Temperature Story: Cold Snap

If, like me, you're a fan of Marjorie Priceman's How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, you will love her illustrations in a new book, Cold Snap, written by Eileen Spinelli.  Feeling a bit jealous of the snowy weather reports in other parts of the country, my only alternative was to read about a week of falling temperatures in the town of Toby Mills. By Friday night in this freezing town, the cold residents are happy to gather for a time of merriment with a bonfire, hot cider, sugar-on-snow candy, and singing.

The book would be a perfect introduction to the concepts of temperature and hot-warm-cool-cold as described in the Fahrenheit and Celsius poems, available on the Math Learning Center website as a free download.

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Taking the Outside Temperature

I love this idea for learning about temperature, found on the Math Learning Center Blog. It could be done at home or at school. Students read the outdoor temperature each week, thinking about a range as they consider this poem:

Fahrenheit Weather

90 degrees is pretty hot.
70 degrees is pleasing.
50 degrees is getting cold,
and 32 degrees is freezing!

Look at the original post for detailed lesson instructions. You'll find a blackline classroom wall thermometer here if you'd like to add one to your room. I printed one on cardstock, slit the very bottom of the thermometer and added a thin strip of red tagboard to slide up and down for the temperature gauge.