ELA / Kindergarten / Unit 5: Winter Wonderland
Students explore the beauties of winter through a variety of texts about winter, learning about winter weather and weather forecasts and how different animals and plants survive winter.
ELA
Unit 5
Kindergarten
Jump To
In this unit, students explore the beauties of winter. In the first part of the unit, students learn about how snow forms and the different types of snow that fall in the winter. In the second part of the unit, students explore how animals survive in the winter and the ways in which animals meet their basic needs, even when the ground is covered with ice and snow. In the last part of the unit, students read a variety of Jan Brett texts and use what they have learned about snow and animals to make inferences about what is happening with the different winter animals in the text. 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.
In reading, this unit is predominantly 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. In writing, 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 previous units, 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.
Fishtank Plus for ELA
Unlock features to optimize your prep time, plan engaging lessons, and monitor student progress.
Some of the links below are Amazon 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.
Book: It’s Snowing! by Gail Gibbons (Holiday House, 2012) — AD790L
Book: The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder by Mark Cassino (Chronicle Books, 2009)
Book: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Viking, 1962)
Book: Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner (Chronicle Books, 2014) — AD600L
Book: Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft (HarperCollins, 1996) — AD480L
Book: Big Tracks, Little Tracks: Following Animal Prints by Millicent E. Selsam (HarperCollins, 1998) — AD490L
Book: Wild Tracks! A Guide to Nature’s Footprints by Jim Arnosky (Sterling Children’s Books, 2015)
Book: The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader (Aladdin; Reprint edition, 1993) — AD710L
Book: Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee (Square Fish; First edition, 2007) — AD440L
Book: The Mitten by Jan Brett (G.P. Putman’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 1996) — 600L
Book: The Hat by Jan Brett (G.P. Putman’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 1997) — 540L
Book: Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett (G.P. Putman’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2012) — 490L
Assessment Text: “Curious About Snow” by Gina Shaw (Grosset & Dunlap) — NC830LL
These assessments accompany this unit and should be given on the suggested assessment day or after completing the unit.
Download Content Assessment
Download Content Assessment Answer Key
Download Cold Read Assessment
Download Cold Read Assessment Answer Key
Suggestions for how to prepare to teach this unit
Unit Launch
Prepare to teach this unit by immersing yourself in the texts, themes, and core standards. Unit Launches include a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning.
The central thematic questions addressed in the unit or across units
Specific skills to focus on when giving feedback on writing assignments
Literary terms, text-based vocabulary, idioms and word parts to be taught with the text
beautiful blizzard cozy curious droplet embarrassed evaporate hibernate meteorologist migrate over ridiculous search sleet snow flurry snowstorm store tame track under wild
To see all the vocabulary for Unit 5, view our Kindergarten Vocabulary Glossary.
Fishtank ELA units related to the content in this unit.
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.
Brainstorm two or three questions about winter.
L.K.1.d L.K.2.b RI.K.1 SL.K.1 SL.K.6
Explain how snowflakes are formed.
L.K.6 RI.K.3 RI.K.4 RI.K.7 SL.K.1 SL.K.6
Describe what snow crystals look like.
L.K.6 RI.K.2 RI.K.2 RI.K.3 RI.K.7 SL.K.1 SL.K.6
Describe one way that snow falls.
L.K.5 L.K.6 RI.K.3 RI.K.4 RI.K.7 SL.K.1 SL.K.6
Explain what adventures Peter had in the snow and how they made him feel.
RL.K.2 RL.K.3 SL.K.1 SL.K.6
Discussion & Writing
Describe what makes winter beautiful.
L.K.1.b L.K.1.f L.K.2.b SL.K.1 SL.K.6 W.K.2 W.K.5 W.K.7 W.K.7 W.K.8
Explain how different animals survive the winter using the words “migrate,” “hibernate,” “gather,” and “store,” and “search.”
Describe how different animals prepare for winter using the words “migrate,” “hibernate,” “gather” and “store,” and “search.”
Explain how the animals survived the big snow.
L.K.6 RI.K.3 RI.K.7 SL.K.1 SL.K.6
Describe how being over or under the snow helps animals survive the winter.
Explain why animal tracks are easier to see in the winter and what stories animal tracks tell.
Describe different types of animal tracks and what you can learn from them.
Retell what happens when the little girl follows the tracks in the snow.
Explain what animals do during the winter.
L.K.1.b L.K.1.f L.K.2.b SL.K.1 SL.K.6 W.K.2 W.K.5 W.K.7 W.K.8
Explain if the story could happen in real life.
Explain how Hedgehog’s feelings about the hat changed from the beginning of the story to the end.
Retell what happens in Annie and the Wild Animals.
Close Reading
Compare and contrast The Mitten and The Hat.
RL.K.2 RL.K.3 RL.K.9 SL.K.1
Assessment
Writing – 3 days
Write a story about what happens when you follow some animal tracks.
L.K.1.b L.K.1.f L.K.2.c L.K.2.d L.K.5.d W.K.3 W.K.5 W.K.6
Create a free account to access thousands of lesson plans.
Already have an account? Sign In
The content standards covered in this unit
L.K.1 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.K.1.b — Use frequently occurring nouns and verbs.
L.K.1.d — Understand and use question words (interrogatives) (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
L.K.1.f — Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities.
L.K.2.b — Recognize and name end punctuation.
L.K.2.c — Write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds (phonemes).
L.K.2.d — Spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships.
L.K.5 — With guidance and support from adults, explore word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
L.K.5.d — Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs describing the same general action (e.g., walk, march, strut, prance) by acting out the meanings.
L.K.6 — Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.
RI.K.1 — With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RI.K.2 — With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
RI.K.3 — With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
RI.K.4 — With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
RI.K.7 — With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).
RL.K.2 — With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.
RL.K.3 — With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.
RL.K.9 — With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.
SL.K.1 — Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
SL.K.6 — Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
W.K.2 — Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
W.K.3 — Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.
W.K.5 — With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
W.K.6 — With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
W.K.7 — Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).
W.K.8 — With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
L.K.1.a — Print many upper- and lowercase letters.
L.K.2 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
L.K.2.a — Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I.
RI.K.5 — Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.
RI.K.6 — Name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text.
RI.K.9 — With prompting and support, identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).
RI.K.10 — Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
RL.K.1 — With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RL.K.4 — Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
RL.K.7 — With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
RL.K.10 — Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
SL.K.2 — Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.
SL.K.3 — Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.
SL.K.5 — Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.
Unit 4
Falling in Love with Authors and Illustrators
Unit 6
What is Justice?
Join our Summer Institutes in July and August 2023.