Here is a read aloud lesson inspired by the cold wintry weather outside!
Text: Snowballs (Ehlert, 1995)
Description of Text: L. Ehlert provides both fictional and nonfiction information in this text. A child narrates the story and describes creating many snow people and animals (snow mom, snow dad, snow boy, snow girl, snow dog, snow baby, snow cat) by using everyday household items that have been saved by the family. Large, colourful illustrations portray a variety of interesting creations. At the end of the book the author provides a number of informational pages with pictures and labels including “good stuff” to use for snow people building, information on snow, and pictures of real snowmen.
Overall Curriculum Expectations (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2006):
Language Arts: Demonstrate understanding and critical awareness of a variety of written materials that are read by and with the teacher; Use reading strategies that are appropriate for beginning readers in order to make sense of a variety of written materials
Specific Curriculum Expectations (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2006):
14. Respond to a variety of materials read aloud to them
15. Use illustrations to support comprehension of texts that are read by and with the teacher
16. Use prior knowledge to make connections to help them understand a diverse range of materials read by and with the teacher
17. Make predictions regarding an unfamiliar text that is read by and with the teacher, using prior experience, knowledge of familiar texts, and a general knowledge of the world around them
18. Retell stories in proper sequence that have been read by and with the teacher, using pictures in the book and/or props
Materials Needed: book Snowballs (Ehlert, 1995), sentence strips that have one event from the story written on each with a corresponding picture (e.g., The birds are at the feeders, We saved stuff in a sack, We made a snow dad), pocket chart, pictures of various winter activities (including skiing, sledding, making snow angels, making snow people), chart paper, markers, feedback forms and pictures sent in by families
Before Reading the teacher prepares children for the reading by setting the stage for understanding of the text (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003).
1. Prior to showing children the book, the teacher asks them to think about what activities they like to do in the winter. This sharing time will help activate prior knowledge of winter activities and set the atmosphere for the reading of the book. Teacher talk might include:
• “Let’s think about things we like to do in the winter. I love to go skiing when it’s cold and snowy outside! Many of you have had the chance to talk to your families about your favourite activities in the cold weather. Turn to an elbow partner (think, pair, share) and discuss with them some of your favourite winter activities.”
• “I heard some wonderful, interesting ideas while you were sharing your ideas with one another. Let’s share these together! Describe your favourite winter activities for me!” (this provides a potential opportunity for modeled or shared writing if the teacher decides to record student ideas on a list)
2. After this initial discussion the teacher might show to students a variety of real life pictures from magazines or calendars that depict additional winter time activities (e.g., skating, shoveling snow, tobogganing). Students can be engaged in a discussion of the pictures in order to promote oral language including who is in the pictures, what is happening, why they might be doing what they are doing, and any other discussion prompts. Specific vocabulary can be introduced and used in context (e.g., the toboggan is racing down the hill, the man is hiking through the woods using snowshoes). Teacher talk might include:
• “Look at each of these pictures. Who do you see? Where is this taking place? What are they doing? Why might they be doing that? What does this remind you of? This picture reminds me of the word…”
3. After the picture discussion, the teacher shows students the cover of the book Snowballs (Ehlert, 1995) and reads the title and author/illustrator name. Students can be encouraged to predict what they think the book might be about. If/when students guess ‘making snowmen’ the teacher can connect this idea back to the original discussion of favourite wintertime activities. If building snowmen was previously mentioned, potential text-to-self connections can be made. If this idea was not mentioned, it can be highlighted as another winter activity. Teacher talk might include:
• “Let’s examine the cover of this book. It is called Snowballs. The author, the person who wrote the book, is also the illustrator, the person who created the illustrations. That means that Lois Ehlert wrote the story and created the pictures for Snowballs.”
• “This book is called Snowballs. Look at the picture on the cover. What do you think this book is going to be about? Let’s predict who might be in it and what might happen.”
4. After discussing the cover, the teacher leads students on a ‘picture walk’ of the book by showing students each page of the book in sequence, without reading the words. The illustrations in this book are unique, intricate pieces of artwork that the author has created using a variety of household materials, and this can be highlighted to students. The teacher can direct student attention to these pictures and a quick discussion can be had regarding what students think Snowballs will be about and how the Lois Ehlert created the interesting snow people in the story. Teacher talk might include:
• “Let’s look at each of these pictures. What do you see? Who do you think is in this story and what might it be about?
• “Look at Lois Ehlert’s illustrations. They are made using things you might find in your house! Describe what you see on these pages. What do you find interesting about these illustrations?
During reading the teacher helps children comprehend the text by stopping and thinking aloud about something, by making connections to other texts read by the class, or in order to ask a question about the text (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003).
5. The teacher reads the text, demonstrating various characteristics of a fluent reader including expression, intonation, and enthusiasm. The first few pages portray a winter scene with birds eating seeds. This provides the teacher with an opportunity to expand on the ideas in the text and connect bird feeding to personal experience.
• “Look at the snow falling in this picture. What are the birds doing? Why might they be eating seeds left out for them by a person?”
• “This reminds me of last winter when I hung two bird feeders outside my kitchen window. The birds did not come to eat from them until it became very cold and snowy outside…”
6. As the story continues the narrator describes how the family has been “saving good stuff in a sack”. Students can be prompted to examine the picture in order to see exactly what “good stuff” is, and predict why these items are needed in the story. Students can then be asked to expand on this idea by suggesting additional good stuff that could also be saved for a snowball day.
• “What good stuff has been saved by the people in this story? Why do you think they are saving these things? How might they use these objects?
• “If you were going to save good stuff for a snowball day, what are some things you might like to have in your sack? How would you use your items?”
7. As the story continues, the narrator describes how and what was made using the snow and good stuff in the sack (e.g., a snow dad, snow mom, snow boy, snow girl). As each page is read students can be encouraged to examine the picture and describe how the materials used to create the snow creature clearly depict what it is. The teacher can use think aloud moments to clearly discuss how the objects used specifically portray a snow creation that matches the text.
• “Let’s look at this picture. The story says it’s a ‘snow dad’. How can we tell the snow person is supposed to be a dad? What objects has Lois Ehlert used to show it’s a dad?”
• “This illustration shows a ‘snow mom’. If you were going to create a snow mom, what would you include in your illustration?”
• “Look at the picture of the ‘snow baby’! I can tell it is supposed to be a baby because of the little tiny nose and mouth on its face! It’s easy to tell the snow dog is a dog! It reminds me of a little dog I once saw at the park that had spots all over its body too! Look at the snow dog’s pointed ears! He looks like a happy dog because of his smiling mouth!”
8. Towards the end of the story the text asks readers to think about what “happened when the sun came out.” This provides the teacher with an opportunity to ask students to predict what they think will happen to each of the snow creatures when the sun comes out. As the teacher reads this page, the book can be hidden in his or her lap, face down, so the students can make predictions before seeing the illustrations. Once guesses are made, attention can be drawn to the way Lois Ehlert has portrayed a melting snow person in the illustrations.
• “The story says ‘I guess you know what happened when the sun came out’. What do you think happened? How do you know that? Have you ever experienced this? What happened?”
• “Look at the illustrations. How can you tell the snow dad is shrinking?”
9. As the story concludes there are many rich, descriptive words used such as “shrinking, blob, slush, melting” and metaphorical phrasing such as “dog is a puddle”. Attention can be drawn to these words and phrases in order to build student vocabulary.
• “What do you think the word shrinking/blob/slush/melting means? How do you know? What is happening in the picture? How does the illustration help you understand that word?”
• “The story says ‘dog is a puddle’. What do you think that means?”
After reading the teacher can help students to extend their learning and comprehension through a variety of large, small and independent activities (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003) including:
10. The students can help retell the story with the teacher using sentence strips that have one idea listed on each strip from the story with a corresponding picture (e.g., The birds are at the feeder. We saved good stuff in a sack. We made a snow girl. Snow dad shrunk.) These story strips can put on the floor in the middle of the carpet, with students sitting around in a circle formation. The teacher can help students read each and look at the illustration to help understand what’s on the strips. Students can help retell the story by placing the strips in sequence. These strips can be left out during center time and students can choose to revisit this activity and retell the story again.
Ehlert, L. (1995). Snowballs. San Diego and New York: Harcourt Brace & Company.
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2003). A guide to effective instruction in reading: Kindergarten to Grade 3. Toronto: Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2006). The kindergarten program (revised). Toronto: Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
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