Sand, Snow, & Letter S

All about letter S
and
the Science of Snow!

Daily Question: Have you ever built a sandcastle? 
(Usually we talk about snow today but with such nice weather 

Toys: Moon Sand, Skee-Ball, Shoes and Lace-up Cards.

Snack: Build a Snowman(banana slices, grapes, apple segments, raisins, craisins, carrots, pretzel rods, and fruit leather). Trace a letter S with cream (Cool Whip).  The children had a lot of fun "playing with their food" and making unique snowmen today!

Circle Time Discussion: Seasons, SNOW, and Sand.
Have you ever built a snowman?--all but two.
Have you ever built a sandcastle?--all but the same two.

Today we reviewed what seasons were (Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer) and spoke about Snow.  We read Round and Round the Seasons Go and Winter's Song.

"What is snow?" I asked. Most of the children raised their hands and were eager but had trouble telling me what it was. 
"What is a snowflake?" "Water!" Zakai knew right away.  "Yes, but how does water become a snow flake?"  "(Water)It comes down the pipes and freezes (into snow?)!" Yes, when the temperature outside turns cold, water can freeze in the pipes and it helps to make snow!  "It comes down from heaven!" Raegan informed us.  "Yes, it falls from the heavens or sky."  "It's solid! (solid form of water-snow)" Ben reminded us.  We talked about how water takes different forms: gas (steam, vapor), liquid, and solid (snow, ice)
Water is the only substance in all of nature that exists in three forms:

The solid form of water is ice; the liquid is water and the gas is water vapor or steam. Water’s ability to go from a solid to a liquid to a gas is the reason we have different kinds of weather like snow, rain or fog. *(See http://northpennwater.org/p-55-Water-Cycle)

Science: We had a fun time reading Look-a Snowflake! (Troll) In the simple, small book it discusses the Water Cycle. Water is in vapor in the air all around us. On hot days, the water vapor evaporates (rises up) into clouds. When the clouds get heavy, and the air is cold, the water freezes and falls to the earth as ice crystals. As the ice crystals fall, they stick to one another and form snow flakes.

Snow helps us by giving us water to drink (as it melts), waters plants, covers the ground protecting plants from freezing winds, and keeping the hibernating animals warm.

Fun activities to do in the snow: snow angels, skiing, snowman building, sledding, snowball fights, etc.

Winter Coloring Pages and S pages: 
Students can color and trace the letter S at home.

We also learned about S the snake and the "s" sound she makes as she slithers from side to side.  We colored a S the Snake page and put sand on it for our letter activity.

Snow Books:
Look--A Snowflake by Janet Craig, Ill. by Susan T. Hall (TrollFirst Start Science)
Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, Ill. by Richard Cowdrey
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Caldecott Medal Winner)
A Perfect Day for It by Jan Fearnley* Great book ("It" is sledding).
The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss, Ill. by Marc Simont
The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steve Kroll, Ill. by Jeni Bassett
The Snowman Storybook with words by Raymond Briggs
One Snowy Day by Jeffrey Scherer (Hello Reader, Lvl. 1) Presch-Gr. 1

Snow Shapes; A Read and Do Book by Judith Moffat (Hello Reader, lvl. 2, K-2)

The BIG SNOW by Berta and Elmer Hader (Caldecott Medal Winner), Advanced, Read Aloud.
Snip, Snip...SNOW! by Nancy Poydar
The Biggest Snowball Ever! by John Rogan
Winter; An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur, Ill. by Leslie Evans
The Tiny Snowflake by Arthur Ginolfi, Ill. by Louise Reinoehl Max (Individual Worth, Christian)
White Snow Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt, Ill. by Roger Duvoisin
All About Snow and Ice by Stephen Krensky, Ill. by Anna DiVito (Do it Yourself Science)
Snow and Ice; A Science is Fun Book by Stephen Krensky, Ill. by John Hayes (Advanced)



*Please note we continue to study letter S in February because of the other sounds it makes (sc, sh, sr, st, sw.) when we study shapes, safety, and Dr. Seuss (Read Across America).

Letter "S" Hunters:
silent, snowman, snack, sand, sun, snake, swimming, shave, snow, seasons, sheep, star, shapes, school, song, sunny.


We talked about how "s is a very social"  letter.  It likes to join with other letters to make new sounds.  We practiced some of the sound combinations: sc, sh, sl, sm, sn, sp, sr, st, su, sw.

Optional Snowmen Activities:

• Build a marshmallow snowman or make a snowman face on cocoa with whipped cream, chocolate chips, and a candy corn nose. (See Disney's Family Fun Magazine online, keyword Snowmen.)


• Cut out simple shapes from felt (white circles, orange triangle, black circles, colorful scarf) and have your child "build a snowman" INSIDE, over and over again. See ideas online.


• Use cotton balls to make a snowman ornament.
• Practice letter writing in shaving cream, whipped cream, shallow container of corn meal.  Students trace letters and then "erase" (shake or smooth out) to write more.  This is good for kis who are "tactile" learners. Kinesthetic.
• Gather a bowlful of fresh snow and make a Winter treat: pack it down and drizzle real maple syrup over the top and enjoy eating the natural snow cone with a spoon!


• If you have "real" snow--go outside and work together to build a snowman, come inside for cocoa (see above), and to listen to The Biggest Snowman Ever!