Jessi+Brown-Weather

**Kindergarten:** //Overview:// Students will be studying a unit on weather. It is a short unit, only about a week. They will learn about the different types of weather *snowy, rainy, windy, cloudy, sunny, etc...* They will then everyday determine what kind of weather it is outside and compare it to the previous day. There will be stories read where weather has an effect on the characters (ex: __If Anything Ever Goes Wrong at the Zoo__ by Mary Jean Hendrick, __The Windy Day__ by Anna Milbourne, and __The Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm__ by Nancy White.) The students will talk about what type of weather happens during different times of the year (ex: it is cold and snowy around December, it is sunny and warm in August, it is rainy in April, etc...). The students will also discuss what one should wear and have during different weather situations (ex: an umbrella in the rain, mittens and scarf in the snow, etc...).
 * My project is based off of a weather unit for Kindergarten and 3rd grade.**

//Student Audience:// This Kindergarten class consists of 18 students. The school is located in a small town just 20 minutes from a state university. The majority of the population is white lower-middle class, with a few African-American families. Not all of them have attended Pre-school, so their learning abilities are very different. This is in the middle of the semester, so they are able to write their name, write the letters of the alphabet, and they know some basic site words. In the class there are 2 students that have to leave the classroom and go to the resource room however, they do come to the media center with their class with an aide. All of the students enjoy coming to the media center and are always excited when it comes time to read a story. Behavior wise, they have their listening problems like most children their age, but it is very easy to redirect them with their "sticker chart."

//Indiana Academic Standards: __Science__// __//Language Arts//__ __//Social Studies//__
 * K.2.2 Draw pictures and write words to describe objects and experiences.
 * K.1.22 Listen to stories read aloud and use the vocabulary in those stories in oral language.
 * K.7.1 Understand and follow one- and two-step spoken directions
 * K.3.5 Physical Systems: Describe and give examples of seasonal weather changes and illustrate how weather affects people and the environment.

//AASL Standards for Learning//
 * 1.1.2: Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning.
 * Students will use their previous experiences of the weather to connect with what we are teaching them.
 * 1.1.6: Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format in order to make inferences and gather meaning.
 * Students will listen to stories about the weather
 * Students will watch a video on different types of weather
 * 3.1.5 Connect learning to community issues.
 * Students will connect how the weather effects community events (ie: if it's raining, we cannot have a parade)
 * 4.1.8: Use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning.
 * Students will draw a picture of them on a sunny day, on a snowy day, on a windy day, and a rainy day.

//Media Literacy Skills// (as found in Callison's "Blue Book")
 * Students are able to attend to the sights and sounds of storytelling.
 * Students can participate in discussion following a story
 * Students can draw the point of the story into his or her own experience

//Collaboration// With this unit, there is collaboration between the classroom teacher(me) and the media specialist. During this unit, we would go to the School Media Center the the Media Specialist would read to the students the stories involving weather. The students would then look through the library's picture book collection to find different types of weather within the books (the Media Specialist would have already set aside a set of appropriate books so the shelves aren't ransacked.) During this time the Media Specialist is able to show the students where the books on weather would be located.

//Educator Teaching Materials// (Lesson Plan) Lesson Title: "What is the Weather Like Today?" Grade: Kindergarten Objectives: Students will be able to identify 4 different types of weather Materials and Supplies Lesson Length:20 minutes including travel Lesson Setting:This lesson will take place in two locations, the classroom and the school media center Classroom Management Considerations: Because we will be traveling to the media center for part of the lesson, students may lose focus so the "green light, yellow light, red light policy will have to be used (see classroom policies binder for questions). While in the media center, the school media specialist has her own management technique as well. Motivation: The students will get to add to their morning routine, allowing one to go to the window and check the weather. Attention Grabber: Our new weather chart will be set up, this has never been in the classroom before so the students will notice it. I will ask the students what do the words, cloudy, sunny, rainy, and windy mean to them?
 * __Maisy's Wonderful Weather Book__ by Lucy Cousins
 * __If Anything Ever Goes Wrong at the Zoo__ by Mary Jean Hendrick
 * __The Windy Day__ by Anna Milbourne
 * __The Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm__ by Nancy White
 * Student weather handout
 * Crayons for students
 * Various library books showing different types of weather
 * Our "Weather Board"

"These words are all used to describe weather, has anyone ever heard their mom or dad or grandparent talking about the weather?" "Weather is the conditions outside: the temperature, the wind, the clouds, and the precipitation. "Today we are going to learn about the different kinds of weather-does anyone have a guess to the kinds-here's a hint what is it like outside right now?" Allow students to guess a few different types "If we all gather around the story chair, I'm going to read to you a book called __Maisy's Wonderful Weather Book__. It talks about the different kinds of weather we have, so pay attention so when I ask you will know!" Read the story, and ask follow up questions such as what type of weather did she talk about, what was going on during that weather *snowy weather, snow fell, etc..* What type of clothes was she wearing during the rainy weather? Did she have anything else *Umbrella, rain boots, etc...* At this time I would introduce the Weather Chart, and explain that every day for our morning routine, one of the them will check the weather outside and tell us if it is a rainy day, a sunny day, a cloudy day, or a snowy day. Also mention that it can be rainy and sunny at the same time *that's how rainbows are made!* "When we get back to our seats, there will be a paper there that has four different sections, One section will say "Sunny", one will say "Rainy", one will say "Windy, and one will say "Snowy." You are going to draw yourself on those days as if you were outside, think about what you might wear, and what you might be doing on those days. When you are done hand them in and we will be going to the Media Center for the last part of our lesson! Give the kids time to work, when they are all finished, have them line up and walk to the Media Center From then the School Media Specialist will take over, she will have the students gather in the story area, and read to them a few story's where weather was present in the story. After the stories, she will tell the students that we are going on a "weather scavenger hunt" and we need to identify different kinds of weather within our stories. She will show them a stack of books that had been pulled and they are to pick one or two and see if they can find different kinds of weather in the pictures. They need to identify at least 2 different kinds of weather. When the students find them, they will show either me or the Media Specialist, and we will mark if they correctly identified it or not. "Now we know what weather is, what kinds of weather we have, what it looks like, and what we should wear during that weather we will be prepared next time it rains or snows! Tomorrow we are going to talk about seasons and how certain weather usually only happens during a special season. When we get back to the classroom, we are going to wash our hands and get ready for lunch!"

Modifications: For our two students who need help, they will have their aide to assist them with the scavenger hunt, and while we are drawing, they are only required to draw two types of weather. For our gifted students, they will draw all the pictures, but they will have "Partly Sunny" in place of Sunny and "Cloudy" in place of "Rainy."

Student Work Evaluation: Students work will be evaluated based off a rubric, found in the next section. As for their weather "scavenger hunt" they will just be marked to finding and identifying the correct types of weather.

//Student Learning Materials// Attached is a handout that the students would be given. They are to draw themselves on a sunny day, a rainy day, a snowy day, and a windy day. They need to think about what they might wear and what it would be like outside. Below is a rubric on how to evaluate this students assignment.

//Student Performance// The lesson objective is for the student to be able to identify different types of weather, what it involves, and know appropriate attire for it. To evaluate this objective, students were asked to draw themselves on four different types of weather days *rainy, sunny, snowy, and windy*. To evaluate this I have a rubric that I am using. If the students successfully drew the three of four different types of weather, I consider that lesson mastered. I know that windy can be a tricky weather to draw, so I am willing to give a little leeway for that one.

//Student Product//

**3rd Grade** //Overview:// Students have been studying weather over the past few weeks, today they will discuss types of natural disasters caused by weather (blizzards, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc...) They will continually be looking in the newspaper for weather related disasters to put in their weather journal that they have been keeping over the past weeks. Students will break into groups and research at the media center how to protect themselves from the disasters, and create a survival kit to present to the class.

//Student Audience:// This is the same small school that the Kindergarten class attends, this class has 22 children in it. There are no special needs students, however there are two gifted students. All the students have background in research projects and presentations from previous units. Overall, these students enjoy learning-especially science with the hands on experiments.

//Indiana Academic Standards: __Science__// __//Language Arts//__
 * 3.2.3 Keep a notebook that describes observations and is understandable weeks or months later.
 * 3.3.6 Describe ways human beings protect themselves from adverse weather conditions
 * 3.4.6 Explain that people need water, food, air, waste removal, and a particular range of temperatures, just as other animals do.
 * 3.2.1Structural Features of Informational and Technical Materials:Use titles, tables of contents, chapter headings, a glossary, or an index to locate information in text.
 * 3.4.7 Proofread one's own writing, as well as that of others, using an editing checklist or list of rules.
 * 3.7.15 Follow three- and four-step oral directions.
 * 3.7.6 Provide a beginning, a middle, and an end to oral presentations, including details that develop a central idea.

//AASL Standards for Learning//
 * Follow an inquiry-based process in seeking knowledge in curricular subjects, and make the real-world connection for using this process in own life.
 * Students will be given a weather related disaster, and they are to research ways to protect themselves and come up with a survival kit.
 * 1.1.2: Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning.
 * Students will use the knowledge that they have of what humans need to survive in order to make their kit, they will also use what they know of the library to research ways to protect themselves from the weather.
 * 1.1.5: Evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis of accuracy, validity, appropriateness for needs, importance, and social and cultural context.
 * Students will have to sort through their findings for quality information for their survival kit and presentation.
 * 1.1.8: Demonstrate mastery of technology tools for accessing information and pursuing inquiry.
 * Students will use online sources and databases along with printed materials to research their project.
 * 2.1.2: Organize knowledge so that it is useful
 * Students will organize their information so it is presentable.

//Media Literacy Skills// (as found in Callison's "Blue Book") //Collaboration// Collaboration between the classroom teacher and the school media specialist will play a very important role in this unit, because the students are charged with creating a survival kit and researching how to prepare and protect themselves from extreme weather disasters. The media specialist will need to help guide the students to the correct area, and be on hand if they need any help with the databases.
 * Student can look up information in a general excyclopedia, print or nonprint.
 * Student can find non-fiction books on a specific topic.
 * Student can focus on a specific question for which one may search for information to address the question.
 * Student can brainstorm ideas and information about the central question by recalling previous personal experiences.
 * Student can use input devises to successfully operate computers.
 * Student works cooperatively and collaboratively with peers, family members, and others when using technology in the classroom or at home.

//Educator Teaching Materials// (Lesson Plan) Lesson Title: Wild Weather! Grade: 3rd Grade Objectives: Students will work together to create an action plan and a survival kit for a weather related natural disaster. They will present this plan and the survival kit to the class, and write up a paragraph as to why they chose those items.

Materials and Supplies
 * Paper
 * Pencils
 * Non-fiction books on weather related disasters
 * Videos of different types of disasters

Lesson Length:30 minutes

Lesson Setting:This will take place within the classroom and the school media center.

Motivation: Students will be able to work in groups and get to use the computers, which is something they do not often do. Attention Grabber: After the students have gone through their journals for the previous week. I will secretively press play on my computer which will have a sample of a tornado siren loaded. The siren will play and I'll ask the kids what is that noise? What does it mean? What should we do? I'll take their answers ( or lack there of), and tell them what the noise was, and that for our science class today we are going to be learning about weather related disasters, what we should do in one, and what we should have to survive one. To begin I will play a video that talks about the different types of weather related disasters Blizzards, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Flash Floods, Heatwaves, Hailstroms, and Droughts. I'll ask the students what do they think causes these disasters (blizzard- it snows too much, droughts-it doesn't rain, flash floods-too much rain, etc...). I would then tell the students that we are going to break up into groups of 4 and each group will be assigned a disaster. They are to go to the media center and research how to protect themselves from that disaster, and create a survival kit for all four group members to last them until "help" arrives. To pick the groups, I would just put the names in a hat and I would draw sets of four names and that would be the groups. I would also explain that not only will they be presenting their findings, but they also need to write up a paragraph telling my why they chose what they did for their survival kit. At this time I would hand out the grammar checklist (see attached).

Once they are in the media center, the students will break into their groups and using books, Internet, and databases, the students will search for the steps to take to protect themselves in the weather situation, and items one might need to survive. The students will have the rest of the period to research and come up with their presentation, and they will present the next day.

Modifications: For the gifted students, I would have them alter their survival kit to last them a week *with each person using x amount of water a day, batteries last x amount of days, etc...) Student Work Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on 3 things; their presentation, their survival kit, and how they worked together as a group. I will be using a rubric to evaluate the presentation and survival kit, and the students will be given a survey about how the group worked together.

//Student Learning Materials// Below is a checklist that all students fill out before they hand in anything that is written to the teacher. It reminds them to check over their work. Below is a rubric I would use to evaluate the students on their presentation and survival kit. //Student Performance// The lesson objective was for the student to create a survival kit and have a plan of what to do in case a weather related storm should hit. To evaluate them I will use a rubric. If the students' plans seemed logical and their survival kits realistic, then they would have masted the lesson.

//Student Product// __My survival kit __ by Jayce Barttle When a tornado hits, to survive, I will have these things.
 * A few gallon jugs of water - water is one of the things we need to survive so this is a must to have
 * Food that does not go bad-like water we have to have food to survive. I want food that does not go bad because if we had like milk it would not last long.
 * Flashlight-if the disaster takes out the electrisity, i want to be able to see.
 * Batteries- If the lights are out longer than the flashlight can light then I want extra batteries so I can see.
 * A book- If we are trappted for a few days I want to not be bored so I will have a book in the kit
 * A DS- I don't want my little brother taking my book so I would put this in there for him.
 * Radio- This is so we know what is going on outside.
 * Walki-Talkis- so we can call for help if we need it.
 * A first aid kit- in case someone gets hurt we can help them.

//Lesson Comparison.// There are many differences between Kindergarten and 3rd Grade. One of the skills I had discussed was "Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning." A large difference would be that just their background knowledge would be vastly larger in the 3rd grader than it would be in the Kindergarten student mainly because the 3rd grader has lived longer and thus learned more. The listening skills also have evolved from listening and doing two step directions to completing 4-5 step directions. You can tell how much more they have matured by how many more directions they can take. As for scaffolding, with the Kindergarten students you have to be very involved in their learning because they haven't reached that set of skills to work on their own yet, with 3rd graders, you do not have to be as involved because they know what to do by then, they know what sources to look for, what questions need to be answered, etc... In the Kindergarten lesson, they knew about weather, they knew that there are good days and there are wet days, but you had to assign words to those experiences, and they had to draw the correct picture so we knew that they understood that on rainy days, it's wet.. on sunny days, the sun is out, etc... With the 3rd graders, they have already had the prior knowledge, but you are taking it a step farther, you are showing them the damage that weather can cause, and making it more personal for them by having them image that they are in a tornado, and making them think what do I need to survive...


 * ADDITIONAL IDEAS: Submitted by Dawn Musolino**



Additional Ideas: Submitted by Allison Daniel
I love teaching about weather because it is a topic of interest for children. It is a topic that causes them to make connections and reflect on real world experiences. My lesson addition is for a 1st grade class. I agree with Dawn that younger students in Kindergarten and 1st grade grow and mature in incredible ways from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. I would teach a weather unit at some point in second semester with 1st grade students. My lesson involves reading the book //Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs//. I would start by reviewing with students what the difference is between a fiction and non-fiction book. Then I would share the story with them. At the end of the book, I would ask student what type of book it is. Then I would ask students to think about what kinds of foods they would want to fall from the sky if they could live in a place like Chewandswallow (the name of the town in the book). After the students have brainstormed a list of foods, I would explain to them that they are going to write about and illustrate their own towns like the one from the book. They will draw a town and different kinds of food falling from the sky. Then they will write about their towns. They need to give the town a name. They need to tell me what kinds of foods fall from the sky for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They also need to write about whether they would like to live in a town where food fell from the sky and why or why not.

Indiana State Standards
English and Language Arts 1.3.4 Distinguish fantasy from reality. 1.5.1 Write brief narratives (stories) describing an experience. Science 1.3 Students investigate, describe, and discuss their natural surroundings. They questions why things move and change.

AASL Standards 1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning. 1.3.4 Contribute to the exchange of ideas within the learning community.

=Additional Ideas - Lee Ann Turner= If you wanted to study weather with older children, you could have students do an experiment. For example, the Curriculum Resource Center has a science kit that covers Acid Rain. The CRC has many other science kits as well. Students could study rain water and do some research in the library. Then put together some kind of presentation on their findings.

Science Standards 6.3.8 - Explain that fresh water, limited in supply and uneven in distribution, is essential for life and also for most industrial processes. Understand that this resource can be depleted or polluted, making it unavailable or unsuitable for life. 6.3.9 - Illustrate that the cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere plays an important role in determining climatic patterns. 6.3.13 - Identify, explain, and discuss some effects human activities, such as the creation of pollution, have on weather and the atmosphere.