KS1's winter warmer

6-week activity plan by Sue Nicholls

KS1: Winter
Selected song: Put your coat on

How does it happen? One minute the children tumble into school on the first day of the new school year, complete with new shoes, haircuts and over-large uniforms, then, before you can draw breath, the weather has become colder and everyone’s in winter mode, getting ready for their end-of-term celebrations.

If you’re planning a topic on winter, try Niki Davies’ simple number Put your coat on, a song about clothes for cold weather, to launch this unit of work. It’s the perfect KS1 song as it obeys all the ‘golden’ rules that govern vocal material for young voices:

- immediate appeal
- subject material that is familiar to infants
- straightforward melody
- uncomplicated, repetitive lyrics
- verses created by changing one word only
- lends itself to actions
- can be taught by rote: no word-learning
- can be extended and adapted by the singers
- enhances the curriculum.

Introduce the song

- Talk about winter and summer clothing and discuss reasons for differences in seasonal attire. Have different clothing items available to encourage the children to talk about, and hopefully identify, some of the fabrics worn in hot and cold weather. Have images of a coat, hat, scarf, boots and gloves to indicate the subject of each verse as you listen to the performance track. The ultra-simple lyrics and melody will have your class joining in very quickly with little teaching input required.

- Once the song is familiar, add a clapping or wood block part, played on the rests between phrases. If planning a performance, you can use the introduction to bring your singers, dressed in their winter garb, into the performing space.

- You could also adapt the lyrics and sing new verses for Christmas. 

Literacy (speaking and listening)

- Gather ideas from the children for a winter clothing list to be called ‘Winter Word Wardrobe’. Display a large A2 sheet of paper to be the back of the ‘wardrobe’ and attach paper ‘doors’ at each side so that the children can open and close the word wardrobe. Invite the class to write the names
of winter clothing items on Post-it notes to stick in the wardrobe (some children may prefer to draw their contributions).

- Adapt the cumulative memory game ‘My Granny went to the market’, calling it ‘Sally went to the sales’. To play the game, ask the first child to add a winter clothing item to the opener:

Sally went to the sales and bought … ‘a pair of wellies
The second child repeats the first item and adds another:

Sally went to the sales and bought …‘a pair of wellies and a knitted hat'.
Repeat the game round the circle until the list grows too long to remember. 

Dramatic preformance

- Use Sue’s poem Charlie’s Cold as a class performance. Organise a large narrator group and small solo groups for Charlie and Dad. Add actions for Charlie’s frantic journeys to and from the cupboard as he dresses himself layer upon layer.

Writing

- Rewrite the poem as a narrative, sequencing the events in the right order.

- Ask the children to imagine being Charlie as he writes a letter to his granny, telling her all the details of the day’s work.

- Write the next ‘chapter’ as Charlie tries out his new sledge in the snow.

Art & Design

l Study LS Lowry’s picture Market scene in a northern town and use this to inspire a class fabric collage of people shopping at a market on a winter’s day. Try incorporating different styles of hats, coats and footwear.

History and ICT

- Your pupils can do internet research on winter clothing worn in past eras, such as Victorian times. They can also research the famous Frost Fairs, when winter celebrations were held on the frozen River Thames.

- Make a Frost Fair board game with challenges, penalties and forfeits based on the stalls and activities that kept people entertained
all those centuries ago, eg. ’you’re given a farthing to spend on some roast chestnuts so move on five squares’ or ’you slip over on the ice – go back three squares’.

Design and technology

- Design and make a hanging 3D tree decoration that weighs less than 100g with maximum dimensions of 10x10cm. Use a variety of materials and display the models on a traditional fir tree to heighten the celebratory atmosphere in your classroom.

Science

- Collect fabric samples and ask the children to decide on categories for sorting them eg. stretchy, scratchy, thick, thin, reversible, waterproof, etc. Talk about differences between natural and man-made fabrics and link to Victorian clothing (see History and ICT), made at a time when synthetic cloth
was unknown.

PE/Dance

- Choreograph a winter weather dance using Debussy’s delicate piano music, The snow is dancing. Let the children be inspired by the music, suggesting ideas for movement. There are excellent movement ideas in Let’s Go Zudie-O, published by A&C Black and available in the Online Store.

- The theme of winter provides a rich source of cross-curricular pickings to enhance KS1 lessons. There are also many seasonal offerings in the Song Bank, including multi-faith celebratory songs and carols to enrich this topic.

Numeracy

- Use addition patterns or simple multiplication strategies for problem-solving eg. If a coat has four buttons, how many buttons are on five coats? If one boot has six lace-holes, how many lace-holes are on three pairs of boots? 

Geography

- Investigate the seasonal reverse experienced in countries such as Australia, where people spend Christmas Day on the beach and celebrate with a barbecue! 

Visit the Song Bank to find a wealth of seasonal songs, including:

Christmas song (Merry Christmas to you)
Dreidel song
Frosty the snowman
Here we come a-wassailing
Jingle bells
The night of a thousand lights
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
Stille nacht
The twelve days of Christmas
When the wind blows
Winter wonderland 

Sue Nicholls has published many books for generalist teachers with A&C Black and contributed several songs to other song collections. She works as a freelance music education consultant, providing nationwide INSET and training.

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