Winter is here and excitement is in the air. Will it snow? Can we go and explore? No matter where you live, the mysteries of the winter, the still of the night, and the winter sounds give us all some sort of connection or dream.
Here are a few of my favorite winter read alouds and suggestions on how to use them. (Please note these links are Amazon Affiliate links).
Winter Read Alouds
A Loud Winter’s Nap by Katy Hudson
Tortoise doesn’t enjoy winter. He looks and looks for a quiet place to sleep for winter, but keeps getting interrupted by other animals enjoying the winter. Will tortoise find joy in this season?
This is a great book to use to write opinion pieces about winter. Do you like this season, why or why not? Pair up groups to share their likes and dislikes to get into discussions on perspectives and being open to other ideas.
Ten Ways to Hear Snow by Cathy Camper
I love this book. There are so many wonderful things about it, but the best is reading it aloud in a quiet voice – the entire room is silent. This book has a lot of onomatopoeia. The kids loved hearing the different sounds. After reading the book, we cut snowflakes and wrote shape poems on 10 Ways to Describe Snow. I loved hearing their descriptions of snow. This book opens up to talking about families and traditions as well. You can do a lot of accountable talk with this wonderful book.
Winter Is Here by Kevin Henkes
Winter is Here is one of the season books by Kevin Henkes. If you haven’t read the other seasons, go check those out. This one is great at getting key ideas about winter, but it is the illustrations that really give details. The illustrations are what draws out the connections and the conversations from young readers.
How to Catch a Snowman by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton
Another fun book in the series by Adam Wallace. This book will delight young readers and get their imaginations flowing on how they could catch a snowman. (And I found this copy for 50% at Barnes and Noble after the holidays.)
This is a great winter read aloud to use with a science unit on how to insulate and keep things cold. You could do a melting or how long will your ice cube last challenge. Another great lesson would be with having kids write their own transformation of the story. Want to learn more about writing transformation? Read this article.
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett is one of my favorite winter read alouds. A girl finds a box of yarn and knits sweaters for all the people, animals, and things, until one day the box is stolen. An inspiring book about how we never run out of imagination and that kindness keeps abundance flowing.
Have students describe what they would want to share with the world. This is a good story to use to start looking at story elements. Readers can easily identify the characters, setting, problem, solution, and theme of this story.
Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehener
Ever wonder what those snowmen you built during the day do at night? This book will pull on the imagination strings of young readers. Such a fun read to imagine what snowmen do when we are not around.
Have students build a snowman. You can have them dress their snowman as a specific career that works at night time. This would be a great way to talk about the jobs that happen at night.
Snow By Mark Cassino with Jon Nelson Ph.D.
Looking for nonfiction winter read alouds? The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder is a perfect option. The book gives so much information about snow. For those readers filled with “whys,” this book gives many great answers. There are 3 different texts used in this book. Each one goes a little bit deeper. This allows you to read at different levels for different grade level needs.
Have students make snowflakes and write facts about snowflakes on them. This will make for an easy door display for the winter.
Winter Candle by Jeron Ashford
This is a great book to use if you can find it in a library.
The light of the candle highlights a Thanksgiving candle, the havdalah candle, a St. Lucia crown candle, a Kwanza candle, and the candle to light the way home for a father during a winter storm.
Have students reflect on candles they use in their lives or celebrations. Do they use candles for their birthday? Other celebrations? This is a great story to have students make text to self comparisons.
Fox finds a box and music abounds. A fabulous story about learning to move with the music that surrounds you. And sometimes when the music is gone, you learn to make your own.
Before Morning by Joyce Sidman
A wish for snowflakes, a wish for the quiet that comes with a snow fall. This is a great story to connect to the sights, feelings, and sounds of winter.
The end of this book talks about wishes. Have readers tell what their winter wish would be.
Skippyjon Jones – Snow What by Judy Schachner
A fun read about the imaginative adventures we have in the snow. Allow students to use this read aloud as a way to generate ideas to write personal and fictional narratives.
These winter read alouds are a great way to have your students connecting their personal stories to the season.
Looking for More Winter Activities?
Pair your winter read alouds with other subjects and activities. Here are some great resources to help students make connections to what they are reading and experiencing.
Have beginning readers? Try these Winter Sight Word Stories to get them reading about winter. This reading series comes with 3 winter stories, sight word practice, winter vocabulary games, and activities to get kids reading about the season.
Check out the Sight Word Story Bundle for more stories.
This January Literacy Center uses poetry to help readers celebrate the season. This month focuses on New Year’s, snow, Martin Luther King Jr, and snowmen.
Need to help students get out some energy? Try these Measurement Winter Games. A great way to incorporate math into exercise.
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