How to Make the Biggest Best Snowman

Step 1:

Make the student booklets ahead of time.

What You Need:

1) 10 sheets of white 8 1/2 x 11 paper (computer paper)
2) 1 long sheet of blue construction paper for the last page
3) 1 regular sheet of blue construction paper (or scraps) for making rectangles for the snowball page
4) Stapler
5) Scissors
6) Glue

What You Do:

1) Re-create the pages on your computer and print them (see the samples below). You will have:
- a cover page
- pages for snowballs, eyes, nose, mouth, scarf, arms, hat and mittens (print the main page 8 times)
- a page for the final verse

2) Cut out 3 rectangles from the regular sheet of blue construction paper (or the scraps) to match the size of the rectangles on the main pages.

3) Glue the 3 blue rectangles onto the 3 rectangles on the first page after the cover (this will be the snowball page).

4) Fold the long sheet of construction paper up to about 1 inch or 2.5 centimeters from the top so that when the booklet is stapled, the page folds out.

5) Place the long sheet of construction paper as the last page.

6) Staple the booklet.

Step 2:

Prepare the items for the students to cut out and glue on to each page.

What You Need:

1) Construction paper in white, black, orange, green, brown, red and yellow
2) Pen or pencil
3) White pencil crayon
4) Twigs (optional)

What You Do:

Note: Make sure to draw enough for each child's snowman on the last page as well as for each main booklet page.

1) Draw circles on the white construction paper (enough for a small, medium and large snowball for each child).

2) Draw circles on the black paper using the white pencil crayon (enough for a pair of small, medium and large eyes for each child and small, medium and large circles for a mouth for each child - about 5 circles per mouth).

3) Draw triangles on orange paper (enough for a small, medium and large nose for each child).

4) Draw scarf shapes on green paper (enough for a small, medium and large scarf for each child).

5) Draw arm shapes on brown paper (enough for a small, medium and large pair of arms for each child). You can also use twigs for this (it looks good but makes the booklet hard to close).

6) Draw hat shapes on red paper (enough for a small, medium and large hat for each child).

7) Draw mitten shapes on yellow paper (enough for a small, medium and large pair of mittens per child).

Step 3:

Create an example booklet.

It's always a good idea to create an example as a visual so that the kids understand what they're to do.

Step 4:

Get The Biggest, Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler.

Step 5:

Read The Biggest, Best Snowman to the students.

Step 6:

Explain the activity to the students and show them the example.

Step 7:

Talk with the students about what is needed to make a snowman (snowballs, eyes, nose, mouth, scarf, arms, hat, mittens).

Step 8:

Write the first word down on the board and have the students copy it onto the first page of their booklet where it says, "My snowman has the biggest __________. On this first page, the kids would print "snowball."

Repeat for each word.

What They'll Need:

1) Booklets
2) Pencils
3) Erasers

Step 9:

The students will illustrate their sentences by cutting out the appropriate shapes and gluing them in the correct rectangle on each page.

For example, on the snowball page, they will cut out big, bigger and biggest (small, medium and large) snowballs and glue them in the proper rectangle space.

What They'll Need:

1) Booklets
2) Pre-drawn shapes on construction paper
3) Scissors
4) Glue

Step 10:

On the last page (the long construction paper page), the kids will make their own biggest and best snowman, using all the parts.

Then celebrate by reading their booklet together and then posting them on a bulletin board!

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