Showcase Page 3: Read A Winter Book

Student Poetry Showcase Page 3

Read A Winter Book ...Write A Winter Poem
A Collaborative Literacy Project
Hosted by Marci McGowan Winter 2004

Student Showcase
Lists all participating classes

Kathy Rowland's First Grade
Pearson Elementary School
Poulsbo, Washington
Class Website

Poem: What I Love About Winter by Douglas Florian

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Mrs. Rowland's first graders enjoyed reading and re-reading a poem by Douglas Florian called What I Love About Winter.

We thought the rhyming couplets were fun to say and we loved the mental images the poem created for us.

What I Love about Winter
by Douglas Florian

Frozen lakes
Hot pancakes
Lots of snow
Hot cocoa
Skates and skis
Evergreen trees
Funny hats
Thermostats
Sunsets blaze
Holidays
Snowball fights
Fireplace nights
Chimneys steaming
Winter dreaming.

Since we were in the middle of a study of free verse poetry (using Regie Routman's First Grade Poetry) we chose to do a shared poetry write using Mr. Florian's poem, but in free verse style. We hope you enjoy our work.

Free Verse Poem

What We Love About Winter
in Washington

Winter in Washington
Snowflakes on your tongue
Building families of snowpeople
Turning snow toes into cozy toes
Marshmallow snowballs in hot cocoa
Waiting for hunters to come home
Skating, bike riding and
splashing in puddles
Board games and video games
Putting puzzles together
Painting people pictures
Cookies baking
Mall shopping
Video watching
We love winter in Washington.

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Malinda Ponton's First Grade
Riverdale Elementary School
Orlando, Florida

Books: Winter Poems by Leslie Evans
Winter: An Alphabet Acrostic by Barbara Rogasky

Malinda's class wrote an acrostic poem together for this project. Then they wrote individual winter poems using a variety of formats.

Acrostic Poem

W inter brings
I ce and cold winds.
N o snow in Florida for snowmen.
T ogether we play freeze tag!
E veryone has fun,
R unning to keep warm in winter

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Mrs. Usenia's First Grade
Primary School
Whitinsville, Massachusetts

Book: White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tressault

Acrostic Poem

White snow , bright snow
High up on the rooftops
It's a wonderful snowy day
To shovel a path to the road
Everything is covered with

Snow
Now, people are making snowman
and snowforts
Outside a rabbit is going into his
burrow
Wow! There is tons of snow!

Extensions:
Art: Create the setting of the story with dark paper, light crayons, glitter and marble painting
Reading Comprehension: Sequence the events of the story with sentence strips and create a mini book of the story
Writing: How do you to prepare for a snow storm? What do you like/don't like about snow?(list/ chart) Which season do you like better, winter or spring? Write and draw a picture.

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Mrs. Tammy Singleton's First Grade
Marshall Elementary School
Byron Center, Michigan

Book: The Magic Tree House - Polar Bears Past Bedtime
by Mary Pope Osborne
The Little Polar Bear by Hans de Beer

My class enjoyed reading many books about winter in the month of January. We learned about polar bears while reading The Magic Tree House - Polar Bears Past Bedtime, then enjoyed The Little Polar Bear by Hans de Beer.

We created a life-sized polar bear for the classroom using our math skills to measure each part of the polar bear and cut out the snowy white paper.
As a whole group we memorized a song about polar bears that rhymes, and wrote the verses as a handwriting lesson.
Each student cut out his or her own polar bear using circles, ovals, and a heart shaped stencil.
After reading The Little Polar Bear each student wrote his or her own acrostic poem using the name of the main character, Lars, as the beginning letters.

Acrostic Poems

Lars
Arctic
Robby
Seal

By Kiana

Lars has a new friend
A seal was his friend
Robby said to Lars, "I cannot be
your friend."
Sometimes polar bears can be nice.

By ShaTaya

Lars is little
A boat came
Robby is Lars friend
Seals can't be friends with polar bears.

By Travis

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Mrs. Dover's and Mrs. Grauer's First Grades
Bonnie Laur, Technology Coordinator
St. Michael the Archangel School
Baltimore, Maryland
School Website

Book: Snow is Falling by Franklyn M. Branley

We have had so many "Snow Days" ( at least for Maryland) this year that we chose the book Snow is Falling by Franklyn M. Branley as our winter book to read. We hope you enjoy our poems and maybe learn a little bit about snow along the way. We're hoping for an early spring and an end to winter. Maybe you are too.

Snow
By Mrs. Dover’s First Grade class

Snow
Snow is quiet
Snow is Christmas coming
Snow is building snowmen
Snow is for building igloos
Snow is fluffy
Snow is white
Snow is a blanket for chipmunks and trees
Snow is fun for children
Snow

Snow
By Mrs. Grauer’s First Grade class

Snow
Snow is winter
Snow is soft and fluffy
Snow is cold
Snow is Christmas coming
Snow is skiing down the hill
Snow is six-sided flakes
Snow is good for animals and us too
Snow

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Lanise Jacoby's Second Grade
Peirce School
Arlington, Massachusetts

Class Websites: Window to Our World
and Winter Poetry Project Page

Book: Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

This project offered so many wonderful poetry resources, one of which was the 5 W's poem. I had never used this poetry form before and wanted to give it a try with the class.

I love the book Snowflake Bentley, and thought it would be a good choice for experimenting with this type of writing. This book so captured my own imagination that my husband and I actually traveled to Jericho, Vermont a couple of years ago to see the sign in the center (shown in the book) and visit his museum!

I first explained the type of poetry we would be writing. Then I did a first read of Snowflake Bentley with the class, asking them to listen for who, what, when, where, and why in the story.

Next, using a 5-W star graphic organizer (one W on each point of a five-pointed star) from our Write Source resources, we did a second read, this time taking notes.

Using our notes, we wrote a collaborative 5-W poem.
We revised it and wrote a few versions. Below is the version the children selected for the project.

5-W Poem
(Who What When Where Why)

Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley
discovered that no two snowflake patterns are alike
during the days of horse and sleigh
on a farm in Jericho, Vermont
because he admired the exquisite beauty of nature

As a follow-up to our literacy work, we made a "Snowflake Quilt"...

After reading the book, the children became enthralled with snowflake designs. Using the Make-a-Flake website, the children created amazing designs online in our Computer Lab.

Here is a close-up of one of our quilt blocks.

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I then printed each snowflake and put them together in a hallway "quilt" for all to enjoy.

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The Make-a-Flake site is SO incredible, I highly recommend you check it out! (Flash required). You will certainly see how unique each and every snowflake design can truly be!

For lots of snow crystal, snowflake, and Snowflake Bentley resources see our Project Page.

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Belva Buchan's Kindergarten
Gables Elementary School
Columbus, Ohio

Book: Winter: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur

We read several winter books. We talked about our favorite things to do in winter. After reading the Winter: An Acrostic Alphabet Book, we wrote a winter acrostic poem. Everyone in our class wrote a winter poem and compiled them into a book. This is our class acrostic poem.

W indy

I cicle

N ight

T oboggan

E arth covered with snow

R eindeer

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Robin Dryden's Second Grade
Puckett Elementary School
Amarillo,Texas

Book: Various winter/snow books

We really enjoyed this project, as we had read many snow books. We made snowmen into our favorite book characters. The day before we wrote the poem, we had a snowfall, which made looking out the window and writing a lot of fun! Everyone in the class wrote an individual poem using different words, then we wrote this one as a class:

Acrostic Poem

FROSTY

Fresh snow
Ready to make a snowman
Or snow angel
Snow makes a fun playground
To play games or make men
Yeah!! We love the snow!

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Mrs. Chris Foedisch's K, 1 and 2 Class
Paul Fly Elementary School
Norristown, Pennsylvania

Book: The Mystery of the Missing Red Mitten
by Steven Kellogg

We read many winter books, but the one we chose to focus on for this poem was The Mystery of the Missing Red Mitten by Steven Kellogg.

We wrote an opposites, rhyming poem as a follow up to our shared reading.

Opposites - Rhyming Poem

My Mitten

My mitten is red
but yours is the color of lead.

My mitten is small
but yours is tall.

My mitten is missing
but yours was found when I went fishing.

My mitten is on the snowman
but yours is in the pan.

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Ms. Celeste Smith's and Mrs. Michno's First Grade
J.W. McLauchlin Elementary School
Raeford, North Carolina

Book: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and other "snowy" books

firstsnow.jpg (41721 bytes) Here's a photo of our class taken during our first snowfall of the year. We were lucky enough to be in school when the snow began falling and were able to go outside to catch the snowflakes and observe them.

We read several winter books, including The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, Snow by Uri Shulevitz, and White Snow Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt.

We wrote a winter acrostic poem after reading these books and having the pleasure of experiencing some winter weather of our own!

WINTER

Water freezes
Icicles hang on houses
No leaves on the trees
Time for sleds, skis, and snowballs
Everyone is bundled up
Ready for the cold.

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Jillianne Zimmerman/Carolyn Mungo
The Pandas (Grades 1-2)
Unity Charter School
Morristown, New Jersey

Books: Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Snow is Falling by Franklyn Mansfield Branley

We have been reading a collection of fiction and non-fiction books on snow, winter, and weather. The most recent books we read are Snowflake Bentley and Snowflakes are Falling.

Acrostic Poem

Winter is Fun

Wonderful winter
Ice skating is fun.
No snow is a disaster!
Terrific snow, totally snow, snow is fun!
Ears get cold in the winter time.
Running on ice is fun, but when you
slip....OUCH!

I like snowball fights.
Sledding is fun when you have a friend.

Flakes come out of the sky.
Up and down the snow is swirling,
No school today!!!

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Mrs Marian Segreto's Second Grade
South Broadview Elementary School
Salmon Arm, BC, Canada

Book: Emma's Cold Day by Margriet Ruurs

It was a big challenge for our class to choose a winter book, there are so many wonderful ones. We used the book Emma's Cold Day by Margriet Ruurs because she is an author who lives in our school district.

Free Verse Poem

Emma Hen, the Hero

"Brrr, it’s cold", said Emma, one day.
She went for a walk
Not very far away.
Emma was looking for a warm place to stay.
The friendly horse had four long legs but poor Emma didn’t.
The sheep had woolly coats but her feathers didn’t do it.
The nice warm cow barn was much too crowded.
The pink piglets were not fond of her feathers.
The ducks stood on one leg but poor Emma couldn’t do it.
Cold and tired, Emma perched in a tree.
Poor Emma fell asleep.
Then what a surprise Emma did see. . .
Three bright, warm lights on her Christmas tree.
The family saw Emma.
The farmer felt sorry.
"Oh", said the farmer, "I forgot the heat."
Back to the hen house, on with the lamps.
"Emma, you’re a hero," cheered all her hen friends.

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Keanna

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Marley

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Amelia

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Carter

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Dylan

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Mrs. Pesek's 1st Grade
and Nicole Taormina
Boyle Road Elementary School
Port Jefferson Station, NY

Book: Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner

Sensory Poem

Snowmen……

Look like marshmallows.
Feel like kittens.
Smell like clean air.
Sound like quiet libraries.
Taste like ice.

We tried with all our might to think about what snowmen do at night.

I think snowmen race at night. Ryan

I think snowmen have cold chocolate. Kristen

I think snowmen have cold cocoa at night. Mavis

I think snowmen build snow forts at night. Sean

I think snowmen drink cold chocolate milk at night. Caitlin

I think snowmen go ice skating at night. Christopher

I think snowmen read books at night. Daiyan

I think snowmen play baseball at night. Michael

I think snowmen drink cold cocoa at night. Taylor

I think snowmen play baseball at night. Brandon

I think snowmen watch us at night. Bradley

I think snowmen sled at night. Samantha

I think snowmen have snowball fights at night. Matthew

I think snowmen play baseball at night. Gabe

After reading Snowmen at Night, creating our sensory poem and our own version of Snowmen at Night with different endings, we made snowpeople out of marshmallows, raisins and pretzel sticks.

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Mrs. Josey's First Grade Bel Air Elementary School Evans, Georgia
Book: Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
We read this book and decided to create our own snow characters. Here are two of them with Cinquain Poems:
by Arielle	by Hailey
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