3 ©The Mailbox W i n t e r Oh, the weather outside is frightful! Grab a book! It’s so delightful! The more we read, the more we know. Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! Welcome winter with a blizzard of books! Post on a board a large snowman and the poem shown. Each time a child finishes reading a book, have him write its title and author on a copy of a snowflake pattern from page 4. Then instruct him to cut out the shape and post it on the display. Challenge readers to cover the board with snowflakes before spring arrives! Let It Snow! The Giver Lois Lowry 4 ©The Mailbox Snowflake Patterns Use with “Let It Snow!” on page 3. ©The Mailbox® ©The Mailbox® ©The Mailbox 1–23 points: Welcome to the Bantam League. 24–47 points: You’re a Minor Leaguer. 48–71 points: You’ve made it to the Majors! 72–96 points: Congratulations; you are a Pro! Directions: 1. Stack the cards facedown. 2. Draw a card. Read the sentence. List words that have root words related to the boldfaced word. Then tell what you think the boldfaced word means. 3. Check the key. For every word you listed that is on the key, score one point. If your definition is correct, score two points. 4. After drawing all the cards, add up your points. Use the table to rate the level of your play. Analyzing complex words Face Off! 5 2 ©The Mailbox Name Types of snow 1. What three snow descriptions were used in the early 1900s? ___________________________ ______________________________________ 2. Which of the three descriptions is still used today? ________________________________ ______________________________________ 3. What type of snow looks like sleet? _________ ______________________________________ 4. What is the difference between powder and crust? ________________________________ ______________________________________ 5. How are powder and dust on crust alike? ______________________________________ ______________________________________ 6. Do you think it would be easy to ski on mashed potatoes? Explain. _______________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ 7. How do you think skiers came up with these terms? ________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ 8. Besides skiers and snowboarders, who else might use these terms for snow? ____________ ______________________________________ Snow comes in many forms, and skiers and snowboarders have many names for it. Since the early 1900s, skiers have created their own vocabulary for snow. Long ago, fluffy snow, powder snow, and sticky snow just about covered it. But since then, much more descriptive words are heard on the slopes. These terms include crud, corn, and mashed potatoes. Read the skier’s dictionary to learn more about these types of snow as well as a few others. The Skier’s Dictionary corn: hard pellets of snow that have refrozen crud: snow that has been skied over but is still soft and chunky crust: hard, packed snow that’s frozen dust on crust: a small amount of powder snow on top of crust grapple: snow that looks like sleet but is rounder and thicker mashed potatoes: melting snow powder: fresh snow that is loose and dry sierra cement: wet, heavy snow Use the passage and the dictionary above to answer each question. It’s “Snow” Big Deal! Crud, corn, and mashed potatoes are all types of snow. 6 ©The Mailbox Sentence Cards Use with “Face Off!” on page 5. Mount this page and page 5 on sturdy paper. If desired, laminate the pages before cutting out the cards and answer key. ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox ©The Mailbox 1 The thermostat must be set too low; it’s really cold in here! 2 How am I supposed to get traction on ice? 3 The horn’s abrupt blast made me lose my balance! 4 Someone should have forewarned me about the cold. 5 Is this a tripartite game? 6 If that puck hits me in the face, it could cause monocular pain. 7 I’m not afraid of the puck, though; it’s an inanimate object. 8 This game is going to be a spectacle! 9 I’ll contradict anyone who says field hockey and ice hockey are the same. 10 Will I get warm in the foreseeable future? 11 After sliding around on all this frozen water, I may become aquaphobic. 12 Isn’t there an asterisk on the program to tell when this game will end? 13 I wish someone would intervene in this game! 14 The cacophony of the crowd makes it hard to think. 15 Is one quadrant of the floor less slippery than the rest? 16 This must be a conspiracy to make us look silly. Answer Key for “Face Off!” 1. hypothermia, thermal, thermometer, thermos device that controls the temperature 2. attract, attraction, contract, track ability to grip a surface 3. disrupt, erupt, interrupt, rupture sudden 4. before, forecast, forward, warn given early warning 5. part, triangle, trio, triple having three parts 6. binocular, monocle, ocular, one affecting just one eye 7. animal, animated, animation, inactive not living 8. expect, obstacle, spectacular, spectator something entertaining to watch 9. contrary, contrast, dictate, predict argue the opposite 10. able, before, forecast, see known in advance 11. aquarium, aquatic, claustrophobia, phobia afraid of water 12. asteroid, astrology, astronomy, star star symbol used to show extra information 13. convene, interfere, interject, interrupt to change the way something happens 14. megaphone, phone, phonics, symphony harsh, unpleasant sounds 15. quadrilateral, quadruple, quadruplet, quarter one of the four quarters 16. conspire, expire, inspire, spirit plot 8 ©The Mailbox Name Similes and metaphors Snow School Before reading the story, write a word in each blank. Then read the story you created. Underline each simile once and each metaphor twice. One morning as I walked to school, I noticed something like a(n) _____________________ object in a(n) _____________________ place . Snow began to fall! It seemed that with every block I passed, the snow began to fall harder and quicker. It was coming down as fast as a(n) _____________________ animal at a track race. When I reached the playground, it was a(n) _____________________ place made of snow. By this time I was a really cold _____________________ animal and couldn’t wait to get inside the school building. Like a(n) _____________________ vehicle , I ran to the front door. Then I saw the most amazing thing. The entire school, inside and out, was a snow-covered _____________________ imaginary place . The principal was dressed in so many layers of clothing, he was like a(n) _____________________ animal .The hallway was a(n) _____________________ name of a ride filled with kids. Each one had a sled and was taking turns sledding down the hallway. They were like a bunch of _____________________ animals at the North Pole. Suddenly, in a loud booming voice, the principal announced, “Go home! School is closed!” Every student just continued playing in the hallway. No one wanted to go home! We all stayed at school for hours. When the sky was a dark _____________________ piece of clothing , we finally decided to head home. 9 ©The Mailbox Channel WSNO Blizzard Bill Name Winter DATE Using a thesaurus Use a thesaurus to find a stronger, more precise, or more descriptive synonym to replace each boldfaced word. Then rewrite the sentences using the new words. Now, here’s the best news for all the school kids out there. We are calling for around ten inches of snow tonight. You guessed it! School is canceled. Stay safe and warm. This is Blizzard Bill signing off. It’s time for the WSNO award-winning weather story. Here’s Blizzard Bill, our top meteorologist. What’s going on with today’s weird weather, Bill? ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Well, I can tell you one thing, Betty. It’s going to be cold! The temperature is going to fall tonight. I think the low will be around five or six degrees. Watch out for blasts of cold winter wind too. It’s likely that we’ll have 35-mile-an-hour winds tonight. Bonus: Pretend you are WSNO’s meteorologist. Write a report about today’s weather. Use a thesaurus to make sure your words are strong, precise, and descriptive. 7 ©The Mailbox Decide whether the words in each pair are synonyms or antonyms. Then circle the letter in the matching column. Name Winter DATE Synonyms and antonyms “Snow” Many Words Synonyms Antonyms Synonyms Antonyms 1. comrade, friend I S 14. wealthy, affluent D S 2. arctic, sweltering H A 15. calm, placid E O 3. wacky, eccentric R C 16. freezing, warming B N 4. glacial, polar L P 17. wise, prudent E W 5. delighted, thankful H Z 18. puzzled, perplexed E K 6. wintry, scalding T R 19. expensive, free G L 7. honest, sincere E Y 20. fluffy, spiky F T 8. icy, sizzling L B 21. cheerful, chipper V E 9. pardon, forgive A O 22. proud, humble P T 10. slippery, slick A I 23. gentle, harsh Y T 11. harmless, dangerous J I 24. freeze, soften C O 12. sliding, gliding Y D 25. frosty, chilly U N 13. important, trivial M W Bonus: Use the wintry words to write a new story about a snowman that comes to life. A news reporter asked the snowman, “Do you worry about melting?” To find out what the snowman said, write the circled letters on the matching numbered lines. “Yikes! ___ 1 ___ 16 ___ 15 ___ 21 ___ 17 ___ 6 ___ 3 ___ 18 ___ 2 ___ 19 ___ 4 ___ 12 ‘___ 22 ___ 5 ___ 10 ___ 13 ___ 7 ___ 14 ’ ___ 9 ___ 8 ___ 24 ___ 25 ___ 23 ___ 11 ___ 20 !” 13 ©The Mailbox Wanted! (Pages 13 and 14) ©The Mailbox ® Appropriate supporting details 1. Read the poster on your other page. Notice that some important details are missing. 2. Cut out the cards below. 3. Select ten cards that provide more details about the information on the poster. 4. Use a ^ with the card’s number to mark on your other page where you will insert that detail. 5. Rewrite each poster section, adding the selected details, on another sheet of paper. Pete Quinn A.K.A. (Also Known as) The Waddler and Tuxedo Guy $1,000 Reward Being Offered by Buster’s Fish Market . , . , Wanted! slides on his belly over snow and ice looks like he is wearing a black tuxedo because his front feathers are white like the bibbed part of a tuxedo shirt likes to eat fish, crabs, shrimps, and squid has short, thick feathers that are waterproof spends time on ice and snow is about four feet tall weighs about 85 pounds swims about eight miles per hour is funny to look at swims in the cold water far south of the equator near Antarctica has been in a movie leaps out of the water every minute or so for air has a stuffed animal named after him spends time in the water walks on two legs like a person 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 10 ©The Mailbox Snazzy Snowpals Writing T hese easy-to-make snowpals are the perfect inspiration for a cool writing activity! In advance, punch two small holes opposite each other on every bottle. When the projects are complete, have each student write a snowman story using one of the following prompts: • There was a tapping at my window. To my surprise, it was the snowman I made yesterday! • How did that snowman get inside our classroom? • Imagine my shock when the snowman I just made said… Mae Purrenhage, St. Ann School, Cadillac, MI Materials for each student: plastic water bottle (or liquid coffee creamer bottle) and cap, with label removed white acrylic paint paintbrush black permanent marker orange permanent marker whiteout Steps: 1. Paint the bottle white. When it’s dry, draw eyes and a nose with the markers. Use the whiteout to make two small white dots on the eyes. 2. Tie the fabric strip around the snowman’s neck to make a scarf. Glue the fabric circle around the bottle cap to make a hat. 3. Push the pipe cleaner through the hole on one side of the bottle and out the other to make arms. Bend the ends to create hands. 4. Glue the pom-pom and buttons to the bottle as shown. 5. If desired, stabilize the container by filling it with candies, beans, or rice. 1" x 12" strip of fleece fabric 3" circle of fleece fabric pipe cleaner 2 to 3 buttons glue medium pom-pom small wrapped candies, dried beans, or uncooked rice (optional) 11 ©The Mailbox Topics Write an explanatory essay about cold weather. Read the word bank. Choose a topic. Be sure to use strong verbs and specific nouns. The view from the mountaintop The coldest place I have ever been My favorite cold-weather activity EXPLANATORY Writing Word Bank scan glare frigid Rocky Mountains immense flawlessly shiver drafty ©The Mailbox 15 ©The Mailbox Winter Language Arts Answer Keys Page 2 1. fluffy snow, powder snow, and sticky snow 2. powder snow 3. grapple 4. Powder is loose snow and crust is packed snow. 5. Dust on crust has powder on top of it. 6–8. Answers will vary. “Yikes! I NEVER REALLY ‘THAWED’ ABOUT IT!” Bonus: Answers will vary. 1. I 2. A 3. R 4. L 5. H 6. R 7. E 8. B 9. A 10. A 11. I 12. Y 13. W 14. D 15. E 16. N 17. E 18. E 19. L 20. T 21. V 22. T 23. T 24. O 25. U Page 7 Page 8 5 similes …like a(n) ___ in a(n) ___… …as fast as a(n) ___ at a… Like a(n) ___, I ran… …he was like a(n) ___. …like a bunch of ___ at… 5 metaphors …playground, it was a(n) ___ made of… …I was a really cold ___ and… …was a snow-covered ___. …hallway was a(n) ___ filled… …sky was a dark ___… Name EXPLANATORY Writing Word choice Note to the teacher: Use with “Brrrr!” on page 11. ©The Mailbox ® Complete the organizer below to plan your essay about cold weather. Use a thesaurus as needed. Strong Verbs scan shiver Topic: Specific Nouns glare Rocky Mountains Colorful Adjectives frigid immense drafty Colorful Adverbs flawlessly 12 14 ©The Mailbox Note to the teacher: Use with “Wanted!” on page 13. Appropriate supporting details Name Description: Pete is a short-legged bird that walks upright. He is tall and weighs more than 50 pounds. His body is shaped like a bullet. He has an orange beak and pink feet. He looks like he is wearing a suit. His black and white feathers keep him warm. He cannot fly, but he is an excellent swimmer. His wings look a lot like flippers. When he swims, he looks like he is flying. He can swim fast. Crime: Pete ate all the seafood on display at Buster’s Fish Market. Last seen: Pete dove into the ocean and then came up for air. He was later spotted sliding on snow and ice. Pete Quinn A.K.A. (Also Known as) The Waddler and Tuxedo Guy $1,000 Reward Being Offered by Buster’s Fish Market . , . , Wanted! ©The Mailbox