Winter story unit · KS1 (Reception to Year 2)
Robin's Snowy Surprise
Learning objective: Describe a winter setting and recognise how kindness helps others in the cold.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Animal Story · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: Winter Wonder Woods
Talk questions
- What did you notice in the snowy woods?
- How did Ruby help her friends keep warm? How can we help birds in winter?
Writing task
Draw a snowy picture. Write one sentence using a winter word: 'The snow is ___.'
Word bank
- snow
- soft white flakes of frozen water that fall from the sky when it is very cold
- frosty
- covered in frost, or very cold
- icicle
- a hanging spike of ice, made when dripping water freezes
- robin
- a small brown bird with an orange-red chest, often seen in gardens in winter
- cosy
- warm, comfortable and safe
Success criteria (poem)
Reception to Year 2: I can write in lines. I can repeat a line. I can use describing words.
National Curriculum statements
- “recognising and joining in with predictable phrases” (Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “discussing their favourite words and phrases” (Year 2, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “expanded noun phrases to describe and specify [for example, the blue butterfly]” (Year 2, Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
The first snow had fallen in Winter Wonder Woods. Everything was white and still.
Ruby the robin hopped along a branch. Her red chest was the brightest thing in the woods.
“My friends will be cold tonight,” said Ruby. “Will you help me?”
Mo nodded and pulled on his mittens. Crunch, crunch, through the snow! They carried a bag of seeds to the bird table. They found a long, shining icicle on the old gate. They saw tiny footprints going round and round the frozen pond.
“Who made those?” whispered Mo. Ruby fluffed up her feathers. “Let’s follow them and see,” she said.
Notes
Winter story unit · KS2 (Years 3 to 6)
The Frozen Lantern Trail
Learning objective: Use description and accurate facts to bring a winter setting to life.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Animal Story · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: Winter Wonder Woods
Talk questions
- Which winter facts did you notice in the story?
- When did the characters make a safe, sensible choice? Why did it matter?
Writing task
Write a description of a winter scene that uses personification (for example, 'the wind whispered') and at least one simile.
Word bank
- solstice
- the shortest day and longest night of the year, which comes in late December
- frost
- a thin white layer of ice that forms on cold surfaces overnight
- personification
- describing a thing as if it were a person, for example “the wind whispered”
- shimmering
- shining with a soft light that seems to move
- hibernation
- a long, deep winter sleep that some animals, such as hedgehogs, use to save energy
Success criteria (poem)
Years 3 and 4: I can write in verses. I can use a simile. I can use repetition for effect.
Years 5 and 6: I can use imagery. I can choose my form on purpose. I can end with a turn.
National Curriculum statements
- “discussing words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination” (Years 3 and 4, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader” (Years 5 and 6, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning” (Years 5 and 6, Writing – composition (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
On the longest night of the year, the lanterns of Winter Wonder Woods went out one by one, as if the frost were strolling along the trail, blowing each one out like a birthday candle.
Priya held up her torch. Every lantern was coated in ice, thick as glass. Frost had crept over the path and up the tree trunks, and the wind breathed a thin, cold whistle through the branches.
“Without the trail, nobody can find the cabin,” said the fox, his breath hanging like smoke in the air.
The robin landed on Priya’s shoulder. “The quickest way is across the pond,” she said. “But the ice is new.”
Priya looked at the pond, shimmering silver under the moon, then at the long path around its edge. “Then we go the long way,” she said, “and we light the lanterns as we go.”
Notes
