There are many wonderful ways to sue this book in the area of Science. As the teacher, you may need to gear these activities more towards the developmental level of your class.

WEATHER

1. Have the children research blizzards in the library.

a. Have them answer all of the questions on the enclosed questionnaire entitled "Blizzards".
b. You may want them to specifically research to find out if there really was a "Blizzard of '22".

a. Ask the children to guess which areas of the country usually have the most snow. List their responses on chart paper so that the whole class can see.
b. Use a class map to locate the places where the children think it snows the most. You may want to mark these places with a gold star sticker on the map.
c. Ask your school librarian to pull books on snow.
1. Take a class trip to the library.
2. Have the students work in small groups to research snow.
a. They should answer the questions on the enclosed sheet entitled "Snow".
b. They should also research to see if it really does snow in the places listed on the chart paper. (Each child can research the place he or she named). When you get back to the classroom, have the students tell whether or not it snows in the places listed on the chart paper and map.
c. Have the students discuss their findings from the library.
d. Let children make snowflakes with construction paper.
e. If at all possible, make snow cream with your class!

a. Using reference materials and other books, have the children study the different types of clouds (cirrus, stratus, and cumulus).
1. Discuss the different types of clouds in a whole group discussion.
2. Have students write a paragraph on each of type of clouds.
3. Using white paper, ask the children to draw 3 types of clouds.
4. Students can make a book on clouds with the paragraphs and drawings.
b. Read Tomie DePaola's THE CLOUD BOOK. Ask the children to compare this book with THE CHRISTMAS BLIZZARD.
c. Using cotton balls, have the children make samples of the 3 types of clouds.
1. Make a bulletin board using these clouds. Then, put up the creative writing samples suggested under "Creative Writing". You now have a class bulletin board!

1. Divide the children into 3-5 groups. Give each group a world map.

a. Have them locate the following places:
Lizzard, Indiana     The North Pole      Seattle, Washington
b. The children should color in these places on a map of the world that you copy and give to them.
c. Older children may be able to tell you the longitude and latitude of these locations.
d. Answer the following questions:
1. Where is Lizzard, Indiana?
2. Does it exist? How do you know?
3. What do you think the weather is like in the North Pole? Why?
4. In which state is Seattle located?
5. What do you think the weather is like in Seattle?

1. If you have access to a classroom computer or set of school computers, allow the children to use CD-Rom like Compton's Encyclopedia or Grollier's Encyclopedia to look for Lizzard, Indiana; Seattle, and the North Pole.

a. Have the children list 3 interesting facts they found out about these 3 places. (They may tell 3 facts about the state of Indiana).
b. When the children finish their work, allow them to play a fun, educational game on the computer like WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO?. This will reinforce their geographical skills in a fun way.

THE CHRISTMAS BLIZZARD inspires many wonderful ideas for art activities. Perhaps these ideas will get you started!

1. Have the students create samples of the three types of clouds (cirrus, cumulus, and stratus) using cotton balls. Then, display their work on the class bulletin board.

2. Have the students draw pictures of different types of clouds on construction paper.

3. Ask the children to create and make a model of a different type of weather using markers, paint, crayons, clay, stickers, shoe boxes, paper scraps, material scraps, glitter, or any other medium. This may be a fun take home project for the students to do with their parents to stimulate parent-child involvement. The students should present their creations to the class (which helps develop their public speaking skills).

4. Give each student a lump of clay. Ask them to create a device that will help predict what the weather will be.

5. Provide each child with a piece of white paper and a pair of scissors. The children should fold the paper in half and then fold it again so that it makes a small rectangle (there are also other ways to fold the paper). Then, ask the students to cut small shapes on the paper without cutting away all of the fold. When they open it up, a snowflake will appear!

A good discussion idea: Have the children show their individual snowflake to the class. Then, have them discuss why their snowflakes are not all the same!

There are many wonderful possibilities for creative writing with this book! These ideas will get you started!

1. Ask the children to write about these topics in their journals:

a. Do you think Santa went back to the North Pole?
b. If I made a blizzard...
c. If I lived in Lizzard, Indiana, I would...
d. Create Your own story about a storm in your town.
e. Write about what it would be like to live through a big storm like a blizzard, tornado, or hurricane. If you've lived through a big storm like that, describe what it was like.
f. What do you think it would be like to visit the North Pole?
g. What kind of storm do you think would be most exciting to see?

2. Have the children write their own recipe for snow cream!

3. Do you think Ellie Cogwell could really see through to China?

4. A Look at Clichés...
There are many clichés, metaphors, and similes in THE CHRISTMAS BLIZZARD. Explain what these three things are to your students. Then, challenge them to locate all of the clichés, metaphors, and similes in the book.  Here is a list of the clichés, metaphors, and similes:
        "warm as grandma's gravy"
        "dry as cornshucks"
        "piled up like a rat's nest"
        "snowed like there was no tomorrow"
        "slippery as a weasel in a grease pit"
        "Flakes as big as dinner plates"
        "Flakes as fat as turnips"
        "flakes rounder than a Thanksgiving turkey"
        "flakes fluffier than a long-haired barn cat"

Ask students to create and illustrate their own cliché, simile, or metaphor.

5. Have the children write down any vocabulary words they do not know in the book, then use the dictionary to find their meanings.

Children love to read books and so a fun idea is to spend most of the day (or morning) in bathrobes! Have each child bring pajamas or a bathrobe to wear over their clothes. They may also want to bring blankets, sleeping bags, et cetera. Go to the library and check out a variety of books on slow. Read THE CHRISTMAS BLIZZARD to the class. Then, make hot chocolate and spend time reading to the students and letting them read individually and with partners. Children love special treats like this and it facilitates their love of reading!

When presenting a book to your students, it is important for all ages to know certain things about the book and its content. To develop higher order thinking skills, it is helpful to ask your students the following questions. A good teacher will always probe deeper and push his or her students to really think and find what is meaningful in a book. The following questions will help you do this. (You may want to alter these questions to fit your students developmentally.)

1. What is the title of the book?
          What does the title tell us about the book?
          Where do we find the title?
2.  Who is the author of the book?
          What does the author do?
          Where do we find the name of the author?
3.  Who is the illustrator of the book?
          Where do we find the name of the illustrator?
          What does the illustrator do?
4.  What does it mean if there is only one name on the front of the book?
              (This means that the same person wrote and illustrated the book.)
5.  Where is the title page?
6.  What is the copyright?
          Where do we find it?
7.  Who is the publisher of the book?
          What does the publisher do?
8.  Who is the main character in the book?
          Describe him or her.
9.  Name the other characters in the book.
          Who is your favorite character? Why?
          Who is your least favorite character? Why?
10. What is the main idea or theme of this book?
11. What is the conflict or problem in this book?
          How was it resolved?
          How would you resolve it?
12. How did the story end?
          Would you change the ending?
          Create your own ending to the story.
13. What was your favorite part about the book?

FOR OLDER CHILDREN:
1. Who is the protagonist?
2. Who is the antagonist?
3. What is the climax in the story?