Winter Blues
Recommended for Pre-K – Grade 1
Program Length: 90 Minutes
Location: Your Classroom
‘Winter Blues’ is an interactive puppet show that discusses how animals feel about winter and
what changes will come with spring. It is followed by a series of hands-on activities for children
to reinforce what they have learned.
Learner Outcomes
Students will:
1. Explain how winter differs from the other seasons.
2. Define migration and hibernation, and give one example of an animal that engages in
each behavior.
3. Give examples of three animals that stay active in winter and describe the types of signs
they leave behind.
4. Describe where beavers live and what they eat during the winter.
5. Create an interactive craft that shows a bird's seasonal patterns.
6. Compare human adaptations for winter with those of other active animals.
The overall goal of this program is to help young students understand seasonal change and the
particular challenges that winter poses for animals. Through a short puppet show and series of
interactive activities, students learn how winter challenges animals' abilities to survive and how
some animals stay active, some sleep longer, some hibernate, and some migrate in order to
survive the coldest season.
The puppet show is a group activity but afterward the children are divided into smaller groups to
rotate through stations. They will learn how beavers have survived over the years and what
they do to survive in the winter. They will learn about migration and how animals know when
and where to travel. They will also learn about different ways animals that do not migrate
survive, whether they stay active or hibernate.
Students return as a group to conclude the program by discussing and reviewing migration,
hibernation, and action as strategies for surviving winter.
3675 Oak Hill Road, Peninsula, OH 44264
Phone: 330-657-2796 or 800-642-3297
Email: [email protected]
The following Ohio Academic Content Standards will be addressed during
Winter Blues
Pre K
Approaches toward Learning
Engagement and Persistence- Attention
Focus on an activity with deliberate concentration despite distractions.
Creativity- Innovation and Invention
Use imagination and creativity to interact with objects and materials.
Use creative and flexible thinking to solve problems.
Engage in inventive social play.
Cognition and General Knowledge
Mathematics
Algebra- Group and Categorize
Sort and classify objects by one or more attributes (e.g., size, shape)
Science
Science Inquiry and Application-Inquiry
Explore objects, materials and events in the environment.
Make careful observations.
Pose questions about the physical and natural environment.
Engage in simple investigations.
Describe, compare, sort, classify, and order.
Record observations using words, pictures, charts, graphs, etc.
Use simple tools to extend investigation.
Identify patterns and relationships.
Make predictions.
Make inferences, generalizations and explanations based on evidence.
Share findings, ideas and explanations (may be correct or incorrect) through a variety of
methods (e.g., pictures, words, dramatization).
Earth and Space Science-Explorations of the Natural World
With modeling and support, recognize familiar elements of the natural environment and
understand that these may change over time (e.g., soil, weather, sun and moon).
With modeling and support, develop understanding of the relationship between humans
and nature; recognizing the difference between helpful and harmful actions toward the
natural environment.
Life Science-Explorations of Living Things
With modeling and support, identify physical characteristics and simple behaviors of
living things.
With modeling and support, identify and explore the relationship between living things
and their environments (e.g., habitats, food, eating habits, etc.).
With modeling and support, demonstrate knowledge of body parts and bodily processes
(e.g., eating, sleeping, breathing, walking) in humans and other animals.
With modeling and support, demonstrate an understanding that living things change over
time (e.g., life cycle).
3675 Oak Hill Road, Peninsula, OH 44264
Phone: 330-657-2796 or 800-642-3297
Email: [email protected]
With modeling and support, recognize similarities and differences between people and
other living things.
Language and Literacy Development
Listening and Speaking-Expressive Language
Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly. (Articulation)
Describe familiar people, places, things and experiences.
With modeling and support, use words acquired through conversations and shared
reading experiences. (Vocabulary)
Identify real-life connections between words and their use. (Vocabulary)
Listening and Speaking- Social Communication
With modeling and support follow typical patterns when communicating with others (e.g.,
listens to others, takes turns talking and speaks about the topic or text being discussed).
Kindergarten
Earth and Space Science- Daily and Seasonal Changes
Weather changes are long term and short term
Life Science- Physical and Behavioral Traits of Living Things
Living things have physical traits and behaviors, which influence their survival.
Math- Traditional
K.MD.B.3 Classify objects into given categories; count the numbers of objects in each
category and sort the categories by count.
Language Arts
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.
W.K.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or
gather information from provided sources to answer a question
SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about
kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups
o Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking
turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion)
o Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges
SL.K.6 Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read
to, and responding texts.
Grade 1
Life Science- Basic Needs of Living Things
Living things have basic needs, which are met by obtaining materials from the physical
environment.
Living things survive only in environments that meet their needs.
Language Arts
W.1.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or
gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
3675 Oak Hill Road, Peninsula, OH 44264
Phone: 330-657-2796 or 800-642-3297
Email: [email protected]
SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1
topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
o Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care,
speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
o Build on others’ talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others
through multiple exchanges.
o Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under
discussion.
3675 Oak Hill Road, Peninsula, OH 44264
Phone: 330-657-2796 or 800-642-3297
Email: [email protected]