Winter Reading Ideas For The Classroom

Winter Reading Lesson Plans

Hello sweet friends! Today, I'm going to chat a little bit about one of my favorite winter books EVER. It's probably yours too and it's a very popular book!!! It's a great winter lesson plan to use in the classroom.  Every year, I love reading The Mitten By Jan Brett . We've read this book so many times I'm sure! I wanted to give you a few new ideas that I shared on my Facebook Page. 

The Mitten by Jan Brett is a  story that naturally presents it's self to practice sequencing. The story has a perfect layout for sequencing ideas. Since I live in Florida, I like to use a different perspective for teaching it. Our students have rarely experienced cold weather. Like we flip out when it's 52 degrees around here. Students have very little real life connection to the attire one would wear in REALLY cold weather. Throughout this story, I am able to give students the opportunity to really visualize themselves in colder weather and how that would feel. We spend a lot of time talking about vocabulary as well. Someone once said to me "I've only used that book for sequencing". One thing that I love to do is to find multiple purposes for a read aloud book. For most of my students, vocabulary is something that can throw them off. They are used to using the same words to describe everything. In this story, I point out how we can say "sniffed" over "smell". I encourage my students to use different words in their everyday vocabulary. Students have to do more than just read a word and hear the meaning, they have to APPLY it. 

One way I do this is through my vocabulary freebie. I have done this a few different ways. I place the words inside of a mitten. In Kindergarten, I pull out the word and read it. We would discuss together what the word means and synonyms for the word. I would have students practice using the word. I would only do two words at a time. 

In first and second grade, they could do this with a partner. Students just take turns pulling a word out of the mitten. You don't need a recording sheet for accountability because you will walk around and monitor the students progress. Students love this activity because they are allowed to freely speak and sometimes as teachers we limit that.  I found these mittens at Wal Mart for $1.27 for THREE pair. So fairly cheap. I've also went to goodwill and just washed the mittens. The mittens are a cheap way to get the kiddos more engaged than just pulling it out of a bag. It's the little things that make a BIG difference. 

Thank you for stopping by! You can click HERE for your free lesson plans!