super. simple. snowmen.

Last week we compared fiction & non-fiction with snowmen.

The first day we read Snowmen at Night & made an anchor chart about the elements of fiction stories.  {they have illustrations, make-believe elements, a problem/solution, a beginning middle & end, characters and you read it just for fun}

The next day we read How To Make a Snowperson on Reading A-Z and made an anchor chart about the elements of non-fiction stories.  {they have photographs, teach you something, don't have to be read in order, may have a table of contents, labels, etc}

Then we wrote on snowballs to show what we learned!  On the top snowball, they wrote to tell how they know that Snowmen at Night is fiction.  On the bottom snowball, they wrote to tell how they know that How to Make a Snowperson is non-fiction.  The middle snowball was optional and used as differentiation for students who finished quickly or I knew could be challenged with thinking on the next level.  They wrote about whether they like to read fiction or non-fiction books in general, while providing a reason, of course.

Then I got out the scrap bucket of construction paper and let them go to town with hats, gloves, boots, arms, bows or whatever they wanted to create!

They're super cute hanging in the hallway and I figured you'd think so, too. Click the picture below for your free snowball template download!