GRADE 2
Ten Ways to Hear Snow written by Cathy Camper; illustrated by Kenard Pak
AT A GLANCE The morning after a blizzard, Lina ventures out into the snowy city for a visit with her grandmother, Sitti, to do something they love to do together: cook. Sitti has limited eyesight, and as Lina makes her way to Sitti’s building, she listens to the sounds around her and wonders whether these sounds are ways in which her grandmother now experiences snow. Lina and Sitti connect with each other and to the world around them through what they hear and what they do. The author’s use of language also helps readers feel they are right there, alongside Lina, experiencing this special day.
Genre/Text Type: Realistic Fiction/Picture Book
Strategy Focus: Visualize
Social-Emotional Focus: Relationship Skills
INTRODUCE THE BOOK Display the front cover to the children. Share with them that Ten Ways to Hear Snow is about a girl, Lina, and her grandmother, Sitti, who notice different ways to hear snow. Ask: When you think about snow, what do you think about? Have you ever thought about how to hear snow? What might that sound like? Let’s read and count with Lina to find out the ten ways she hears snow! DURING READING As you read the book, pause to discuss the questions below. Encourage students to turn and talk with partners or share their thinking with the whole group. pp. 3–7 When Lina looks out her window, she sees a street blanketed in white. Where is she going on this snowy morning? Why do you think Lina turns down her parents’ offer to join her? (key ideas and details, make inferences)
Rising Voices Theme Someone Like Me/ Memorable Characters
Note to the Teacher • Read-Aloud Tip Have fun reading aloud the special words the author uses to describe sounds like ploompf and swish-wish. Allow time for children to look at the illustrations and connect images and sounds. • Language Support The use of adjectives is very important in the story. Remind students that adjectives describe nouns. Discuss some of the author’s vivid descriptions, such as powdery sound or whiskery noise . • Background The author is an Arab American who was born and grew up in Wisconsin. She draws on her childhood experiences and includes a few Arabic words in this story: Sitti (grandmother), habibti (dear girl), and warak enab (stuffed grape leaves). Vocabulary muffled (p. 5) softened a sound squinched (p. 8) made narrower radiator (p. 21) a metal fixture that provides heat cocoons (p. 25) protective coverings
As Lina makes her way to Sitti’s, she hears snow in different ways. How do the details in the illustrations connect to the words the author uses to help you better understand what Lina hears? (visualize, picture clues)
pp. 8–13
pp. 14–19 Lina continues her walk to Sitti’s home and meets her friends, Rachid and Mariam, building a snowman. But then...what happens? Which words and details in the text and illustration help you understand the seventh way to hear snow? (context clues, visualize) pp. 20–27 Lina and Sitti make stuffed grape leaves together. Why do you think the illustrator shows how to make the stuffed grape leaves? What can you tell about Sitti and Lina’s relationship from how they work and play together? (picture clues, make inferences) pp. 28–32 In the beginning of the story, Lina isn’t sure if Sitti knows it snowed
overnight because of Sitt’s poor eyesight, but Sitti surprises her. What details help you understand how Sitti knew there was snow outside? How do you learn to appreciate your different senses through this story? (visualize, make connections)
caterpillars make around themselves while changing into moths
Ten Ways to Hear Snow
AFTER READING
Strategy Focus: Visualize Say: Sometimes authors describe sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings so well that you may feel almost as if you are right there in the book. You visualize when you use these kinds of details from a text to imagine what it would be like to be part of the action in the book. Look for clue words that appeal to your senses : • Which words tell you about things you can see or hear? • Which words tell you about things you can smell or taste? • Which words tell you about things you can feel? Visualizing helps readers travel to different places through their reading and helps readers experience what the characters are experiencing . Extend Learning Write About Snow Lina shares with Sitti the different ways she heard the snow on her walk. Have children imagine they are writing to a friend who has never seen snow. Prompt children to describe what snow looks like, sounds like, and feels like, building on their own experiences and what they learned from the book. (informational/explanatory) Book Club Discussion Have students meet in small groups to think about the text and discuss the questions below. You may wish to provide the questions on cards or print them out from the website for students to use. • Someone Like Me Lina looks forward to spending the day with her grandmother and doesn’t let the snow stop her. What impresses you the most about Lina? How is she like you or someone that you know? • Snowy Sounds The author uses some made-up words in the story like snyak , snyek , snyuk . Why do you think the author decided to use these kinds of words to help tell about the sounds Lina hears?
Revisit and read aloud pages 8–11, where Lina first leaves her house and uses what she sees as well as what she hears to think about the snow. Guide children to focus on how the author describes what Lina is seeing, hearing, and feeling. Ask: What can you visualize when the author tells us that “the snow was as bright white as a light bulb”? Or when the author says that the second sound Lina hears is low to the ground and is made by Lina’s boots “crunching snow into tiny waffles”? How do the sights as well as the sounds the author describes help readers imagine what it would be like to be with Lina as she has these experiences? Build Social-Emotional Awareness Say: Lina and Sitti have a very special relationship and enjoy spending time together. When the two are together, they have fun making stuffed grape leaves. Her grandmother also helps Lina discover a tenth way to hear snow. How does doing things with others help you share new skills and new ideas? Have students turn and talk with a partner. Then select a few students to share their thinking with the class. ( CASEL Competency relationship skills) A Quiet Time Begin by telling children that we want to experience something similar to what Lina experienced during her walk. Turn down the lights and ask children to close their eyes and sit quietly. Tell children that they will sit quietly with their eyes closed for two minutes. During this time, make sounds with a few classroom objects. Encourage them to pay attention to the different sounds and think about what made each sound. Once children open their eyes, ask them to write down their guesses. Invite children to share their guesses and compare with others in the class.
Connect to the Internet More About Cathy Camper Visit this site to access an interview with the author to share with children: www.susankaisergreenland.com . Select “blog” then “shout-outs” and scroll down to find the interview.
Rising Voices: Celebrating Girls of Color
Item# 750606 4683-11 5/22
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