Consciousness Raising Activity
"How to Build a Snowman"
By: An Ehow Contributor

Building a snowman provides an entertaining, creative way to get some fresh air on a lazy winter day.  You'll need a few inches of snow on the ground; wear gloves or mittens. 

Things You'll Need:
 Instructions:
1- Test the snow to see if you have 'packing snow,' which clumps together easily and isn't too wet.  The snow must pack to make a snowman. 

2- Shape a handful of snow into a ball.  Continue adding more snow and pack the ball until it's too large too hold. 

3- Place the ball on the snow in front of you and slowly roll it away from you.  As more snow accumulates on the outside of your ball, pack the snow by pressing on it with your gloved hands. 

4 - Roll and pack the ball over and over until it is the size you want for the bottom of the snowman's body.

5 - Repeat for the midsection and head. The bottom should be the biggest ball, and the top should be the smallest.

6 - Place the mid-sized ball on top of the largest ball for the snowman’s midsection. Next, place the smallest ball onto the midsection for the snowman’s head.

7 - Pack some extra snow between the layers to make them stick together. Place sticks down the center where the sections meet if you are having trouble getting your snowman to stand up straight.

8 - Give the snowman a face. Use coal, rocks, buttons or anything dark and round for the eyes. Use a carrot for the pointy nose. A horizontal stick or twig will make a good mouth.

9 - Cover the top of his head with an old plant for hair, or give him a knit hat to wear. Top hats will blow away unless you secured it properly.

10 - Optional: Add arms, legs, and other accessories. Push sticks into the sides of the midsection and hang old mittens on the ends. Place boots at the bottom for legs. Also, consider adding items such as a shirt, a scarf, or sunglasses.

http://www.ehow.com/how_9769_build-snowman.html
Consciousness-Raising Activity:

Activity #1- You will identify some important characteristics of instructional writing, the type of writing seen in How to Build a Snowman. Instuctional writing is a form of non-fiction text in which the author describes how to do (make or build) something to the reader.  Together, we will take a deeper look at a few of the characteristics of this type of writing. 

Grammatical Features
1. Look at the words highlighted in red. What part of speech are they (e.g. nouns, adjectives)?

Answer: verbs

2. Which verb forms are highlighted in red?



3. What do you notice about the forms of these verbs (e.g. subject, conjugation)?



Organizational Features:
1. How to Build a Snowman is the _______________ of the article.

a. Theme                                           b. Genre                               c. Title

Answer: title

2. What is the bulleted list of items of an instructional text?

a. The Instructions/ Steps                    b.The Materials                    c. The Authors

Answer: Instructions/Steps


3. What is the purpose of the steps/ instructions?





Title Page
 How to Build a Snowman Text
 Reading Comprehension Questions
 Consciousness Raising Activity (Instructional Texts)
 Imperative Verb Activity
 Writing Activity
Table of Contents Page