POETRY LESSON
Snow

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Snow
Text Type: Poetry • Word Count: 50

Poem Summary
This short, but descriptive poem follows a snowstorm's journey from snowflake to snow bank. It tells what one child really loves about snow. The final page of the book provides students with rhyming words to create their own poem. Approximate book level: Q.

Build Background
Ask students if they've ever watched a snowstorm from beginning to end. Ask volunteers to tell their experiences with snow using descriptive words.

Discuss poetry's rhymes and rhythms. Read the title and ask students to come up with words that rhyme with snow. Use other familiar rhymes as references. Also, explain that the syllables in a poem follow a rhythm, or "beat." Tell students that this poem has nine lines. The first three lines rhyme with each other, then the next three, and then the next three. This pattern can be written aaabbbccc.

Preview the Poem
Show students the cover of the book and read the title. Open the book to the title page. Ask students to predict what will happen in the poem based on the illustrations found on these pages. Ask them to explain their answers. Tell them that thinking about their predictions as you read helps them understand and remember what you read. Explain how they can confirm or revise their predictions as you read.

During Reading
Allow students to stop to ask questions during reading, especially if there is something they do not understand. Emphasize the rhyming words and the rhythm pattern. You may ask students to clap or tap to the beat of the lines, or raise a finger when they hear a rhyming word.

Be sure to read aloud with expression and appropriate gestures. Use think-aloud strategies. For example, on page 5, say: I predict everyone will be stuck inside their houses because it won't stop snowing.

After Reading
Reader Response
Ask students what they thought of the poem. Have volunteers summarize the poem or name their favorite part. Talk about making, revising, and revising predictions. Say: I predicted everyone would be stuck inside the houses, but it turns out that the children went outside to play in the snow.

Comprehension
Ask specific questions that allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the poem.

• What are two things the poet loved about snow?
• Name two rhyming words used in the poem.
• Are these pictures the only way this poem can be illustrated? Pick a page and tell how the art might be different to show what the poem is talking about.