Weather is the word-o

Using an integrated curriculum, this unit plan provides sixteen fun-filled weather activities to familiarize students with sun, rain, snow, and wind. Each of the activities will take approximately 30 minutes over a three week period.

A lesson plan for grade K Science

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Related topics

• Learn more about Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, meteorology, rain, read-alouds, science, snow, sun, thunder, and weather.

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Learning outcomes

• Four components of weather — sun, rain, snow, and wind — will be used to integrate Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Computer, Math, Arts, and Healthful Living.
• Students will create a class multi-media presentation integrating Computer, Language Arts, Arts, and Science.

Teacher planning

Materials/resources

• Books:
• A Letter to Amy and A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judy Barrett
• The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins
• The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel
• A Rainy Day by Sandra Markle
• Art materials
• Optional Resources:
• Integrated Theme Units (Weather), 1992 Scholastic, Inc.
• Macmillan Imagination Station,”What’s The Weather?” 1997 Newbridge Communications, Inc.

Technology resources

• computer with access to the internet
• HyperStudio 3.1

Pre-activities

• Bookmark Websites:
• Dan’s Wild Wild Weather Page
• Weather Dude
• Local weather station’s web site
• From the Media Center, check out weather resources appropriate for Kindergarten.
• Pull together classroom materials and create weather within all learning stations in classroom. Display books in all learning stations. Contact the local radio and/or television stations for free additional material and to set up a visit from the weatherman.
• Contact Educational Affairs Division (for free materials) at National Oceanic and Astrospheric Administration Room 317, 1825 Connecticut Avenue Mashington, D.C. 20235
• Create classroom bulletin board.

Activities

1. Assisted by an adult, students visit weather websites. Weather Dude - Click on Musical Meteorology. This link sings songs about each types of weather.
2. Visit Dan’s Wild Wild Weather Page - Click on “Ask Dan”Send E-mail and ask weather questions. Discuss differences between E-mail and Postal Service Mail (snail mail).
3. Visit your local weather website and look at today’s weather and forecast. E-mail your local meteorologists. Compare daily weather with meteorologist’s five-day forecast.
4. Read poem, “Thunder” by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Discuss with students how the sound of thunder is created. Teacher demonstrates blowing into a paper bag, holding it closed, and smacking it with hand to create a thunderclap. Give students bags and allow them to produce their own “thunderclaps.” Students may also create a storm symphony by playing percussion instruments and/or banging on props such as cookie sheets and potlids.
5. Read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Brainstorm with students “things that could fall from the sky.” Create an affinity using classification skills. Take a light vote to determine which category from affinity will be used in creating a class big book. Divide students into small groups to create pages for big book. Book can be added to classroom library and/or checked out by students for at home reading.
6. Students keep a weather and temperature record for a week. Each day the students will be expected to draw and write about the daily weather in their journals.
7. Develop a K-W-L whole group. Use the following headings - Sunshine Safety, Snow Safety, Rain Safety, and Wind Safety.
8. Create a Venn Diagram using A Letter to Amy and The Snowy Day, both by Ezra Jack Keats.
9. Create cards which state actions used in different kinds of weather. Example: Building a snowman, getting dressed to go out in rain, sunbathing and getting a painful sunburn, and flying a kite. Students play Charades using these cards (Refer to Additional Resources: Integrated Theme Units/Scholastic, 1992).
10. Read The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins. Have students bring in objects and/or gather objects from classroom. Have students predict which objects may be blown by the wind. Using a hairdryer, test their predictions. Sequence the items which blew in the story. Develop a picture graph based on the results.
11. Read A Rainy Day by Sandra Markle. Brainstorm items needed to stay dry in rainy weather. Display items such as vinyl raincoat, umbrella, tee-shirt, and cotton. Demonstrate how some items repel or absorb water. Divide students in small groups. Trays need sample materials such as foil, waxpaper, tissue paper and plants. Encourage students to predict which materials will absorb or repel water. Give each group a cup of water and an eyedropper to test their predictions.
12. Provide students with 3 different sizes of sponges. Place each sponge in a saucer. Using an eyedropper, saturate each sponge. Saturation is determined when water begins to collect in the saucer. Students will then squeeze the water from each sponge into a measuring cup to compare the amount of water that was absorbed by each sponge.
13. After reading, The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel, hold a group discussion comparing differences of how animals and humans stay warm in winter. Using items furnished by the teacher, the students hold “thumbs up” if the item will keep humans warm in winter; likewise, the students hold “thumbs down” if item cannot be used for warmth in winter. Students may also bring in their favorite articles of winter clothing and a class fashion show may be held.
14. Brainstorm as a whole group a list of activities to do on a sunny day. Using one of these suggested activities, have each student complete the following sentence - _____________ is fun in the sun. Ask each student to illustrate his/her sentence. Collect all work and compile to make a class book.
15. Provide each student with a piece of dark colored construction paper. Have students place their paper in an area away from active play. Provide students with 3 sets of two different objects (3 rocks, 3 wooden blocks). Students place objects on dark colored paper in a pattern formation. Leave in sun at least two hours. Afterwards, remove objects and observe the results of the sun’s powerful bleaching rays. Students may match objects back to faded areas.
16. Closure: Teacher prepares a HyperStudio template with the words: It is ________. Students reproduce this template by filling in the blank with their favorite weather word and illustrate it. Compile all of these templates into one stack for group production to demonstrate students’ knowledge about weather.

Assessment

The following authentic assessments will be used:

• Anecdotal notes/observations
• Journals
• Knowledge and skills checklists/Communication Skills and Math Benchmarks
• Center assessment sheets placed in portfolios

Supplemental information

Books to Share:

• Anholt, Catherine and Laurence. Sun, Snow, Stars, Sky. New York: Viking, 1995
• Borden, Louise. Caps, Hats, Socks, and Mittens. New York: Scholastic, 1989.
• Livingston, Myra Cohen. Circle of Seasons. New York: Holiday House, 1982.
• Maas, Robert. When Autumn Comes. New York: Henry Holt, 1990.
• Carlstrom, Nancy White. How Does the Wind Walk? New York: Macmillan, 1993.
• Dorros, Arthur. Feel the Wind. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.
• Lipson, Michael. How the Wind Plays. New York: Hyperion, 1994.
• Branley, Franklyn M. Snow Is Falling. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.
• Carlstrom, Nancy White, The Snow Speaks. New York: Little Brown, 1992.
• Enlert, Loois. Snowballs. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1995.
• Brandt, Keith. What Makes It Rain. The Story of a Raindrop. New Jersey: Troll, 1982.
• Martin, Bill Jr., and John Archambault. Listen to the Rain. New York: Henry Holt, 1988.
• Shulevitz, Uri. Rain Rain Rivers. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1969.
• Carle, Eric. Little Cloud. New York: Philomel, 1996.
• dePaloa, Tomie. The Cloud Book. New York: Holiday House, 1975.
• Shaw, Charles G. It Looked Like Spilt Milk. New York: Harper & Row, 1947.
• Marzollo, Jean. Sun Song. New York: Harper Collins, 1995.
• Ginsburg, Mirra. Where Does the Sun Go at Night? New York: Greenwillow, 1981.
• Gibbons, Gail. Weather Forecasting. New York: Four Winds Press, 1987.
• Gibbons, Gail. Sun Up, Sun Down. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovick, 1983.
• Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Weather. New York: Harper Collins, 1994.
• Martin, Claire. I Can Be a Weather Forecaster. Chicago: Childrens Press, 1987.
• Cole, Joanna. The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane. New York: Scholastic, 1995.
• Fowler, Allen. When a Storm Comes Up. Chicago: Childrens Press, 1995.
• Polacco, Patricia. Thunder Cake. New York: Philomel, 1990.

Comments

Individual academic needs are addressed at the Weather Dude website. Additional lesson plans and free materials are provided at the same website.