accompany the book.  This post contains affiliate links.

Topic: animals in winter, animal adaptations

Literacy Connections: figurative language, descriptive writing

Focus: First of all, the illustrations in this book are beautiful.  I love how the story shows a boy's observations of life above ground in the winter as well as life under the snow.  Students learn how living in the subnivean zone helps animals survive through winter.

Title: Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner

Discussion Questions

After reading the text aloud to students, have a group discussion or mini-discussions in small groups.

• What characteristics do the animals seen above the snow have in common?
• What must shrews, voles, and deer mice do to prepare for winter?

Research

Group students in teams of 2-3.  Assign each group one of the animals from the story to answer the essential question: How does each animal survive winter?  Present new information to the class.   Information about many of the mammals can be found on Hinterlands Who's Who.

Observations Chart

On the first or second read-aloud of the story, students write the information about each animal discussed in the text.

Click the pic to download the chart.

Download the Printable

You can download the free Over and Under the Snow printable here.  Have fun!

More Books

Looking for more picture book with science connections?  Check out my Picture Book Science Lessons blog series. 

Winter Art Tutorials

Hello Everyone!

I'm stopping by to share some quick 'n' easy art ideas to wrap up your winter classroom!

Just click on the pictures below to see a step-by-step tutorial on how to make these cuties!

Polar Bear Chalk Picture

Loopy 3D Penguin Craft

  

                                                   

Let's Connect!

Advent Calendar Fun-Day 14

Happy Sunday, friends! 

It's Laura from Peace, Love, and First Grade!

I'm here for Advent Calendar Day 14-bringing you an idea, a deal, and a freebie!

Let's get started!

The Idea

Last week, a sweet grandmother made ornaments with my kiddos.

Materials:

1) Clear, plastic Christmas balls

2) "Snow"-comes in a bag at craft stores

3) Holiday confetti

4) Holiday ribbon (2 per child-cut in 2-3 inch strips)

5) Jingle bells (1 per child)

Steps:

1) Squeeze the wire and take the top off the ball.

2) Fill the ball with "snow."

3) Fill the ball with holiday confetti.

4) Take the wire out of the top and string the bell on the wire. 
Then "poke" the ribbon through the wire, one piece on each side of the bell.

5) Attach the wire back to the top and place the top back on the ball.

6) Tie a ribbon through the top to hang on the tree.

 You are finished! Look how sweet!

The Deal

You asked for it!  Color by the Code Winter Sight Words.

My kiddos are enjoying this pack so much!

 

They keep asking for the next one!

You get Winter and Holiday pictures straight through Valentine's Day.

Today only, it's HALF OFF!!

Click the pic above to see it!

The Freebie

I just uploaded this freebie to TpT!

If you teach ordinal numbers or positional words, here's a winter freebie to help you out!

3 different activities to help your kiddos practice these life skills!

Click the pic above to download!

I hope you found something you love here!

Hang in there! The holidays are coming!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, friends!

Advent Calendar Day 6 - A Craft, A Freebie, And A SALE!

Hi everyone,

It's Valerie from All Students Can Shine
and I am here to bring you some fun treats for our
Advent Calendar Countdown!

Today, I'm sharing a craft tutorial, a freebie, and a sale!
Yay for holiday treats!!

Looking for a fun craft to make with your students? 

This snowflake is so EASY to make and the kids LOVE doing it every year!

I know it looks complicated but trust me when I say it is EASY!
I made them with my grade one class yesterday :)

You can follow my tutorial HERE.
I also left a FREE printable tutorial for you to take to your class :)

In case you haven't grabbed your holiday freebie yet,
check out my Holiday Coupon Book!

My Christmas printables will be a SALE all day today at 50% off!

Don't forget to check back with us tomorrow to see what goodies are up next!

Valerie

 

Prepping Early with a Freebie!

Hi, friends! It's Laura from Peace, Love, and First Grade!

When I read Katie's post yesterday, I thought about the hustle and bustle of the holidays and how we, as teachers, can find ways to lessen the stress. 

One thing I like to do is prep ahead.

Years ago, I learned I removed some unnecessary stress if I prepped weeks in advance. 

Don't get me wrong, things always come up, but I want to be prepared if they do. 

Being prepared includes making sure all my classroom resources are printed and ready to use before they are needed. 

In first grade, we use a lot of printable math resources-
number cards, number grids...tons of number references, including number lines. 

Well, I'm all about seasonal and holiday fun, and my kiddos enjoy using them, too.

If you like changing out references with the seasons, then here are a few freebies for you-
number lines 0-10. 

Even though, we are adding through 20, the Singapore Math program we use is based on ten, 
so we'll use these number lines all year. 

And honestly, many of my sweet friends still need visuals to help with equations,
 especially with those tricky MISSING ADDENDS! Grrr!

Here are three different winter number lines from 0-10, color and b/w.

Click on the pic to download!

And, if you still need fall resources,

 here are three different fall number lines from 0-10, color and b/w, as well. 

Click the pic to download!

I hope you can use these! 

Happy Sunday, friends!

Some Winter Fun

Hi Guys!
It's Faith from 1st Grade Fantabulous.  I'm not sure that you checked in the last few days, but we have had an awesome giveaway full of Martin Luther King Jr. products.  Well, my friend Latoya picked three winners yesterday.

The winners of our giveaway are:

Now, I don't know about you guys, but I LOVE Pinterest ideas and freebies, but this time of year it is hard to make time to go see what is out there.  Winter seems to leave me a little tired and at times unmotivated.  So, I visited the Primary Chalkboard (PC) blogs and found some of my favorite January activities.  You can click on any of the pictures and it will take you to that PC blog so you can read about what they were doing.

#1 Homemade Snow

#2 Melted Snowman

#3 Snow Globe Writing

#4 Opposite Mittens

#5 Loco for Cocoa

#6 Painted Snowman

Alright friends, I hope you have a great night!  I'll be back next month to share some incredibly cool February ideas from some of my other PC friends.