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What are some ways or activities to teach kindergarteners about weather patterns? Many of my students can't decipher between what types of weather there are and what the seasons are, many think they are the same thing and often reply that, "winter, fall, spring, or summer is their favorite weather."
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I completely agree that a possible way to teach your students about the weather would be to incorporate the transition between summer and winter because that is a drastic change. Students love learning about animals and their environments so I definitely think that is a good way to go about it! Good luck
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That is a good question. When I worked with preschool students, we read lots of books about weather, and they got to look out the window and decide what the weather was like when we did calendar in the mornings. The students seemed to enjoy going outside to decide what the weather was like, and we constantly used lots of descriptions when talking about weather.
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I had kindergartners last year, and I would ask them about the weather every day. I would reinforce the idea about weather, and incorporate the words "rainy, foggy, sunny, warm, wet,dry, humid, cloudy" in the discussion. Also, I would show them the weather forecast online to show how technology helps us determine the weather in the future.
At the same time, if they popped out answers like "summer, winter, fall, or spring", I would use that moment to teach them that we stay at the same season for a few months, and we only stay in one season at a time. But weather is different every day. For example, in the season fall, we started the new year of school, but the weather can be rainy or sunny or windy, etc.
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In my classroom, we touch on the weather every day. Each student has a folder with calendars in them and altogether we fill in the date of the day as well as describe what the weather looks like (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) and we connect that to the season we are currently in. This helps them already have some of that vocabulary daily versus cramming it all in one lesson.
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Thank you for posting this! Very interesting!!
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Going over some vocabulary words might help out distinguish between seasons and weather. Also, talking about each season and the types of weather that are in each season could benefit them as well. There are many videos on youtube that talk about weather. Wordsearches that have the vocabulary words can be fun. Having them draw a picture of their favorite season and then discuss what types of weather they see.
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This is also an issue with my second graders they do not completely understand this context. I have found a variety of different non-fictions books which students could comprehend.
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We just ended our weather change lesson for this week, having songs, powerpoint, and visuals help students see the grasp of the different types of weather. They also learned about temperature and how that changes the weather from warm, hot, cold, or cool. We did a chart of the week where they needed to draw out the type of weather they observed in class or even a day that you can take them outside during the lesson could help too. This was for first but challenging kindergarten would'nt be so bad.
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We just ended our weather change lesson for this week, having songs, powerpoint, and visuals help students see the grasp of the different types of weather. They also learned about temperature and how that changes the weather from warm, hot, cold, or cool. We did a chart of the week where they needed to draw out the type of weather they observed in class or even a day that you can take them outside during the lesson could help too. This was for first but challenging kindergarten would'nt be so bad.
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A great way to get them to start differentiating between the different seasons would be reading Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. I used this as an effective focus before a lesson and was surprised by how the students picked up on the changing scenery and their ability to decipher what each element meant and how it related to different seasons.
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Arille,
I actually found that even 1st graders are sometimes confused by the differences in seasons. I work at a Preschool right now, and something they do that is helpful is talking about what type of clothing you would wear in each season, and then talk about what attributes of the season cause us to make these decisions about what to wear or not to wear. Bringing in actually clothes and having the class sort them for each season could be a tangible way for them to understand the importance of weather and how it affects our choices daily and seasonally.
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This website has different ways of teaching the elements of weather and climate to students. It shows which lessons would be appropriate for certain grades so you can filter out what you are looking for.
http://beyondpenguins.ehe.osu.edu/issue/weather-and-climate-from-home-to-the-poles/hands-on-science-and-literacy-lessons-about-weather-and-climate
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Here is a song that may be able to help teaching the different types of weather. It is very simple and has great animation to match the type of weather. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD6FRDd9Hew
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I would read a book about the 4 season for Kindergarten class. Then, the students will have this long manila paper to fold into 4 square/rectangle. Then in each separate square, they will write down 4 seasons, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring. Those, I will write down on the board. Then I will show them what the picture of each seasons looked like, then they will draw and color the picture.
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As I mention to you about drawing on the manila paper... you have another option. Instead of coloring the picture, they could get a construction paper of the color red, orange, yellow, green, white, and blue and have the students tear them in a tiny pieces and scrunch them. Then have the students to just draw a tree, grass or something that represents every season. Have students to glue those tiny picture on the tree, grass, snow, and so forth.
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You could play a brain pop jr. that talks about different types of weather.
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At my school, the students learn by using their senses and making observations of the weather change. For example, students are taken out of their classrooms, outside of the school during a science weather lesson in order for them to observe how the environment looks and feels.
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Showing them a video about the different seasons would be useful. You can stop a different points of the video and ask questions.
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I really enjoyed reading all of the replies to this question. I agree with many others about taking the students outside for them to witness the daily weather themselves. I think if you talk about weather every day in your classroom then relate that to the four seasons it will help the students. Thanks for all of the advice!
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I think a great way to help younger students better understand weather would be to incorporate a weather person in the morning meetings. Have a student go look out the window and tell the class what it looks like outside. Is it cloudy? Is the sun shining? Are there leaves on the ground? Have that student choose an appropriate weather symbol and place on the weather calendar for that week. This would get the students excited about weather, and good at looking outside and knowing what type of weather is going on.
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This is great comment. I think a great way to teach can also be to observe the weather in each season and talk about it.
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Hi,
I am currently placed in a Kindergarten class for my student teaching program and I have seen the teacher conduct activities where they go based on their clothing. What would you wear in summer, winter, fall, and spring. As other people have mentioned they start with the most drastic changes but I have seen this work. Hope it helps.
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I think this is such a great question. I personally love books. I also think that you could set up different stations in which the students can see what each season is like. For example in winter station you could have pictures of snow, a bucket of ice since winter is cold. In the fall station you can have some crunchy leaves. I also really liked the idea of showing students the drastic change between winter and summer.
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We have been teaching our Kindergarten classes the meaning and differences between all four seasons! Our students understand the "main" definition of the seasons. For example, Fall- leaves change colors, thanksgiving, weather feels cool. Winter- comes after fall, christmas time, cold, and snows.
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I have done some great activities with air pressure like cloud in a bottle and the index card under a cup of water. Students really loved seeing this. We also talked about vortexes with the "tornado" in a bottle.
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In my class, on our calendar we have at the bottom: What's the weather like today? it has many options to choose from such as sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy and snowy. We have a song that goes to the tune of 'London Bridges Falling Down' that goes:
'Whats the weather like today?
Like today? Like today?
What's the weather like today?
Today is....'
All the kids pause while the student of the day moves the magnet to the appropriate weather. The class takes a vote on weather or not they agree with what the students had to say.
To contrast that, we also have a season song that goes to the tune of 'This old Man'. It goes:
'Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
There are seasons four in all
Look outside and you will see
Just what season it could be'
There are also journal entries that students can make where they track the weather and draw what the weather looks like outside, and as a class it is talked about. Hope this helps!
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Arielle Conger, I can appreciate how difficult it can be to teach science concepts that seem simple to us but difficult for children because they do not have the background experience to tie in with new learning. Forgive me if someone already suggested the experiment I am sharing but there were too many responses to read through. No matter what time of year, or if we have already covered a concept, it is a good idea to revisit the topic to assess if students remember what was taught.
The Bulbber Experiment is taught through animal adaptations. I think that if children are asked about clothing they would wear in each season they could see a connection even in kindergarten. However, if we discuss animals and ask would they live in certain ecosystems it might make a bigger impact. Would a Polar Bear live in the desert? Could an alligator live in Alaska? Then discuss why they would or wouldn't. Also check the weather online with the Weather Channel and observe live webcams around the world that show for example; penguins, Koala Bears, Pandas, and so on. Why do bears have so much fur? Would turtles be able to stay warm in the snow?
Here is the experiment:
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/a/whale-blubber-project
I use buckets full of ice and have the kids put on a pair of blubber gloves, one without the blubber of course. I make a set for each group and use duck tape to seal the "cuff" of each glove. With kindergarteners you may structure it differently. I use thermometers in each glove so students can compare the temperature in the glove with blubber and the glove without the blubber.
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I think that students learn best when they are exposed to visuals because they are able to have a better understanding of the lesson. In this case, you can read them various books about weather, so that they can start to understand what it really means. I know it can be confusing because they are learning various things that can interfere with their learning, but exposing them to the unit more can really help them observe. The use of songs can also be helpful in this case, so that they can differentiate weather and seasons.
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I think going over the weather everyday in the morning during calendar can help with that. Just like you would go over the month of the year you are on, also have the season you are on as well. Have students look outside and tell you what the weather is like for the day. Incorporate vocabulary words such as rainy, windy, cloudy, sunny, snowy, cold, hot, warm etc. Explain that a season last a few months at a time but weather can change constantly throughout that month. Do explain though that there are certain patterns that we see in spring, summer, fall and winter. Hope this helps!
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I think having a weatherman as a class job would be a fun idea to teach the students about weather patterns. Every day when doing calendar, the students will be able to see the different kinds of weather there is.
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The daily calendar would be great to help you. Talk about the date and weather with students every day.
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Hi Arielle,
I am student teaching in a Kindergarten classroom and for our daily morning routine, I always ask them to look out the window and tell me what the weather is like outside. Once they answer, I ask them to explain why they think that, or why is is not........ We also have a weather graph, so that incorporates math into it. Something else that we do with weather is dress our little "student". By doing this every morning, my students are able to make predictions, graph, and explain things about the weather that day.
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One way to incorporate weather into kindergarten is to use a daily weather graph in the math area. Where I student teach, the teacher graphs how the weather is everyday after the math calendar. She asks a student everyday how the weather is and then graphs it on a pocket graph. She starts it over every month. There is also a section on the math calendar to predict the weather for the next day.
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Hi Arielle,
As a Floridian, I can totally sympathize with you, as it can be difficult to teach young children this concept when they are really only experiencing hot, sunny weather year-round. After I observed a kindergarten classroom for my field placement this semester, I have understood the importance of incorporating weather-speak every day. This means creating fun ways to talk about the weather and instilling the meaning of it through songs and repetition. I think oftentimes kindergarten classrooms discuss the weather separately from the seasons, but it could be beneficial to add the season you are in with your class while also talking about the days of the week, the month, the letter of the week, the colors, etc. For example, you can say "we are in the month of April! April takes place in the Spring" and do this every day so that children understand what months fall under which season, and then eventually attach the weather with this.
My students also created weather wheels similar to this: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/456904324680779002/ that they were able to follow along with and it helps them understand the various types of weather in a more concrete way.
Good luck!
- Samantha
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Great post! Maybe reading picture books about weather and showing pictures online through your projector different pictures of different weather patterns. Also, take them outside and specifically talk about the weather, all throughout the school year. Continually ask them about what weather is happening currently, and require them to have discourse about the weather. Ask them how they feel today about the weather. Have them draw pictures of the weather. Maybe some of these suggestions can help the littles understand weather. Although, if they are in Texas, it will be confusing for them (as it is for me) almost everyday! :) Hehe!
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My students are pre-kindergarteners and when our class has a discussion and activity about weather and seasons - I usually start with the broad topic that seasons have different weather since some do not have prior knowledge of weather patterns. I then go into more detail about each season separately. I usually touch on seasons at the beginning of the school year so I start with fall. When I introduce a season, I like to start with an anchor chart we fill out together and a bag full of manipulatives related to fall (leaves, acorn, pumpkins, seeds) that I can pull out to touch on more. For instance when a child says leaves, I can bring out different color of leaves to show them and go into more discussion about the changing colors. I have noticed that students like to think of non-weather related seasons but when that happens I just give a little push in the right directions and ask what changes do you feel when walking to school from when they were not in school- since it is fresh in their minds. I hope this helps. Good luck on weather patterns.
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That's a difficult thing to teach students, especially kindergarteners, to know the difference between seasons and weather. Like many others have said, I think talking about the weather every single day as part of your "circle/carpet time" would be a great place to start. Having students or 1 student look out the window or whatever and tell what the weather is like each day helps involve the students and make them apart of it. You can also keep track of the temperature each day. While doing this each day, every day throughout the school year, you could also include a science unit or chapter over seasons, just teaching and explaining what seasons are and what kinds of weather you have in those seasons, which states have what seasons and what time of the year (which months) your state has what season. Weather can be such a fun and interesting thing for students. Good luck and I hope this helps!
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I believe the best start to help Kindergarten students learn about the difference is by using an anchor chart. In my classroom, we had an open discussion about different types of weathers, but some of my students did name seasons as types of weather.
Two different ideas I came up with to teach the difference between weather and seasons are:
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Expand the anchor chart by adding types of weathers that occur under certain seasons. This way students can see the difference visually and start to categorize them. For example, snowy weather falls under winter, and windy weather falls under fall, etc.
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Season and weather sensory bottles, I saw these on Pinterest and wanted to make them with my students. This would be helpful for students to learn the parts of each weather and seasons like snowy weather has snowflakes, and windy weather has leaves blowing. The student can also keep them as reminders, refer back to them, and the little display could be tied into their writing!
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Hey Arielle!
I think kindergarten is a great time to introduce weather concepts to children because it also incorporates using their senses to make observations and learn about what science truly is. I agree with others that introducing the names of the seasons and touching on them everyday using a weather chart is probably a good idea. When you discuss the weather with them in the morning, it might help them differentiate if you clearly say the season and then ask them what the weather is like. Once they observe that some days are sunny, others are rainy, etc. while the seasons remain the same, they might have a firmer grasp of these weather concepts. It could also help to discuss the four seasons through rhymes and picture storybooks and talk about key characteristics like leaves falling in autumn and snow in winter. Having them create an art piece where they write something given a sentence stem like "My favorite season is _______" or draw a tree in the four seasons can also aid their understanding. Going on nature walks occasionally and then having students describe the weather during the walk can help them understand it is more short-term. Hope this helps!
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Hi Arielle,
While I was doing some observations for my pre-teaching semester, I observed a teacher in kindergarten. While I was there, the teacher was working with two different anchor charts. One anchor chart was divided into the four seasons and with the students help, the teacher would draw pictures of activities that could be done in a specific season.
The second chart was set up as a calendar. For each day, the teacher would assign a student to be the Weatherperson. Their job was to describe the what they thought the weather looked and felt like. While the student presented the "weather report", the teacher would place pre-cutout pictures of what the students described. For this specific day, there was a sun, cloud, and wind cutout. Throughout the previous days of the calendar, there were also raindrops and jacket pictures with umbrellas and raincoats.
These are just some ideas that I observed.
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I am a student teacher and last year when I was in a kindergarten classroom my mentor teacher selected a different student each day to be in charge of telling the class about the weather. The student who was in charge of talking about the weather had to use specific vocabulary that was taught, such as rainy, foggy, sunny, hot, and cold. It is also good idea to use a weather chart with picture for those that are visual learners.
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In my kinder class, my mentor teacher has the students describe the weather and because they are bilingual students, they have to say both English and Spanish words. The teacher then has them practice writing the words themselves on the whiteboards. Afterwards, they have the chance to explore their favorite weather by creating a drawing and writing a sentence on what weather the like.
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My kinders also confuse weather AS a season rather than a pattern of the season. It doesn't help that the seasonal patterns where we live are not very delineated. The kinders also confuse sunshine with summer and hot temperatures. The teachers found it helpful to track the weather patterns over a period of time on a chart, either as a class, or individually and discuss any patterns they see. The little ones seem to understand seasons by events rather than weather. It is important to remember that we are building a foundational understanding of weather patterns and there will be misconceptions.
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Here is a link to a collection of resources found in the Learning Center about weather.
http://learningcenter.nsta.org/my_learning_center/my_library.aspx?cid=HqMqduMpcPo_E
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Wow, this is a very nice collection. I had been looking for such resources, thank you. This will help a lot later on.
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I like your collections. I would definitely look at them all.
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Children love animals. Maybe a good place to start is the transition between fall and winter, since those are the most drastic. Perhaps focusing on bears hibernating through the winter. A great, simple book to tie the seasons together with hibernation is OLD BEAR. It has vivid pictures and descriptions to show the students the seasons.
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I never even thought about typing animals into the weather. I could see it as a way to teach seasons. But as just the basics of teaching weather, I think that it would be more conducive to teach just the types of weather first, especially because they are kindergarten. And perhaps after they are masters at the characteristics, types of weather, and reasons behind weather (reasons for patterns) to then introduce seasons, using animals and how they relate to the weather.
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Magaly,
That is a really great idea! I didn't even think about animals, but they are such an interest for young children! It could also lead to discussions about other science topics, like why are polar bears so what and furry? How are other animals, like seals and penguins, able to live in areas that are really cold?
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As many other people have mentioned I also never thought of tying in animals to weather! It seems like it would be common sense, but unfortunately I treat these two contents almost separately. Thanks for sharing!
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This is an awesome suggestion. I love that book. I think it would be interesting to teach this concept to students as well. Thanks for sharing it!
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Do you think it would be too confusing for children who don't know about many animals yet? I wonder if they don't know about bears hibernating, or other climate specific animals that it would be more confusing.
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Hi Arielle,
There is an excellent book chapter called 'Cloud Watchers' that is in a 5E format lesson on weather for young children: http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781936959136.48
Carolyn
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That looks like an interesting book. I will definitely take a look at it and read it.
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Thanks for sharing. I love using 5E with my students...even if it is required in my district!
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Tie in clouds to the water cycle. Have students create and mimick clouds with shaving cream.
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Creating a cloud with shaving cream is a good idea. Another way to create the cloud is to use the cottons.
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Backing up to the response of someone mentioning about using animals as an example to explain to kids about weathers and season, I think that is the route to go. Children do in fact love animals and by using their habitations on how they go round about with their lives base around the environmental season around them. From winter to summer, it is a classic way to break the information down into small pieces.
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I think learning about the animals is good idea to teach for all grade levels.
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Betty, thanks for the link. For a soon to be teacher I found this to be very helpful.
Mike
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WOW! Awesome, I will take these recourses in for consideration. Thanks!
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I like the input that is posted on this forum. I'm currently a student teacher in kindergarten, and we discuss weather daily during group time. We have a chart that has a variety of weather types, and I ask the student's to tell me what the weather was like when they left their house in the morning. After a brief discussion we come up with an agreement on the weather, and that is what it is shown for the day. I think it is important to get them involved early because he gets them thinking and investigating not only during school, but away from school as well.
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I like the idea of making a chart of 4 weathers. I used to work as a Kindergarten aide and we have done something similar to what you were saying. We used manila paper to fold into 4. Then each students gets a green, red, orange and white to teach each into tiny pieces and scrunch them before decorating on the tree, Before they start that, they have to draw a tree in each season (Fall, winter, spring, summer) then glue those tiny paper on the tree. For instance, under fall, the students orange and red on the tree. On winter, the student glue white tiny paper on the tree or ground, and so forth.
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Try implementing the daily weather every morning during calendar time in order to get them accustomed to the difference between weather and season.
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I used to work as a kindergarten aide and we did something similar to that. Every week, we have different students to be a weather person. So during calendars, the weather person take a step outside to see if it's sunny, rainy, cold, or windy. Then the teacher place the arrow on one of the weather during the daily basis.
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I taught this unit to first graders last year. I transitioned from one season to the next to see what students already knew and had an interest in. We usually did a read aloud with a follow up activity. There is a really great song on youtube called, Hows the weather. I had my students make signs out of paper plates and popsicle sticks to depict a certain aspect of weather, such as snow or rain.
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I think using the popsicle stick is a good idea other than drawing pictures on the construction paper. I like the idea of showing students a youtube video of different weather.
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Thanks for posting this! Very interesting and helpful! :)
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I think the link is very useful. Thank you!
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Hello everyone,
The concept of weather and seasons can be very tricky for young children and it can be difficult to teach about winter for instance because children in Florida do not experience snow. Going on a "nature walk" helps make the connection during fall when they see all the leaves falling and changing colors as well as spring with flowers. Summer in the sunshine state would be the easiest to teach.
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Mayleen--
You make a great point. I think for kids with no real life experience that it's really important to simulate real life as much as possible via multi-sensory means. Watching videos, making "snow" etc. would really benefit them.
Naomi Beverly
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I definitely agree with the fact that summer is easy teach. Beside, I heard that Florida is known as sunshine state.
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A lot of good ideas here. I wish we still had the time during the day to even talk about weather.
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Kevin-
How is the administration at your school when it comes to scheduling?
We were not able to ensure protected Science time until the admin made it a requirement to dedicate a segment of time daily to Science instruction. Before, we fit it in when we could...with pretty predictable results.
All the best,
Naomi Beverly
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This discussion is sooo cool.Lots of great ideas have been shared. I am going to share the link to the weather collection I created for the Kindergarten web seminar on weather.
Weather Resources for Kindergarten.
Interesting you are talking about patterns because that is a big piece of what we talked abut in the web seminar. Have you watched it yet/ if not I recommend it.It often helps to see what it looks like in the classroom and there is a video of a kindergarten class learning about weather.
Here is the link to the web seminar:
Kindergarten Learning About Weather
I hope this is helpful. If not please ask, I love helping and I learn so much from others.
Kathy
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Thanks for posting this! Very interesting and helpful! :)
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The links are very helpful. Thank you for posting.
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Thanks for posting this! Very interesting and helpful! :)
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I've seen teacher's do mini weather books that show different pictures of each season. They also used the 5 senses to help the students figure out the season. For example, in the winter I feel cold. Simple statements like that, something that the child can relate and have schema on. (Pinterest has great examples! )
Hope it helps.
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Thanks for posting this! Very interesting and helpful! :)
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Great idea! Thanks for sharing!
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I agree with using a Pinterest. They have so many good ideas that we can use and teach students in class.
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The mini weather book sounds interesting... I think it is good for Kindergarten cause they can draw in it and color them
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For little kids please model the information that the students need to learn.
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That is the most important part is to model what the student needs to learn. I have learned that I, as a teacher, have to introduce the lesson and activities.
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To allow students to grasp this concept you can have a weather corner with a tree and change the tree according to the season and adding velcro leaves or taking them away if needed (winter). You can also add the sun or snow depending on the weather and season.
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It sounded like the four corner game. I think that having each season in 4 corner is a great idea.
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This is a great post. I am student teaching in a pre-kindergarten classroom and the students discuss the weather everyday during calendar time. My teacher and I often ask the students to describe the weather versus just saying it is windy, cloudy, sunny, etc. This past week I just read A Bear for All Seasons by Dianne Marcial Fuchs. This story is great for teaching the students about the seasons.
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Stephanie,
I have been thinking about the Kindergarten standards for weather and patterns and I just thought of a potential engineering challenge connected to the content where students are engaged in science and engineering practices.
Challenge young children to build a "rain collector" where they can collect data about precipitation. If you keep track over time,students could see and discuss patterns they see.
Children will need guidance to design their rain collector. They will also need your guidance.
Pose the problem to the children and put out the materials, let them design a collector. The actually test out the collector. Maybe it will need to be revised...great...help them keep working at it all the while developing "stickwithitness" better know as perseverance or grit.
Just a few random thoughts on a NGSS Monday :-)
Kathy
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I never heard of that book, but I'm definitely going to check it out.
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We have a weather person each day in our class. They check the weather outside and we record what they say on our weather graph.
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Hi Brooke,
This sounds great. What do the children do with the data they collect? I have a picture of weather data that was collected by a grade 1 class all year long.
Kathy
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That is a great idea. You can keep track of the weather on certain days and see which weather has the most for 1 month. And you can do the same for another month. Or you can make this little weather icon and place it on the calendar for each days.
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This objective is coming up soon for me. I am in a first grade class, what I am planning to do for a week activity is give the students a recording sheet for that week I teach about weather where they will record what type of weather is it in the morning, during the day and at night. Then we will discuss them during our science time and have two students give us a brief report/broadcast. I am hoping this goes well and helps the students better understand weather.
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That is a great idea. You can also create this little icon for the calendar to keep track of whether it was cold or hot, snowy, rainy, and so forth.
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This is kind of similar to what my CT does daily. She has a meteorologist job, and they determine what the weather was when they got to school, and they mark it on the class recording sheet flipchart slide. All the students see it and can make observations, easily integrating math as they compare how many x days there have been compared to y days.
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Also, great for using a recording sheet! A lot better than a plain old worksheet.
Maybe have the students draw the weather AND describe it with words! Could hit some more objectives with this, and help them practice skills.
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You can teach students about weather using cotton balls. I taught a lesson on the different types of cloud such as, stratus and cumulus; and I had students show me how each cloud looks using cotton balls. They showed the different types of clouds on a sheet of construction paper.
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I've done something like that in my student teaching, where we create our favorite cloud with cotton ball and stick it in our chart to see which one has the most.
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Incorporate a word wall that entails words that describe the weather, such as foggy, humid, cloudy, sunny etc.
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I think the word wall is a good idea. It can help them understand and memorized. You can set up the category Summer, Fall , Winter, and Spring, and place the word that describes the weather.
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The best way to teach weather to children would be to use real life experiences such as how things change outside when transitioning to the four different seasons.
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I think the real life example is the good idea. It keeps students more engage to the lesson about the weather.
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I think if you can incorporate songs with movements or little experiments with the seasons and explain how they are different from each other students will be able to grasp the material a little more.
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I think that is a great idea. When I observed students in a fifth grade class they were learning about weather and they all had chants and short songs to remember the different kinds of weather they could see.
It makes the material more engaging and easier for the students to remember.
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Incorporating the songs and movement is a great idea. It is also good for Kindergarten students to learn since they like to move around a lot.
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Kindergarteners love to draw and to talk about their drawings. Reading a poem or a book with the students about different kinds of weather could be a good introduction to weather for the class. Then you could talk about different simple kinds of weather (sunny, rainy, etc.)
The students could tie in their own experiences from different kind of weather by creating a picture and then writing a sentence about their own experience. The students could then share their own experiences with different types of weather to the class.
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I agree with the part where Kindergarten loves to draw. They also like to color as well. They can also chose their favorite weather and draw a picture of it. Afterward, they can share it to their classmate.
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As a teacher, you can explain to students that there are four different seasons and each season has different weather. The teacher can explain that there are different characteristics for each. For example, the season of Fall or Autumn is called Fall because the temperature is starting to cool off from Summer and the leaves start to fall to the ground. They then can explain that in Winter it is very cold and the trees become very bare. The teacher can also explain that during Winter in most parts of our country it snow. The teacher should also emphasize that a season last for several months. So it will probably be beneficial to review the months of the year prior to teaching the seasons.
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I really liked what your shared, thanks!
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I really liked what you shared, thanks!
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I enjoy reading you post and thanks for sharing.
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I want to try to keep a classroom weather journal in my future classroom to keep track of the weather each day. We could discuss the weather of the day at the beginning of class. I would keep a journal so we could go back and compare the weather from previous days, weeks, or months.
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Writing a journal is a great idea of keeping track of the weather on daily basis. I think it can be good for 2nd graders,
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This is a great resource for weather! I enjoy reading and learning about everyone's ideas and tips! I will have to take everything into consideration for my future classroom.
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In my kindergarten class, the students learned about the different seasons, one a day, then we created a tree map for each season, with different categories: what we see, what we do, what we wear. These categories tied into the weather and we had discussions such as, "in the summer, it is hot and sunny...we can go swimming...we wear shorts, bathing suits, sandalls." We had group discussion as well as turn and talk discussions, then for independent practice, they each created a 4 page book with 1) it feels...2) I can wear...3) I can go...4) I see...
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I love this idea! This activity is such a great way to connect what the students are learning in class to their lives. I bet your students love to share their answers for each of these categories. I'd love to do something like this someday!
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I think that's a brilliant idea. You can do foldable where you can assign groups. Each group can write down the characteristics of each weather. For instance, one group can write about summer. What we can do during the summer like "going to the beach, go on vacation to Florida, go swimming", for winter, we can "go ice skating" and so forth.
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Hello,
I have seen teachers associate one specific thing to each season, for example a brown leaf for fall and a sun for summer. This can be posted in the room under a "Season" anchor chart. There are many songs that you can also use for the attainment of seasons. Also you can use holidays to connect the seasons. Children typically love holidays so connecting them to seasons usually works very well!
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I have seen first graders watches the video about different types of weather from the school, where I used to work at. Kindergarten is more interested in watching the video and they enjoy listening to the song about different types of weather.
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I love the idea of weather songs! My kindergarten students seem to learn songs quickly, and they enjoy them. It's also a great brain break because they can get up and do movements with the song. I'm sure you could find plenty on YouTube, and hopefully one that you like.
A concern to keep in mind though is whether they have only learned and memorized the song, or if they have pulled the information out.
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You could start off by teaching them the Water Cycle then go on and teaching them the seasons by using a visual (ie Sesame Street vid) to engage them in an activity.
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Sesame Street reminds of my childhood days. It was one of my favorite show back then. The show never gets old and it's still good for kids to watch. You could also have students to watch other educational shows like Magic School Bus.
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Thank you Adah for sharing your collection! And I love the thought of tying in animals with weather.
Regarding clouds, we (Kindergarten) recently did a foldable booklet with 6 different tabs with various clouds. Within each tab the students named the cloud, described the cloud and created the cloud with cotton balls glued down.
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My kiddos had the chance to make their own cumulus cloud with cotton balls, which they then described in writing. I think a foldable idea is good - maybe even have a book. A cloud a day! It would give them a way to compare the clouds, and seeing how they make their cloud (does it look accurate) could serve as an assessment.
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Maybe you can do a compare and contrast activity where they all give you examples of what each season is like so that they can think through it themselves.
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You can also make a graph to compare and contrast as well.
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I like Linda's idea. I will definitely use what Linda suggested.
I was thinking of a Venn Diagram.
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I think it might help to quickly discuss the weather every day, possibly during calendar time. Weather can be tricky because different parts of the world experience weather in varying degrees. I think it is best to discuss that with students so that they do not have any misconceptions. Brain pop jr. https://cdn-jr.brainpop.com/science/weather/ has some great resources for younger students!
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In the first grade class that I do my student teaching in, I have seen students watch brain pop jr about the weather.
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From what I have been taught - make sure a brain pop video isn't serving as your engagement because of all the content it contains. Often videos are thought to be a hook, but it's untrue!
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Great thought! Students always love Brainpop videos. They are a great resource!
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Perhaps you can talk about the weather every day and the different types of weather one experiences by using manipulatives and even videos. You can also compare the weather in each season and what things you can do during that season.
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There are so many videos that you can look into about the weather.
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One of my classroom jobs is a meteorologist, and so this is a great way to get the students thinking about weather everyday instead of just when the need to teach it occurs. It is an easy portion just to add in during calendar, or after announcements depending on the age of your students.
Activities are another way, which can be an integration of literacy and science. We read books about weather during the topic, and we discuss our favorite weather and the seasons. I think the big part in being able to be successful in this is just exposing them to weather constantly, and using a variety of terminology.
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Hi,
In addition to reading books I encourage you to do demonstrations. These are always fun for children to see "magic" happen in the classroom. Here is a link to one that I love when teaching about rain!
http://simplysecondgrade.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-water-cycle-clouds.html
Hope this helps.
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I just looked at the link and I think it is a cool way to teach students by using the object to make clouds
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Cut out weather maps from the paper.... Compare different sources
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Hello,
I am currently completing field experience in a second grade classroom. I am teaching students weather standards. My host teacher has not yet covered the concept of weather with students yet. My first lesson is pretty basic, I will be completing a KWL chart with students to get a general idea of what they think weather is and any questions they may have. Students will then be going outside and completing a weather observation : Is it hot outside? Cold? Damp? Windy? Snow on the ground? Puddles anywhere? etc. We will then be coming back inside to discuss their observations and defining weather and why it is important to know the weather. Farther along in the unit, I will be introducing temperature and precipitation to students.
I realize you are asking for a Kindergarten classroom; however, I think the lesson I described is pretty basic and may be adapted for a Kindergarten classroom. Students will be using their 5 senses to observe what they think the weather is like.
Also keeping a daily weather chart for students.
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I love that idea, and agree that it could be adapted for kindergarten. I think it could actually be adapted for any grade level. It's interactive, and it makes the students responsible for part of the learning.
Awesome way to also engage the students and see what they know in terms of vocabulary and identification.
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Just realized that planning for this lesson requires paying attention to the weather yourself. Don't want to take kids out when it is storming outside, especially if they don't have cover or are not dressed for it!
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I was thinking you could have stations for each season. Each station will bring the season into the classroom since it’s impossible to make it snow or rain in the classroom. Each station will be designed to make the student feel how rain, wind, sunny, and snow feels like. The windy station can have a small fan that imitates the wind. The sunny station can have a lamp which imitates the sun. The rain station can have water from a watering pot. This lesson might require help from a parent. Hopefully this helps your students since they will can the opportunity to "feel" the weather in the classroom.
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This is a great question. When it comes to kindergarten students reading a book about the four seasons or watching a sing song about weather would be helpful and they will be more likely to remember it.
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I completely agree with Raven.
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Hello, You can teach them about the weather by creating a classroom visual. Every morning you can go over how the weather looks outside and your students can help you by describing the weather. For example it's "sunny" "cloudy" "raining" "cold" "hot" etc. You can also create a fun worksheet with the days of the week and have them observe the weather every day for two weeks. They can take this worksheet home with them and even write down the weather at night, since it rains one minute and it's sunny the next here in florida :) After doing this for two weeks they will be sure to identify the different types of weather. Good luck!
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Gail Gibbons has a lot of great informational books that you can read to your students to help them understand weather. Some of the titles include: Weather Forecasting, Weather Words and What They Mean, and It's Raining (all by Gail Gibbons). These books are great because they show information and explain weather in a way that children will understand. You can also use Brain Pop to teach weather to students. They have a lot of great videos and great, interactive ideas for activities that you can use with your students. Also, try checking out this link: http://learningcenter.nsta.org/my_learning_center/my_library.aspx?cid=HqMqduMpcPo_E.
I hope this helps.
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You have to make sure you talk about the weather every day, maybe even go outside on particular days. Another good idea would be to have them perform a short season play right in the classroom, makes it fun and engaging.
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Once I did a lesson on the different forms of precipitation. I brought in different items to represent rain, hail and snow flakes. I used pearls, a spray bottle and did a cutting exercise to show the uniqueness of snow flakes. The students were able to see all the different forms. Understanding there are different forms of precipitation maybe helpful in understanding the different seasons. Students can learn during winter it snows which makes it different from summer where it is usually sunny all day. Precipitation is a characteristic of the seasons. These details can help grasp the concept better.
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Children's literature that focuses on all four seasons would be a great way to introduce the topic, or you could split the topic over a course of four days. For example, read a different book each day of a particular week; spring on Monday, Summer on Tuesday, etc. and on Friday you can have the students create a visual product as an assessment that a student can keep with them to help them remember the four seasons. The product should include characteristics of each season and a picture which a can be seen in a form of a poster or foldable.
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In my area there are not noticeable seasons so my students have had a hard time as well in understanding the season. I really like the idea of incorporating children's literature to teach the seasons. Pinterest is also my go to for fun activities. Every morning we incorporated weather and season songs and activities but I do not think my students were really understanding what the difference was and were simple just repeating what they were hearing.
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I agree that incorporating children's literature is a great way to help children understand the seasons! Also, doing hands on activities for the seasons is great! Pinterest has great ideas!
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One way I have found that is very effective is to allow students to visualize and feel the difference in weather. Summer and winter should be taught first because those are drastic changes in temperature. In addition the students are able to distinguish the difference between feeling hot and cold. If you live up north it is easier to say when it snow and you are cold then you are in winter but when you are sweating and playing on your bike than it has to be summer.
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I think this is a really good suggestion. Also, when we begin the school year, we are still in the summer season and then transition into fall. Following along would be easier this way too.
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In our Kindergarten class we have a small activity we do every morning and one of those activities is to check the weather, we have one student go to the window and check the weather and come back to class and share their observations.
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I really like that idea! I am in a kindergarten class right now and I can see how easy that would be to integrate in the mornings. It is something small but when the weather changes (especially rain) I have noticed the little ones are VERY interested. This can lead to small discussions that have to do with science.
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I would suggest teaching the children about the four different seasons separately, on different days. That way the students can learn about each season separately, and they may not be as confused and think of it as one thing.
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Hello,
It is always best to teach these separately. They are very young and benefit a lot from repetition. Also, if you do an inquiry lesson with the students that is hands on this always seems to work very well. They like to do hand on activities where they are engaged and they get to explore on their own with you as the facilitator. Good luck !
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Creating artwork based on the different seasons would be fun. Paper snowflakes, traced leaves, etc.
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I observed in a preschool classroom in which the teacher touched on the weather every day as a part of their morning routine. Each student had a folder with a weather calendar and they would describe the weather that day. This helped them gradually pick up on "complicated" terms such as foggy, misting, etc.
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I am also observing a Kindergarten class where the teacher talks a about the weather each day. During recess, different students are assigned to collect data on certain parts of the weather. For example, they had to determine if the weather was sunny or cloudy, warm, hot, or cold, windy or not, etc. When recess was over, the students who were assigned to check on the weather go to a chart in the front of the class. On that chart, they display the pictures/words/phrases that explain the type of weather for the day. Students enjoy it!
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I think it is important to help students see that weather is constantly changing. Yes, there are different seasons, but what makes them different? Having children keep their own logs and records of what types of things change in different seasons would be a helpful hint.(For example-talk about leaf color, why they fall off, how does snow fall, and why do leaves come back on the trees in spring?) Children love hands on activities. I would do an activity during each "season"- They can discuss the similarities and differences, as well as which season is their favorite.
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My students record their weather everyday through n2y.com using "Joey's Locker." After they complete the smart board activity they have a graph that has the days and different icons to represent the weather. The student graph and track the weather daily as a class. This might help students visualize their weather.
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First, I would start teaching students about the types of weather sunny, cloudy, windy, etc through visuals and videos then have them take a walk outside to feel the weather for that day. Since Kindergartners are too young to keep or record in science journals, I would start a classroom weather log where our class will go outside (once a week) for few minutes and share the type of weather based on their observations or senses. Once this class get into a routine of feeling weather and recording, they will eventually develop an understanding of seasons as well.
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Hi Arielle,
I found this cute song that you could teach you Kindergarteners to help them remember the weather patterns. Here is the link: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/446208275553938382/
I also found this great recording sheet that you could use to help your students know the weather patterns. Here is the link: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/343118065337216216/
I hope this helps !
Ana
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Similar to the previous responses, I review weather everyday with my students while we go over the daily calendar. Especially in kindergarten, it is a good idea to perhaps rehearse a weather song a few times a week (the best way my kids learn is through music!). Once the kids tell me what the weather is like today, I'll ask them how they know? They must them provide evidence by saying "there are clouds outside" or "it is really hot and sunny." The kids can also use visuals with the text as an aid.
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I would recommend having circle time everyday to discuss the current weather, what it looks like, sounds like, feels like, etc. Encourage students to observe the weather when they go outside. You could use the months to relate the concept of the different seasons.
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that is a very good questions because it is very hard to explain to a student about winter and say snow if they have never experiment it.
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I see how this is a tough item to show kinder gardeners because it is hard for them to decipher the difference between the seasons. What I would do is first start with winter and symbolize Christmas with winter. Then I would symbolize summer with pools, beaches, and water parks. When they start getting to know the difference between summer and winter then I would implement the other seasons.
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Hello,
Here is a playlist of videos from FunScienceDemos (a YouTube Channel I have been creating) that deals specifically with weather. These videos are all NGSS aligned and can easily be integrated into the classroom. There are hundreds of videos on the channel that cover a wide variety of topics. Hopefully these weather demonstrations help give you some ideas!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLat8Jejmdx1u65_enc5FGpbTKTfkc0hGr
Best,
Dr. George Mehler Ed.D.,
Temple University
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This link is great for teaching young students about weather patterns. Every day has a theme.
http://www.preschool-plan-it.com/weather-theme.html
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I taught a lesson about seasons and weather not to long ago and I uses a few different activities that I though the students enjoyed. We created rain in a mason jar in two different ways. First mason jar, I boiled water in the mason jar that covered it wit a plate then we watched the droplets fall from the plate. Second mason jar, I filled the jar with water then added shaving cream to the top then put food coloring on the top of the shaving cream and we watched how "rain" droplets fall from clouds. Also as an engagement I took my class on a nature walk to let them use their senses to determine the weather.
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That sounds really neat. I think I will use that idea. Thank you for giving that suggestion.
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I will have to try this! I love the engage idea!
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I really love this idea, thank you for sharing! Having an activity that allows students to observe and explore an idea will lead to a deeper knowledge. Allow the students to form thoughts and ideas and then talk about it and how it relates to real life situations will leave a lasting impression.
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There is a song/rhyme that can be taught that simply goes "Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall. There are seasons, four in all. If you look outside then you will see, just what it is and it must be...... Is it Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall?" The students would then respond as to what season it is outside.
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Perhaps having a weather time every day when they gather on the carpet at the beginning of the day? If you have a smart board or a Promethean board you can pull up the weather for that day. Also use the change in weather to your advantage! When it starts cooling down at the beginning of the school year or right before thanksgiving break or spring break, these are big things for the kids during the school year. Use these as a basic understanding for them to recognize the season change as the year progresses.
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For young elementary school students, I would bring them to the carpet every morning as part of our morning routine. Apart from briefly discussing the day of the week (i.e. learning about the calendar daily), I would also talk about what the daily weather is like. Is it rainy? Cloudy? Sunny? Windy? I would keep a separate calendar to keep track of our observations so we could later study weather patterns.
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I discovered that my students were able to understand this concept more when we had a classroom teddy bear that we had to dress daily according to the weather. Students were excited to participate and ultimately, they were able to differentiate between different weather/seasons.
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Repetition is key for young children! In the morning during carpet time go over the weather, and explain what the weather is today and how it was different then yesterday. That goes for the seasons as well everyday ask the class what season and why. I liked to but holidays included with the seasons so the students can make the connection. Winter is when it is cold and we celebrate christmas or any other december holiday.
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I once observed a teacher in the morning as soon as the bell rang have the students sit on the rug and they gave her sentences about the weather. After they were done she would go back and read the sentences and they would look for the nouns and adjectives. I thought that this was a great activity to warm the kids up that had to do with content and weather.
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I once observed a teacher in the morning as soon as the bell rang have the students sit on the rug and they gave her sentences about the weather. After they were done she would go back and read the sentences and they would look for the nouns and adjectives. I thought that this was a great activity to warm the kids up that had to do with content and weather.
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I'm also in kindergarten right now. I think it would be a good idea to have an anchor chart specifically for the different weather patterns that you personally experience. Each day, if there is a new weather that is occurring, you can spend some time to add it to the anchor chart. After a certain time, you can add weathers that you have not experienced by showing video clips.
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I am currently in a pre-k classroom and we integrate weather in our morning message. Every morning we pick a student to be our "weather boy" or "weather girl". The students look out the window and returns to tell the rest of the class what the weather is like outside. I also would suggest to use different clothes to teach about the seasons. That way students can see what kind of clothing can be used for each season, and begin to understand if its warm, hot, or cold depending on the clothes we use for each season.
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I just recently ordered a Weather Station Set from Scholastic. I think this will be a great activity to show students how weather happens. One can model and have them observe the process. This can also be related to the changing seasons.
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I taught preschool for years and we used lots of books. I also made it a point to go outside during each time of the year when seasons were changing and point out the differences and how it "feels" outside. Another useful tool is books, books, and more books!! Books with realistic pictures are very helpful!! Good luck!
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That is a great question! It might be a good idea to relate the seasons and other elements of weather to what they have observed in their own environment. They can relate their knowledge of weather to the science standards, and observe videos or pictures to decipher between the differences of seasons. I know students need different teaching strategies to get a well-rounded idea about the subjects, so using different ways to incorporate their senses can be a great tool for students to learn!
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A good way to teach weather is by having students look at the weather everyday. You can make it clear that summer, fall, winter are the seasons and not weather. If you do the weather with them everyday during Calder and have them practice the weather for that day, students should be able to get the idea that weather is what is happening at that moment. For example, is it cold, rainy, sunny, etc. having them do the calendar in the morning and providing the sentences will help them see the difference. Hope that makes sense and helps.
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Incorporating weather into the classroom everyday can really help the students become familiar with the concept and the different descriptions of weather. There are also a lot of great weather charts that the kiddos can interact with!
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I read about some great ideas in this post. In my class we are currently talking about weather. We are discussing seasons, temperature, and the weather cycle. We sing a song about the water cycle about evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. We recently made a flip book about the seasons and temperatures that correspond with that time of the year.
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In my classroom, I created a very large thermometer using wide red ribbon and wide white ribbon. Using a large poster board I drew all the numbers, then cut a slit near the top and another at the bottom, feeding the ribbon through.
The children were able to move the ribbon to show what the temperature was. This also allowed them to get a hands on look at what the numbers meant when it was COLD, cold, warm, and hot. I enjoyed doing this with them. We even started to figure in the wind chill (we live in Northern Michigan).
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I like this idea very hands-on
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I like this idea very hands-on
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When teaching kindergarten, I think it is important to incorporate many songs and be repetitive. In the classrooms that I have observed, morning routines are vital. In the routine, the students go over the basic things like numbers, shapes, patterns, and weather. When doing the weather there is a song that I learned at a daycare that I worked at, and I think it would be extremely helpful.
Oh, what type of weather do we have today?
Is it sunny? Is it rainy, dark, and grey?
Is it cold or is it hot? Should we wear a hat or not?
Oh what type of weather do we have today?
It is also helpful to have a weather calendar for the students to see how the weather has changed or remained the same through out the week.
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I recently did a lesson over weather patterns/seasons with kindergartners. We watched a lot of videos and made a chart consisting of the different animals you see in each season and what clothes you would wear in the different seasons. I also love the idea of taking the students outside to experience the weather patterns.
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Weather and seasons definitely overlap, but I agree you need them to understand the distinction between the two of them. I would suggest using some of Lemov's "All the way right" strategies. Winter is cold, but don't let students stop there when describing the weather. If a student is right, but not giving you the exact answer you wanted make sure to not discourage them.
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Good when you live in the place where you can watch all four seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter. I have been on the south islands, where children know about winter, but for them is very complicated to understand what the different. They never saw snow in their life. And how to explain them anout global warming or global cooling?
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This post was very useful! I too believe that having the student go outside and see the weather everyday on their own is key to them learning about the weather and seasons. Also, thanks for the links. They are extremely useful!
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I would say that teaching them separately from whatever season you are in would be a good idea. Having hands on activities and maybe even transforming the classroom into the season might be helpful. That way the students are immersed in one season at one time and can learn through books, science experiments or rotating group hands-on exploration.
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This post is very informational! Teaching elementary student about the weather has been difficult. I am so glad I came across this post; I have gain some valuable information that I can use in the future. I want my student to be able to have full understand of how the weather works.
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Music and Hands on manipulatives have proven to be very beneficial in the classroom. Making weather and season charts for the class to manipulate according to the weather everyday proves to be beneficial. Also, showing music videos has helped my students learn how the weather can be in each season. Repetition is key in these cases. With children as young as 4 years old in the class, repeating and administering these ideas in different ways will surely help the students learn the difference.
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I think it is very important for students to be familiar with weather vocabulary, such as, sunny, rainy, foggy, cloudy, chilly, humid, etc. This will strengthen their understanding of the different types of weather, and help them distinguish the difference between each season. Visual representation of the different types of weather will also strengthen their understanding.
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I think this is a major misconception that many young children have. They hear adults talking about the weather and season and it seems to get a little confusing to their amazing minds. i think the best thing to do is address the misconception over and over again with the students. In one classroom I have been in, the teacher had a chart the said SEASONS: winter, spring, fall, summer. She also had another chart by it that said WEATHER: rainy, cloudy, sunny, etc. During morning meeting, the teacher also had the students put the season that it was on the board EVERY day along with the weather for that day. She talked about how the weather changed even though the season did not, and would sometimes mention that it can be the same weather in many different seasons.
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When I was in a Kindergarten field placement, I saw students having the misconception of seasons and weather numerous times. My CT made it a point to talk about both of them each day so that the students had repetition of the topics. She would separate the topics however and do them at different times of the day to help avoid confusion. At calendar time, she would have a weather watcher that would tell the class if it was sunny, rainy, etc. Then right before lunch she would play a seasons song that she had taught the students. There are many of these songs on youtube. By keeping the two topics separated at the beginning of the school year, it helped the students grasp the topic then in the middle of the school year, she no longer had to do them at separate times and could do them both at calendar time.
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Thank you for sharing the idea. I think the activity is really good and I would like to try to apply in my first grade class as well.
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This was an interesting read for sure.
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Great read for those looking for ways to teach about weather! Thanks to all those who posted!
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In my field placement, my CT has a chart of the weather. Each day one student will have to go check the weather outside. I believe that this is a great way to help our students get involve and have a little sense of the weather. Even though they have not been taught every single thing about the weather yet. They have a little grasp of experience on how it looks like.
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In my past placement, a preK classroom, the teacher had a piece of paper with different things printed on them such as a winter coat, a swim suit, mittens, umbrella, sun glasses, etc. and the students would color them and cut them out. They would do one season at a time. The teacher would have a person printed out on a full sheet of paper. The kids would watch a short clip about seasons (very cartoon like) and then dress their character for that season with the clothes they cut and colored.
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We use the Promethean Board every day to check the weather. This is part of our calendar time. We are graphing the weather patterns, so I am also utilizing math. This a monthly graph. The link on the board goes to weather.com. It is a really easy way to talk about weather and incorporate math! We have used the graph to compare numbers, and to make predictions. It is a great tool..
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Some activities that you could use to teach kindergartners about weather patterns include an organization activity. In this activity students could have 4 separate weather patterns pictures and match them up to seasons that they typically occur in. They could place little pieces of pictures of weather patterns into boxes with each season label. First, you could have them try it out for themselves, starting with (for example) Winter, and ask them to place in their Winter box what they think occurs in the winter. You could give them an example by saying "snow" if needed.
You could also have activities where you discuss what they usually wear in each season to help them distinguish the differences in temperature/weather in each of the 4 seasons.
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I love the idea of taking students outside to have them see, feel, and describe what the weather is like. It gets the students moving, appeals to their different senses, and is a great way to help them have a better understanding of descriptive words used when speaking about weather.
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I really enjoyed to teaching weather for my kindergarteners. My CT and I combine daily calendar and weather report together for everyday's morning meeting. Students will observe the weather everyday before they get into the class.
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I think that a really efficient and interesting way to teach weather in elementary school is to make it very hands on and visual. For example, I always liked it when my teachers did the activity with the tornado in a bottle. Also, taking "field trips" outside or to the window to observe the weather is effective and having children keep journals of what they see outside over the course of the year make it more interesting because they are making their own observations and seeing everything firsthand.
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One way you could emphasize the difference would be to teach by contradiction. If there's a warm day in winter or a contradictory day in spring (not raining if that's what the children think of spring), you could show them that the weather may be a particular way, but the season itself is still the same since it doesn't change in the same manner.
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One activity that I think would be really fun for elementary school is completing a tree journal. We are currently doing this in my Science Instruction course and I know it is something that I will use in the future. It requires the student to take a picture of a tree every time they observe is, record the time and date, and to take note of the weather and changes. This could be used to note changes in the weather and the effects that it has on plants and life outside, while giving students more hands on experience with learning.
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Maybe have students observe the weather outside for a week and have them draw it out. You could also show cartoon videos on weather or seasons and incorporate a song to help them remember the seasons. For kindergarten they could also complete simple sorting activities for the different types of weather and seasons.
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Hello!
We talk about the weather every morning during calendar time and we also go for a walk as we discuss the weather. I would suggest taking your students outside for a quick walk and talk about the weather for the day. I also suggest reading books about weather to your students.
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I have seen in classes where they would dress up a mini version of their schools mascots every day to represent the weather out side. Then the teacher would go into the clothes and the season and months.
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I am a pre-service teacher and something that I have seen used in some classrooms is a lot of songs about the seasons that have a video to correlate with them. These songs are often very catchy and easy for young students to pick up on and sing.
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I am currently student teaching in a preschool classroom. Everyday, we spend time discussing both the calendar and the weather. Each week, a new student is picked as "weather reporter" and the weather for each day is observed, discussed, and graphed. The students really seem to understand the difference between kinds of weather and are able to identify all types. I have found the weather graph and the weather discussion during our calendar time to be very beneficial to the students.
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I am also struggling with students in kindergarten as they acquire the seasons. Should lesson be discovery based or traditional instructional delivery?
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These resources are awesome!
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One idea that a fellow teacher of mine had was weather journals. The students can keep a log of what the weather looks and feels like in the morning and night at their house. Then the next day in class, you can reflect on it as a whole group! This helped us show that weather not only changes throughout the day, but also that the different areas of the city, town, state experience different weather patterns at different times.
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I agree with all the posts that mention graphing weather on a daily basis. When children are aware of what is happening, they begin to notice patterns. It is interesting to compare graphs from week to week and month to month. We say, "Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get."
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I have seen a lot of great ideas on how to introduce weather to younger students and I think introducing a book would be awesome. Students love carpet time and they enjoy be read to as well. Another opportunity to get students to know about weather is by having a weather helper in the morning to look outside the window and describe what they see. This allows the students to see how the weather changes every day.
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Great Resources! I will definitely use it!
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I also agree that a possible way to teach your students about the weather would be to incorporate the transition between summer and winter because that is a drastic change. We just completed weather in my class and my students watch the weather on the news and are excited to share the forecast with the class.
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What I have done in the past was incorporate a "weather checker" duty as a job in my morning messages/daily activities. I would choose a student's name each week and have them look out the window and check the weather. Depending on what they saw, we would dress up a laminated cutout bear on the morning wall with the appropriate outdoor clothes.
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I have noticed classroom teachers having the weather checker as a job every morning. I would also incorporate a lot of books about weather into literacy time.
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I really enjoyed Holly Schum’s comment that she would reinforce the different types of weather that occur by asking students daily what type of weather they’ve encountered that day. I like the idea of finding books or a book series that could discuss the given season or reinforce appropriate weather attire. A book series that I own and enjoy is called Little Hedgehog Series (One Winter Day, One Rainy Day...) these could be used when discussing the current season.
Side note about weather and science, a great activity to get students excited about science and understanding the sun could be to incorporate how sun rays still reach the earth’s surface through the clouds by using a UV Frisbees. This is also a great segue in discussing weather protection and how sunscreen is important.
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I have read many of the brilliant ideas through the the replies hear on this post. There are so many ways to implement weather and the outdoors into the curriculum and I believe it is imperative to correlate it with the significance of the environment. I believe children should be taught even at a young age how we as humans greatly impact weather and nature in general. Pollution from both exhaust and accumulated garbage directly effects weather and the natural cycle of life. I like the idea of having field trips where students get to explore local parks where they get gloves, a trash bag, and they get to have competitions to see who can gather the most littered garbage.
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Good points. I totally agree with you. I love field trips involving students' own experience and more importantly they will have fun together with their classmates.
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Another great way to incorporate weather into your classroom would be during your calendar time. Have the students tell you what the weather was like today when they came to school (rainy, sunny, cloudy, windy). We do this in my class and the students have really grasped the difference between weather and seasons.
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What are some engaging but meaningful activities young students can do to get them thinking about weather and seasons? What would be the best way to help them remember the different characteristics of each season?
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I use a chant with movement to define weather. Sunshine (shade eyes) wind (wave fingers in an S-shape in front of face), snow or rain (point with one finger on each hand, like counting), temperature (we touch our ear, like the school nurse using an ear thermometer) in a certain place (point at the ground( and time (point at wrist). That defines weather and was a review at the start of lessons on all those topics. UCAR has a fantastic cloud viewer. http://scied.ucar.edu/sites/default/files/images/event/cloudViewer_pdf.pdfUse that to help children become aware of clouds. I taught the seasons with a globe and a light, to show why the amount of sunlight changes through the year. I don't really expect children to understand seasons until they have experienced enough of them to really appreciate the patterns. If they have a solid definition of weather, though, you can help them start to differentiate daily weather changes from the overall pattern of the season.
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I like the idea of going outside and seeing the different types of weather and exploring what is really out in the world.
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Maybe doing a whole group conversation about the weather for that particular day. During recess they could see what the weather is like and have a grand conversation about when they come in.
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This is a great idea! Thanks for sharing. I look forward to implementing this in the classroom.
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I would say you could have student look outside and tell you the weather. You could also play a video of perhaps a sunny day, a rainy day. You could ask them what weather it may be. Maybe have an activity with a spinner of different weather and have them dress up using that clothing.
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I think one way to incorporate weather into the classroom is to read fun books on weather and they can write about what their favorite type of weather and why.
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Weather can be kind of abstract for Kindergarteners to grasp. I would find to a way to slowly incorporate the terms into your daily language and scientific discussions. If you do a calendar have a student look outside and tell the class what the weather is like. Also, do yourself a favor and take your class outside frequently.
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Weather can be kind of abstract for Kindergarteners to grasp. I would find to a way to slowly incorporate the terms into your daily language and scientific discussions. If you do a calendar have a student look outside and tell the class what the weather is like. Also, do yourself a favor and take your class outside frequently.
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Weather is a great topic for discussion. I like the idea of discussing winter and summer. I also feel that you could talk about the weather daily.
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A great way to make this lesson fun and memorable is to incorporate music. Find songs with videos that talk about the different seasons and show it to them. After they watch the video, you can go onto asking them about when it has been hot or cold outside and explain what that has to do with the seasons.
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It depends on where you live. Texans would say it's summer all year round in some cities there. I would listen to their stories and maybe have them match the season it's on. If they've never experienced a snowy day maybe showing a video of kids playing in the snow. Let them make that connection when reading a book to them.
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For those who are suggesting literature to help teach kindergarteners about weather, what are some books you have found that have provided great responses from your students?
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Hello! As far as I am concerned, teachers should help kindergarteners understand the different characteristics of each weather pattern. Videos, role play, and posters are great facilitators in demonstrating weather patterns. In addition, it is a good idea to invite some students to talk about weather every day. Teachers can give them instruction---“Please tell me the weather today, describe the weather, and talk about the activities you will do today.” Formative assessment about weather patterns can be provided in the form of graphic organizers. Students are required to introduce weather patterns by writing some simple sentences or drawing pictures.
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Hello, I enjoyed reading a lot of the replies to this post and really agree with what the other posts are saying - take the children outside! Thought provoking questions for kindergartners also work, such as asking "what kind of clothes should we be wearing today?" or "If there was snow falling, what differences would we have to make in the clothes that we are wearing?" Building on their responses helps! Also, I agree with finding helpful videos to help them understand the weather, how the season change can bring new weather, etc. Thanks for a great post.
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I think one of the best ways to teach students about the weather is to have the students go out and observe the weather themselves. You can have a calendar on the board where you change to show what the weather is every day, and they can have a calendar at their desks where they color a calendar to show the different types of weather. This will allow them to see that there are many different types of weather in the house. For the first couple weeks of school, you can lead "weather time" then eventually it can be lead by the students so it will be student centered! For the seasons, you can teach them a song or rhyme so all different types of learners can be involved in what the different seasons are.
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So many great ideas in this thread! This is what I do:
While we are outside before walking into our classroom, we have a quick weather talk. I ask the class "What is the weather today? and "How do you know?" or "What evidence do you see/ feel?" (What do you see or feel?) and "How does the weather feel?" (cold, warm, chilly, etc.) "What are you wearing that is appropriate for the weather?". When we get to class we record the weather during morning meeting. I have a graph for each month of the school year and keep all of them as we complete them so the students can compare them as the season changes. The collection of monthly graphs also help them to start to understand the weather patterns. When the season changes I always introduce it with a book and perhaps a song. I also have visual scenes for each season that I use when I introduce the new season. For a week or so, the kids talk about what is happening in the visual images.
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It will always be difficult to fully have young students like that to understand every aspect of the weather and all of the seasons. I am currently writing a week-long 5E lesson plan over the weather for Kindergarteners. We decided to let the students go outside every day and keep track of how the weather is and also predict what the weather would be like the next day. We used worksheets where the students had a thermometer and every day the students would draw with red how hot or cold the weather was. We had to figure out a simple way to have the students understand the weather and this is what we came up with. I hope this helps a little! I know it is not much.
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Hello,
I think the idea of letting the students go outside and explore the weather themselves in hand, record their exploration is really such a great activity. I believe the students will think of the weather every time they go outside and think about the vocabulary that goes along with the weather and seasons. I will definitely be trying this in my classroom!
Thank you,
Jessica M.
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I think what could help the students gain a better understanding on what weather is, is essentially giving them a chart that they could each fill out daily about the Weather. Students will then be able to decipher everyday what the weather is and could use clues from what they see outside to help them understand.
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I think what could help the students gain a better understanding on what weather is, is essentially giving them a chart that they could each fill out daily about the Weather. Students will then be able to decipher everyday what the weather is and could use clues from what they see outside to help them understand.
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My pre-K class does this in several ways. First, meteorologist is one of the class jobs (for TV station KAAG (K, west coast, school and class name). We record our weather observations each day on a class calendar; I like the Blue Ridge Parkway calendars because their photos match seasons well. At least for where I have lived. We look at three elements: temperature, moisture, and wind (very important here!). We also are a CoCoRahs site, but in the desert we usually don'r have much precipitation. The weather is drawn and written on, with precip measurements. We regularly go back and use them for data. Last week, school admin had a question of the number of snow days last year; my crew could look through the calendars and count. We also use it as another way to incorporate home languages into our day (this year, Hebrew, Tagalog, and Farsi)
I know there is a lot of controversy about calendar use in pre-K. I keep it simple, short...I don't do the today is yesterday was tomorrow is bit. We've been timed at 45 seconds during QRIS practices. Class interest is high (teacher being a weather geek helps). I also use it as a springboard for discussion upcoming or current weather events such as wind storms, snow, and floods, which then leads the kids to ask lots of questions (how come so and snow got 10 inches and I only got 6?)
I keep in touch with my kids after they leave, with specificied reunions; I have been told by the parents that our weather work stood the kids well in elementary school.
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Sounds like you have a calendar system that works to engage children in essential science and language learning--no rote memorization although that can be useful in some ways, such as memorizing a home telephone number. I love how the children return to their documentation to use the data, and the example of children's collected data being used by the school administration to confirm the number of snow days!
How do you introduce the concept of measuring precipitation for the CoCoRahs citizen science program to the children, at the beginning of the year?
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Two threads weave together with this. First, we didn't have the rain gauge until close to the start of the rainy season (I managed to get one after attending a cooperative extension "farm days" fair) Second, The class was already familiar with vertical counting lines, as we have two side by side in the class. It didn't take too much on the first day we had precipitation, to get them talking about ways of measuring the rainfall that they could share with the families, other than "the wheelbarrow was full" "the pitcher in the sandbox was full", which everyone agreed could get tricky because there are different sized wheelbarrows and pitchers. I thought I would have to push more for measuring vertically, but one of my boys, said, "it if falls down and fills up, we can measure the filling up". That's when I introduced the rain gauge. If we were going to have more rain, I would have set out several sized jars plus the rain gauge. But that was the last precipitation in the forecast for the forseeable future
We are still working being able to get our data in early enough to show on the map, but we have the website bookmarked to enter our data. Because we live in a rain shadow, the class already understands the precipitation varies widely over an area. To get the point across about data points, I took advantage of a class photo and pixels. I am sure they don't fully understand how many different ways our information can be used, but at least they understand that our information makes the weather picture clearer for the locals
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Hello,
I am currently student teaching in second grade and we just finished weather and are now starting on the four seasons. I also agree that the anchor chart helps the students understand that the seasons in a cycle as well. We had the students watch a BrainPop Jr. Video over the seasons then discussed them as a class. After the video ended, we had a class discussion over questions the students had. One one of the biggest misconceptions was that the season started at the beginning of a month and/or ended when the month ended. They also thought the seasons came at an unpredicted time(no specific order). Once we had discussed the misconceptions, we added activities, clothing, and weather usually associated with each season.
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Hello,
I am currently a student teacher in second grade and I have observed in many schools so my advice would be to talk about the weather every single day. In some classes that I observed they did this every morning, they would do the calendar, the day of the week, the weather outside, and the season they were in. Reading books about the seasons and weather also helps them. Having colorful anchor charts with illustrations (seasons, weather, clothing to wear, etc.) also helps them as a visuals. Showing many pictures and having power points is a great idea as well. My favorite would be to sing songs about the seasons, I would like to share one I learned last semester in my music class:
"Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
There are seasons four in all
Look outside and you will see
Just what season it could be"
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I had children draw concepts of science and scientists on the covers of their Life Science notebooks at the start of the year. There were many potions and volcanoes represented. They drew concepts of weather on their Weather Notebooks at the start of the weather unit. They are now at the end of the Force and Motion/Engineering unit and I will have them draw about engineers and engineering. I am curious to see how much of the representations will be general as opposed to specifically about the experiences the children had during the unit.
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I think some good ways to teach kindergarteners about wheather patterns is to probably teach them how to use the vocabulary, then you could find and interesting video on youtube about weather and how to differentiate it.Since the younger kids like to move around alot you can even make a song and have hand signals to go with them.
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I am in a first grade classroom and some of my students still get the weather and the seasons confused. We were exploring weather and took the students outside to make observations and then came back inside for discussion and one of my little friends said that he thought the weather was summer outside. I asked him oh can you explain and he said well I was squinting my eyes and if I ran I would sweat and I got him to end up saying oh well I was squinting because it was sunny and I would sweat because its hot and he had a break though and was like oh the weather differs between the seasons but that weather and seasons are completely different. It also helped clarify this for all of the students by taking them outside to explore
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