Happy Groundhog Day!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Gail Gibbons is one of my favorite authors.  Students love her illustrations and all the information she writes about in her books.  Read and listen!

Watch this video of Groundhog Day by Gail Gibbons.

Little Lila Groundhog doesn't want to go to sleep for the winter.  Her uncle tells her that if she goes to sleep, she can be the first one to wake up in spring...and she will discover a big secret!  She learns all about her shadow and hibernation.  This is a delightful book for primary readers... a great read aloud.  Sweet illustrations invite the children into the groundhog's household.  Other winter animals happen upon the pages.  Great book  for story time!

Click HERE for Groundhog Art Activity

Click HERE

Click HERE

Teaching Science with Picture Books - The Story of Snow

The Story of Snow, by Mark Cassino with Jon Nelson, Ph.D., is a beautiful book and captures the wonder of winter and snow.  Perfect reading for winter days and your exploration of winter, weather and science.  The book teaches about snow crystals and the many shapes they can take.  The book also includes instructions for catching those snowflakes... a great way to get kids and young scientists outside exploring.

Click HERE to get your teacher's guide to explore the science of snow.

See these short  videos  about SNOWFLAKES

Here is a great website with lots of information about snow.  Click HERE to see!   It's called snowcrystals.com. and it has books, science facts, videos, and activities.  It is a great resource.   The author of this website is Kenneth G. Libbrecht.  He is a professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech).  He studies the molecular dynamics of crystal growth, including how ice crystals grow from water vapor, which is essentially the physics of snowflakes.