If I Lived in a Snow Globe...

Here it is!  My favorite writing activity of the year!  I love all things winter, add in some glitter and you have a project that is sure to be a hit!  I did this project with my students last year, and the haunted houses I did this year was a play on this snow globe writing activity.  They write about what they would see, feel and do if they lived in a snow globe.

I began by building some background knowledge.  Living in Central Florida, a vast majority of my students have never seen real snow.  We talked about what they knew about snow and winter.  They said that it was cold and wet.  I then had them describe what they had seen or heard that lead them to believe that snow was cold.  They made connections to movies or TV shows they had seen that had people wearing coats, gloves, etc.  They talked about it getting so cold that you can see your breath.  They also talked about Christmas lights shining on the sparkly snow.  (Some of them even captured that in their snow globes!)

To enrich this introduction lesson, I read them a couple of short books that were set in snowy settings.  (I admit, these were pretty easy books, but the point wasn't to challenge them, it was to get them fully immersed in all things frosty and frigid!)

This is a wonderful classic!  I was even able to find a claymation
version of this on YouTube to show my class!

This book is beautifully illustrated.  It was a wonderful read.

The best part about this book... The four super elated gators on the
cover are all school PRINCIPALS!!
 LoL  Funny twist for the kids!
I told them that EVERYBODY loves a snow day!

 After reading these books and brainstorming some great descriptive phrases and words, we spent day 2 writing rough drafts.  We then wrote our final copies on the layered booklets, cut out the globes and bases and let the fun begin!  After drawing and coloring, they outlined their pictures with extra fine point black Sharpie markers.  Then... GLITTER!!!  I managed to control the chaos and keep the glitter on the tiles.  Glitter just seems to make everything better.  Normal snow scenes are transformed into magical fantasy lands!

Glitter station.  3-4 kiddos at a time = minimal mess!

A snow globe base.  Nothing fancy, just need to
be sure that the flip book the kids write on will fit.

Final copy of the flip book placed on the base.  

To get just the right size "globe" I used an Easter bucket I bought
from Target a couple of years ago.  I actually used it for a game at the
Spring Carnival during my first year teaching.  I love reusing things!

Here are a couple of close-ups of my students' amazing work.  They were so into this project and couldn't wait to show me what they wrote and how they illustrated it.  They have added some much needed sparkle and shine to the 4th grade hallway!  Hope you love them as much as I do!