Week 18 Day 3

Book choices for today:

Snow is Falling   Franklyn Branley
Snow   Nancy Wallace
Snow Tree   Caroline Repchuk
Snowflake Bentley    Jacqueline Martin
The Secret Life of a Snowflake   Kenneth Libbrecht
The Story of Snow    Mark Cassino

Science: (first circle)

Need for lesson – Pictures of snowflakes and coffee filter snowflake work.

Science 42
We are going to talk about snowflakes today. Who likes to play in the snow? What is snow? We have talked about the water cycle. What happens as the water vapors rise to the air? What can we see forming in the sky? Clouds. For it to snow the tops of the clouds must be below 32 degrees in temperature. That is cold! So if the temperature in the cloud is warmer than that what will fall from the clouds? Rain. So if it is cold in the clouds snow falls instead. We get snowflakes instead of raindrops. Snow is frozen water. Snowflakes start as ice crystals that form in the cold clouds and that are the size of a speck of dust, so so tiny. When the crystals fall they join up with other crystals to form a snowflake. The size of a snowflake depends on how many crystals hooked together. This is why out of all the snowflakes to fall from the sky it is very hard to find any that are exactly alike. As snow falls snowflakes connect to make bigger snowflakes.
We can make snowflakes by folding and cutting a coffee filter (demonstrate work).
What are some fun things do you like to do in the snow?

Snowflakes (from: The Snowflake by Kenneth Libbrecht)

Art:

Snow on…Booklet – I cannot remember where I found these, but it is a booklet with different things to find the snow on.

Snowflake Magnets – These are craft sticks with cut edges, glued together with a piece of a magnet strip glued on the back for children to paint.

Additional Works:

Snowflake Subtraction

Bird Feeders – The book, Winter Friends or other book of choice. Pine cones, bird seed, and peanut butter if it is safe to do so. (Due to allergies, it may be a peanut free school). Another nut butter could be used as well. Talk with the children about feeding the birds in the winter. Children can each make their own feeder to take home to hang outside.

Practical Life:

Snowflakes – These are wooden snowflakes from a craft store that I painted and traced the outline of them on paper and the children match them to the outlines.

Build a Snowflake – This is an idea from kidssoup.com. I made the snowflake pieces out of craft foam.

Snow on the Tree – These are little plastic snowflakes that children can place around the evergreen tree. Both are from a craft store. Another idea are clothespin snowflakes.

Songs/Poems:

Snowflakes and Cupcakes
If all of the snowflakes were chocolate covered cupcakes
Oh, what a wonderful snow that would be.
I’d go outside with my mouth opened wide
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
If all of the snowflakes were chocolate covered cupcakes
Oh, what a wonderful snow it would be.

Snowflakes (tune – Mary had a Little Lamb)
Snowflakes falling
From the sky, from the sky, from the sky
Snowflakes falling from the sky
To the earth below
Watch them as they
Dance and whirl, dance and whirl, dance and whirl
Watch them as they dance and whirl
Soft white Winter snow.

Snowflakes
One little snowflake with nothing to do
Along came another, and then there were two.
Two little snowflakes laughing with me
Along came another, and then there were three.
Three little snowflakes looking for some more
Along came another ,and then there were four.
Four little snowflakes dancing a jive
Along came another, and then there were five.
Five little snowflakes having so much fun
Out came the sun, then there were none!

I use these for the Snowflakes poem above it. The children holding the snowflakes all melt down as the other children hold open their arms for the sun coming out.

Snowflake Snowflake (tune – Twinkle Star)
Provide each child with a snowflake prop to use during the song.

Snowflake, snowflake, fancy free.
Snowflake, snowflake, dance with me.
Touch my head, then my toes.
Land on my nose where the cold wind blows.
Snowflake, snowflake, turn around.
Snowflake, snowflake, touch the ground.

Snowflake, snowflake, fancy free.
Snowflake, snowflake, dance with me.
Touch my elbow, then my shoulder.
Land on my chin where it’s a little bit colder.
Snowflake, snowflake, turn around.
Snowflake, snowflake, touch the ground.

Snowflake, snowflake, fancy free
Snowflake, snowflake, dance with me.
Touch my ear, then my knees.
Snowflake, I’m about to freeze!
Snowflake, snowflake, fancy free.
Snowflake, snowflake, dance with me.