Weather Wise Week

Karen Gardner

Introduction	Standards	Objectives	Rationale	Activities	Assessment	Results	Resources

Introduction:
Students, both ELL and EO, need to become acquainted with vocabulary familiar to weather.  The computer shall be a useful tool for weather research and language arts.

Grade:  2

Weather Wise Week (WWW)

Standards Addressed:
Language arts/technology

Student Profile:
This second grade classroom consists of 16 students.  Two students are at level 0/1 English Acquisition (beginning); two at level 4/5 Early Advanced/Advanced English Acquisition, and 12 English Only students.

ELD Instructional  Objectives:

Students, as a group, will activate and develop background knowledge about weather after listening to the story, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett.  From reading the above story, students will also practice the lanuage function:  Language can be playful and have dual meanings.

Students will build vocabulary related to topic:  rain, snow, fog, weather, tornado, storm, sky, clouds, report, predictions, wind, geography (ocean, mountains, deserts).  Students will learn names for days of the week.

Students will recognize and be able to draw weather forecast symbols.

Children will discuss their experience of local weather; weather where they used to live, and  weather where they may have traveled.

Students will learn these language structures: 
Monday's weather forecast is ____.
The weather today is   _____.
The weather yesterday was _____. 
The weather tomorrow will be ____ .

Students will communicate and practice language with a partner.

Students will follow two-step written instructions.

Students will use the internet to locate and extract information regarding poetry and the weather forecast for their area.

Rationale: 
Students need good listening skills for comprehension and application.  Students must be able to use and access information.  Weather is a topic familiar to all students and the language of weather forecast is valuable to Second Language learners and English Only learners. 

Strategy: 
SDAIE  (Specially Designed Academic Instruction In English)

Student Activities
 

1.  Warm up / Review
Daily calendar activity will open up discussion of seasons, weather and temperature.  Children will discuss their experience of local weather; weather where they used to live, and  weather where they may have traveled. 

2.  Introduction:
Hook the students with the outdoor weather rainbow activity click here (http://www.wxusa.com/additional.htm).  Do TPR activity to describe types of weather:  cold, hot, rain, snow  to access prior knowledge.

3  Presentation:
Take a picture walk through, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  Generate and set up vocabulary.  Teacher reads the story whole group, guiding children to make predictions and to monitor predictions.  The activity will encourage children to generate their own questions as the story proceeds. 

4.  Practice:
A.  Tell students how we are going to apply what we know about weather to gain information about weather and  weather predictions on the Internet.

B.  Students, with their partner, are assigned to a computer in the lab.

C.  Students, with their partner, download prepared Weather Forecast Recording Sheet.

D.
Introductory Activity
Enabling Activity(ies) Directions
 

click here 

click here
 

 
     Look outside and see if there are any clouds in the sky today. 
     Draw pictures of the clouds in your Science Journal. 
     Tell what the weather is like. 
     Using the pictures, find the cloud that most closely matches those you have seen and
     drawn. 
     Write down the name of the cloud in your Science Journal next to your drawing.
     Read more about the different kinds of clouds. 
 
 
 

Culminating Activity (Closure)

Assessment/Evaluation
Check for correct word order: SVO (SOV)

Grading Rubric

Exemplary 4	Accomplished 3	Developing 2	Beginning 1
Student is able to recognize and accuraely draw weather forecast symbols and invent new symbols.	Student recognizes and is able to draw all weather forecast symbols.	Student is able to recognize and draw most weather forecast symbols.	Student recognizes and can accurately draw 2 or fewer weather forecast symbols.
Student is able to read, write, spell and use weather vocabulary to describe weather and convey a message.	Student is able to read, write, spell and verbalize weather vocabulary.	Student is able to read and spell most weather vocabulary.  Student can usually incorporate vocabulary when describing the weather	Student is able to read 4 or more words and is beginning to use some weather vocabulary in conversation.
Student uses correct language structure when predicting, recording and analyizing weather patterns.	Student uses correct language structure in predicting and recording weather.	Student sometimes uses correct language structure in predicting and recording weather.	Student is beginning to use correct language structure when stating the weather.
Student writes a 4-line or longer weather specific and weather focused poem inside a hand-drawn cloud.	Student writes a 4-line poem inside hand-drawn cloud.	Student attempts 4-lines or fewer of rhyming or non-rhyming poetry.	Student dictates poetic ideas to teacher.
Student successfully navigates researches the Internet for weather forecast and weather information.	Student successfully navigates the Internet to search for weather forecast information.	Student, with help, can use the computer to seek appropriate informaiton.	Student shows some understanding of the computer, mouse and keyboard and with 1:1 help can locate some information.

Insert your grading rubric for the culminating activity or a link to your rubric or test document file.

Application

*Students visit Channel 24 for field trip.

*Students write letters to Redding News Station 7 Mike Krueger, meteorologist, and enter Be A Weather Kid For A Day contest.

*Students make predictions, graph

Extensions:
 
 
 

Results
After implementing your lesson (sometime between January & March), insert a chart of your pre-test, post-test, and culminating assessment data.

Web Resources & Supplementary Materials
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi Barret

Introductory Activity
List and link the web resources for this activity here. Also link supplementary materials such as PDF files and /or document files.

Enabling Activity
List and link the web resources for your learning activity(ies) here. Also link supplementary materials such as PDF files and /or document files.

Culminating Activity
List and link the web resources for this activity here. Also link supplementary materials such as PDF files and /or document files.

Metteer Elementary School 

695 Kimball Road, Red Bluff, CA 96080 
Karen G. Gardner  kgardner@rbusd.tehama.k12.ca.us 
10/17/2000 
 

 

 

 

 

    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Metteer Elementary School
695 Kimball Road
Red Bluff, CA 96080
Karen G. Gardner  kgardner@rbusd.tehama.k12.ca.us

Last Revised:  10/17/2000