January is a favorite month of mine as a teacher. Living in Texas, I live vicariously through the winter themed books I read to my students. Because if you know anything about Texas, we very rarely see snow! I have some great snowmen literacy activities that you can use in your winter unit and are pretty much no prep!
My Favorite Read Aloud
My all time favorite winter read aloud is called Snowmen at Night. You always wake up to your snowman not looking what it did when you went to bed the night before. That idea led to the creation of this amazing book! Snowmen at Night is a fantasy-type story that takes you on a journey of what snowmen do at night. It’s funny and downright perfect for any winter unit!
Snowmen Literacy Activities
There are so many activities you can bring to the classroom using this book. Writing activities are perfect and fun of all levels of writers. For beginner writers, simply have them write what their snowmen would do while they are sleeping. They can illustrate their writing as well. For older or more advanced writers, they can write a quick few sentences from the point of view of the snowman! It’s a perfect activity to hang in the classroom or hallway! (ppsstt..this is a freebie!)
Maybe you’re looking for more of a craft for your students? In my Winter is Here Thematic Unit, I’ve included a similar activity. Instead of illustrating, students can create a snowman out of cupcake liners (or even coffee filters!). They can use craft supplies or construction paper to create hats, scarves, and other features of a snowman! The writing assignment can be anything you assign your students that tie in with this read aloud.
Sequencing Activity
Remember I said I live vicariously through this favorite read aloud? This activity does the same thing for my little learners. We don’t see much snow, and their chances of building a snowman is so slim! What’s the next (and most reasonable) option? Assign a sequencing activity on how to build a snowman!
You can read more about this activity, and make sure you grab the free printable as well!
Snowman Emergent Reader
To continue with snowmen literacy activities, you can add this emergent reader to your small group reading groups. Each page contains simple sentences that help build a snowman. Use fun reading tools to help readers follow along, or have them count each word after reading each page. Send them back to their desks to color and keep to practice reading!
You can grab this free emergent reader by clicking the download button below!
