Lesson Plan for Preschool-Grade 2

Name Julie Veto

School/Grade: Infant/Toddler 2s
Content Science:
area(s)/developmental Exploring Snow: What is snow like, how do people move it, and what happens to it in a warm
domain(s) addressed environment?

● Social and Emotional Development: Students will be able to collaborate and share
thinking with their teachers and peers about snow by talking or gesturing about their
past experiences with it and their experience of the current lesson.
● Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development: Students will use their gross motor skills to
walk in the snow and scoop or shovel snow into the sensory bin. Students will use their
fine motor skills to scoop snow with spoons and small scoops into pockets and other
receptacles and to explore the snow with scoops, spoons and receptacles in the sensory
bin, using movements including scooping, packing, stirring, and other movements.
Students will use their senses to learn about snow and its properties.
● Cognition: Students will actively explore the snow with provided tools to understand
more about it and its properties.
● Language and Communication: Students will be exposed to and understand the meaning
of the book The Snowy Day. Students will learn vocabulary about snow (warm, cold, melt,
shovel, pack, scoop) and be able to understand it in conversations with teachers and
peers. Many students will be able to use the vocabulary in conversations with teachers
and peers.
● Approaches to Learning: Students will use their interest and curiosity about snow to
explore its properties and make predictions about what will happen to the snow, what it
feels like, and how it might change. Students will manage their behavior with teacher
support, refraining from throwing snow at people or engaging in other discouraged
behavior.

Brief description and
rationale for the lesson
This lesson is:
Timeframe
Objective(s) of the activity
Connections to standards
Lesson Plan for Preschool-Grade 2
“The senses, being explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge”
-Montessori, M. (1988). The Absorbent Mind. Oxford: Clio Press. p. 167
“When children engage in repetitive play activities–a natural tendency–they grow and
reinforce neural pathways in their brains, helping those pathways become permanent, which
aids children when they consolidate their learning and develop new understandings.”
-Curtis, D. & Jaboneta, N. (2019). Children’s Lively Minds: Schema theory made visible. Redleaf
Press, p. 12.
Through active, hands-on sensory exploration, students make sense of the world around
them and gain an appreciation of that world. By undertaking this sensory-rich exploration of
snow with trusted adults and peers, students will experience social and emotional growth
along with cognitive and linguistic development. They will further their knowledge of our
natural environment, a key component in learning to respect and protect that environment.
A new concept/activity
20 minutes
Students will be able to describe what snow is like, how snow can be moved, and what happens
when snow gets warm, and will be able to recognize new vocabulary relating to snow.
Primary:
Goal IT-PMP 1: Child uses perceptual information to understand objects, experiences, and
interactions.
Other standards addressed:
Goal IT-PMP 4: Child demonstrates effective and efficient use of large muscles to explore the
environment.
Goal IT-PMP 8: Child adjusts reach and grasp to use tools.
Goal IT-ATL 7: Child shows interest in and curiosity about objects, materials, or events.
Goal IT-ATL 2: Child manages actions and behavior with support of familiar adults.
Goal IT-SE 4: Child shows interest in, interacts with, and develops personal relationships with
other children

Language Objectives
Resources/materials needed:
(Include any worksheets or
sources of evidence for
children’s learning you will use
during the activity)
Technology inclusion (if
applicable)
Procedures (step by step)
Lesson Plan for Preschool-Grade 2
Goal IT-LC 12: Child comprehends meaning from pictures and stories.
Goal IT-LC 8: Child uses an increasing number of words in communication and conversation
with others.
Goal IT-LC 4: Child uses non-verbal communication and language to engage others in interaction
(for ELL student).
Goal IT-C 1: Child actively explores people and objects to understand self, others, and objects.
Vocabulary:
Students will comprehend vocabulary about snow, including warm, cold, melt, freeze, frozen,
shovel, pack, scoop. Some students will be able to use the vocabulary in conversation.
● The Snowy Day book
● Small, portable sensory bin
● Child-sized shovels
● Scoops, spoons, various small receptacles including plastic jars, toy cups and bowls
● 3 cloth teacher smocks with pockets
N/A
Objective(s): Students will be able to describe what snow is like, how you move it, and what
happens when it gets warm, and they should be able to use words and gestures to communicate
about it with teachers and peers. Students will be able to recognize new snow-related
vocabulary and distinguish between the different states of snow-frozen and melted.
Anticipatory Set: A read-aloud of The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats, on a day that it is snowing
or has recently snowed (4 minutes)
Instruction/Mini Lesson
● Following the read-aloud, class discussion about the book and snow, comparing the
children’s day to day reality with Peter’s and hypothesizing what will happen if we bring
snow inside like Peter did: How did the children get to school (Did they drag their feet
 Lesson Plan for Preschool-Grade 2
and make marks like Peter? Did snow fall on them like on Peter?), Did they wear different
clothes like Peter?, What did they do today or on other days in the snow? (sledding,
skiing, snowballs?) Was it cold or warm?, Why wasn’t the snow in Peter’s pocket
anymore?, Have they ever seen what happens to snow when it gets warm?, What do they
think will happen if we bring snow inside and put it in a pocket? Target vocabulary will be
introduced in the context of the discussion, including warm, cold, melt, freeze, frozen,
shovel, pack, scoop. Vocabulary will be repeated by teachers in the context of the
discussion and children will be encouraged to use the vocabulary and to hypothesize
what will happen if we bring snow inside. (4 minutes)
● Class trip outside to get snow in a small sensory bin. Children will use child-sized shovels
and scoops to fill the bin with snow. (Adults will help if needed). Students will examine
the snow and experiment with moving it and altering it in different ways. Teachers will
point out marks that students make in the snow with their feet or shovels or sticks and
compare them to what Peter did. Those who want to can practice packing a snowball.
Teachers will repeat the target vocabulary within these discussions and encourage
children to use it or demonstrate understanding of it. Children will experiment with
packing snow and differentiate between unpacked and packed snow. Children will put
snowballs in the pockets of 3 cloth teacher smocks. (5 minutes, plus time spent getting
dressed and undressed for going outdoors).
● Inside, children will undress and smocks with pockets will be hung on doorknobs.
Independent Practice
● Children will have the chance to engage in small groups of 1-4 in sensory explorations
with scoops, spoons and small receptacles in the snow-filled sensory bin. Teachers will
lead and/or encourage conversations examining and describing the snow: how it feels, is
it warm or cold, can it be stirred or packed. Children can spoon or scoop small amounts of
snow into toy cups and bowls to observe as they melt. Throughout this time, teachers will
repeat the target vocabulary and children will be encouraged to use the vocabulary
and/or demonstrate understanding of it by, for example, pointing to packed snow.
Children will compare unpacked and packed snow and frozen and melted snow. (5
 Lesson Plan for Preschool-Grade 2
minutes, plus more depending on interest; all students will be encouraged to use the
sensory bin but they can also use the rest of the classroom as they wish)

Closure
● At the start of circle time, teachers will lead students in discussing their time outside,
describing what snow is like, and how we moved it and comparing what packed and
unpacked snow is like. Students will check the smock pockets and any other cups or
bowls they put snow in to see if it has melted or if it is slushy and compare frozen and
melted or slushy snow. Teachers will repeat the target vocabulary in the context of this
discussion and encourage students to use the vocabulary if they are able or to
demonstrate understanding of it through their responses to the discussion, verbal or
through gestures. Teachers will lead class observations of the snow in the sensory bin
throughout the day to see the stages of it melting (2 minutes).

Method of assessing children’s Pre-assessment Assessment of Student Assessment of Children’s

understanding of
lesson/activity/objective(s)
Teachers will assess students’
prior knowledge during the
discussion following the
read-aloud, including what
they know about snow, how to
move it, and what happens to
it when it gets warm. No prior
knowledge is needed, as we
will dress them warmly. If they
don’t have experience with
shoveling or scooping snow,
they will learn it once we’re
outside.
Learning
Teachers will assess children’s
understanding of snow, how to
move it, and what happens to it
when it gets warm by engaging
the whole class and individual
students in conversation. For
children who cannot actively
participate in discussions,
teachers will ask questions to
assess their understanding, for
example asking them to point to
packed snow or melted snow.
Language Learning
Teachers will assess
whether students have
comprehension of the
vocabulary objectives by
asking questions and
leading discussion during
circle time and throughout
the day. Teachers will
attempt to elicit the
vocabulary words from
children who are able to
speak them. For children
who cannot actively
 Lesson Plan for Preschool-Grade 2
participate in discussions,
teachers will ask questions
to assess their
understanding and
encourage them to nod,
shake their heads no, or
point to respond to
questions.
Plans for differentiated Supporting children with Supporting English Language Learners, a culturally
instruction/instructional identified delays or responsive pedagogy, and anti-bias/anti-racist curriculum
modifications disabilities (i.e., IEPs and 504 ● For any non-verbal or ELL children in the classroom (we
● Teachers will provide plans) have one ELL learner with limited words this year),
extra social and We don’t have any identified teachers will adjust the language or goals as needed. At
behavioral support to delays this year, but teachers this point in the year, our ELL learner has good
those students we know would support those children comprehension but limited spoken language in any of
are struggling in these as needed, whether through her languages. Teachers will assess her comprehension
areas. Teachers will stay helping them walk up the of the vocabulary goals by having her use gestures,
close to children known stairs and use shovels and respond to questions nonverbally, and indicate pictures
to be impulsive so they other tools, supporting their in The Snowy Day. Teachers will introduce the Spanish
can redirect communication or peer and Portuguese terms for snow to show appreciation for
inappropriate actions interaction, or staying close to her culture. Some of the other bilingual children may
(throwing snow at monitor and support their recognize and be able to say “nieve.”
people) proactively and behavior. ● The protagonist of The Snowy Day is an urban dwelling
provide alternatives African American boy, to whom some of our students
(throw snow at the wall, will be able to relate. Peter’s race also helps support an
pile snow, etc.). Teachers anti-racist curriculum for all our students.
will engage in ● Teachers will approach the story and class discussion of
conversations with snow with the understanding that children have
children known to be different levels of access to opportunities including
 Lesson Plan for Preschool-Grade 2
very shy and scaffold skiing, weekend houses, and travel, but some have only
their social interactions. experienced snow in the city, like Peter.
● Students who need more
of a challenge will be
encouraged to make, line
up, and count snowballs
or to make marks or
patterns in the snow like
Peter did, and to discuss
and compare these
marks.

Follow up/Extension activities Planned activities include:

● Additional fiction, nonfiction, and rhyming books on snow and cold environments:
Geraldine’s Big Snow (Keller), The Jacket I Wear in the Snow (Nietzel), Snowmen at Night
(Buehner), Snow Bear (Moss), Arctic Winter/Arctic Summer (Canizares), Penguins
(Berger), Snow (Shulevitz), Ice (Berger), Five Little Penguins Slipping on the Ice
(Metzger)
● An outing to talk to our park worker about clearing snow from the park
● An introduction to the idea of climates and animals that live in cold environments
● Sensory explorations involving water and ice, including:
○ freezing items in ice
○ breaking ice apart with toy hammers
○ observing ice melt
○ water pouring with various receptacles of various sizes
○ toy boats and marine animals in water
○ toy fish and fishing rods
● art activities, including:

Family Engagement Activities
Lesson Plan for Preschool-Grade 2
○ stamping and gluing snowflakes and making snowy landscapes
○ potato printing/stamping to make penguin or other arctic animal pictures
● Teachers will present the lesson in our newsletter so families can talk about it with their
children
● Teachers will encourage families to explore snow, ice, and water outdoors with their
children or in sinks, bathtubs, or sensory bins
● Teachers will provide a list of books about snow that families can read with their children
and will make school books on snow available for families to borrow if needed
● Teachers will encourage families to send in pictures of their child or family engaging with
snow that we will display on the bulletin board for the children to see
● Teachers will suggest an optional weekend snowy park meetup for families