Snowmen at Night ( Books Teachers Love )

Even though there is a lot to celebrate and be thankful for in November and December, I still love sharing my favorite books with you. My husband might tell you I have a book problem, but I say I just have lots of options when it comes to story time.

January is kind of sad because I have to put away all of the Christmas books. BUT January is also really awesome because now it's winter and now we can pull out a lot of historical readers, like books about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Presidents! So really, it isn't that bad. :)

January books are so much fun, and this book is definitely one of my favorites!

I'm sure you and your students have wondered what snowmen do at night while we are sleeping. Well, they're pretty magical! That's why I chose the beautifully written and illustrated book, Snowmen at Night.

You can find the book here*:

*affiliate link*

Last month Laura shared Snowmen at Christmas with you. You can read about how she uses that book in her classroom here.

By January, we've already read Snowmen at Christmas. So after reading Snowmen at Night, this gives us the opportunity to compare and contrast the two stories. What do snowmen do differently around Christmas than they do on any other night? Or do they do the same thing?

I will project the graphic organizer on the front board and fill it in as students work on it at their desks.

My higher level students help me write on the graphic organizer on the board, and can then copy the information down on their own papers. For my students who write, they can copy right from the board. It's a great activity to practice hand-eye coordination, plus they get to see other students modeling how to write. For my lower level students, I will write it for them and then we will hand-over-hand trace the words.

{ Grab the graphic organizer for free here }

Since I live in Texas, and it *rarely* snows here around Houston, my students have a hard time imagining snow. I mean, they've seen it on TV and in movies, they know what it is, and some of them may have taken a vacation skiing up North... but for the most part, it's not a "normal" part of our winter.

So that means this makes our snow experiments even more special! And because this book is about snowmen, we can incorporate some really fun activities into the story time!

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Like making borax snowflakes! You only need 8 ingredients (with an optional 9th ingredient) and it's super simple. Just follow Embracing Homemaking's picture how to guide in your classroom.

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If there is time, or you use the borax snowflakes during another lesson you've already got planned out, try making snow!

There are lots of "make your own snow" recipes that you can find on Pinterest, but this one uses baking soda, shaving cream, and lavender oil. It seems like a lot of fun and I can't wait to make it with my kids. I think they're going to absolutely love it, and so will yours!

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