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Winter Wonderland
Students explore the beauties of winter through a variety of texts about winter, learning about winter weather and how different animals survive winter.
ELA
Unit 5
Kindergarten
Unit Summary
In this unit, students explore seasonal changes during winter. Students learn about how snow forms, the different types of snow that fall in the winter, how animals survive in the winter, and how animals meet their basic needs, even when the ground is covered with ice and snow. By the end of the unit, students should have a strong grasp of what makes winter unique and the different ways animals survive in the winter. Due to the timing of this unit, it is our hope that students will have plenty of opportunities to interact with the vocabulary and content in the natural world around them.
This unit includes a collection of informational texts and builds on skills and strategies from earlier units. At this point, it is assumed that students are inquisitive consumers of text and are able to ask and answer questions about a text in order to deepen their understanding of the content. Students will continue to focus on finding the main topic and supporting details, but with an added emphasis on using diagrams and information to identify key details.
Students will also focus on learning new words, and using those words when talking or writing about the text.
In this unit, students practice using all of the strategies from previous units to hone in on their speaking and listening skills. Students continue to work on continuing a conversation through multiple exchanges, requesting clarification when needed, and speaking audibly. Solidifying these speaking and listening skills sets students up for success in later units.
Students continue to build writing fluency by writing daily in response to the Target Task question. Students learn how to write complete sentences and use correct ending punctuation. Building on work done in the previous unit, students also continue to explore narrative writing, writing a short narrative focusing on retelling what happens in the beginning, middle and end. Students also continue to refine their informational writing skills, using informational writing as a way to solidify their understanding of new information.
Please Note: In August 2025, this unit and its lesson plans received a round of enhancements. This unit is now 20 instructional days (previously 22 days). Two texts have been added to this unit: Hiders Seekers Finders Keepers: How Animals Adapt in Winter by Jessica Kulekjian and Ten Ways to Hear Snow by Cathy Camper. Four out-of-print texts have been removed from the unit: The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader, Big Tracks, Little Tracks: Following Animal Prints by Millicent E. Selsam, It’s Snowing! by Gail Gibbons, and Wild Tracks! A Guide to Nature’s Footprints by Jim Arnosky.
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Texts and Materials
Some of the links in the sections below are Bookshop affiliate links. This means that if you click and make a purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which supports our non-profit mission.
Core Materials
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Article: “The Changing Year” by TFK Editors (TIME for Kids)
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Book: The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder by Mark Cassino and Jon Nelson (Chronicle Books, 2009) — 630L
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Article: “Winter Wonders” (TIME for Kids)
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Book: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Viking, 1962) — AD500L
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Book: Ten Ways to Hear Snow by Cathy Camper and illustrated by Kenard Pak (Kokila, 2020) — AD520L
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Book: Hiders Seekers Finders Keepers: How Animals Adapt in Winter by Jessica Kulekjian and illustrated by Salini Perera — AD910L
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Book: Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard G. Van Gelder and illustrated by Helen K. Davie (HarperCollins, 1996) — AD480L
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Book: Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner and illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal (Chronicle Books, 2014) — AD600L
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Book: Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee (Square Fish; First edition, 2007) — AD440L
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Book: The Mitten by Jan Brett (G.P. Putman’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 1996) — 600L
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Book: The Hat by Jan Brett (G.P. Putman’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 1997) — 540L
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Book: Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett (G.P. Putman’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2012) — 490L
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Assessment Text: “Curious About Snow” by Gina Shaw (Grosset & Dunlap) — NC830LL
Supporting Materials
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Rubric: Editing Checklist (GK, U5)
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Rubric: Narrative Writing Rubric (GK)
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Resource: 5 Senses Graphic Organizer (GK–5)
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Resource: Mentor Text (GK, U5, L17)
- Resource: Book List for Further Reading
Assessment
The following assessments accompany Unit 5.
Content Assessment
The Content Assessment pushes students to synthesize unit content knowledge or unit essential questions in writing. The Content Assessment should be used as the primary assessment because it shows mastery of unit content knowledge and standards.
Cold Read Assessment
The Cold Read Assessment tests students' ability to comprehend a "cold" or unfamiliar passage and answer standards-based questions. The Cold Read Assessment can be given in addition to the Content Assessment as a pulse point for what students can read and analyze independently, a skill often required for standardized testing.
Unit Prep
Intellectual Prep
Essential Questions
- What is the weather like in winter?
- What do animals need to survive the winter?
Reading Focus Areas
- Readers use diagrams and illustrations to identify key information in a text.
- Readers learn new words when reading a text. Readers use those words when talking or writing about the text.
- To understand an informational text, readers think about how details are connected.
Writing Focus Areas
Narrative Writing Focus Areas
- Narrate a single event.
- Tell what happens in the beginning, middle, and end.
- Use precise words to help readers visualize what happens.
Speaking and Listening Focus Areas
- Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.
- Requests clarification if something is not understood.
- Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
Vocabulary
Text-based
blizzardcozycuriousdropletembarrassedgatherhibernatemigrateridiculoussnow crystalspeckstoretamewild
To see all the vocabulary for Unit 5, view our Kindergarten Vocabulary Glossary.
Supporting All Students
In order to ensure that all students are able to access the texts and tasks in this unit, it is incredibly important to intellectually prepare to teach the unit prior to launching the unit. Use the intellectual preparation protocol and the Unit Launch to determine which support students will need. To learn more, visit the Supporting All Students Teacher Tool.
Content Knowledge and Connections
- Describe the weather during the winter.
- In winter the weather is cold. Snow crystals form when water vapor freezes.
- In winter the weather is snowy. Snow crystals freeze together to form snowflakes.
- People have to wear warm layers like hats and scarves.
- Describe the basic characteristics of animals, including:
- Animals need food, water, and space to live and grow.
- Animals get food from eating plants or other living things.
- Animals survive winter in a variety of ways.
- Some migrate and fly to warmer climates.
- Some hibernate and sleep through the winter.
- Some gather and store food for the winter.
- Some animals search for food all winter long.
Previous Fishtank ELA Connections
Future Fishtank ELA Connections
Lesson Map
3 days
Write a narrative text to tell a story about what happens when you follow some animal tracks.
- The Mitten
- The Hat
- Narrative Writing Rubric (GK)
- Single Point Narrative Writing Rubric (GK, U5)
- Editing Checklist (GK, U5)
- Narrative Writing Brainstorm Graphic Organizer (GK–2)
- Mentor Text (GK, U5, L17)
- 5 Senses Graphic Organizer (GK–5)
Brainstorm a story with a beginning, middle, and end using a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing
- The Hat
- Narrative Writing Brainstorm Graphic Organizer (GK–2)
- Mentor Text (GK, U5, L17)
- 5 Senses Graphic Organizer (GK–5)
Standards
L.K.1.bL.K.1.fL.K.2.cL.K.2.dL.K.5.dW.K.3W.K.5W.K.6
Draft a story with a beginning, middle, and end using a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing.
- 5 Senses Graphic Organizer (GK–5)
- Narrative Writing Brainstorm Graphic Organizer (GK–2) — from Day 1
Standards
L.K.1.bL.K.1.fL.K.2.cL.K.2.dL.K.5.dW.K.3W.K.5W.K.6
Writers revise by adding details about what the character sees, feels, or hears.
- Narrative Writing Rubric (GK)
- Single Point Narrative Writing Rubric (GK, U5)
- Editing Checklist (GK, U5)
- Mentor Text (GK, U5, L17)
- 5 Senses Graphic Organizer (GK–5) — from Day 1
Standards
L.K.1.bL.K.1.eL.K.1.fL.K.2.cL.K.2.dL.K.5.dW.K.3W.K.5W.K.6
Common Core Standards
Core Standards
Supporting Standards
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