Learning Unit
How The Weather Effects Us

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

DECLARATIVE

• Verbalize the water cycle
• Identify the four seasons and characteristics of each.
• Identifies that the sun is out during the day.
• Identifies and knows the sounds for the letters; W, R, S, C and U.
• Draws conclusions that the weather can change from day to day.
• Describes patterns of daily, monthly and seasonal changes in the environment.

PROCEDURAL

• Listen to ideas of others as a way of gaining information.
• Asks specific questions to clarify meaning.
• Expresses him/herself clearly when reporting the weather.
• The students will access a graph on the computer and place new information in the graph.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

• How does the weather effect my life?
• What are the four seasons and characteristics of each season?
• Why do we have day and night?

NOTE: A Bibliography of all books used is found at the end of unit. This unit is divided into sections. The first week is the introduction to the weather, day and night and the wind. The second week we discuss clouds and third week we talk about rain and rainbows. The fourth week is spent on closing the unit, completing the culminating activity and celebrating the unit.

CONNECTIONS TO STANDARDS

This unit focuses on:

ELA STANDARD #1: Students will read, write, listen, speak for information and understanding.

Performance Indicators

• 1.1: Gather and interpret information from children's reference books.
• 1.3: Make appropriate and effective use of strategies to construct meaning from print.
• 1.8: Compare and synthesize information from different sources.

MST STANDARD #4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

Performance Indicators

• 4.1: Students will describe patterns of daily, monthly, and seasonal changes in the environment.

This unit also teaches many of my own districts science standards for kindergarten.

INITIATING ACTIVITY

The initiating activity will be broken up into many parts and will be carried out over an entire day. (NOTE: All of my units are started and ended with an entire day of activities weaved in and out of specials, lunch and outside play. You may decise to pick and choose only some of these activities to use.) These activities reinforce the declarative knowledge which states that students will identify and name characteristics of each of the four seasons and to describe patterns of seasonal weather.

The class will go on a treasure hunt for hidden things in the room. Examples of these things are; abathing suit, sand pail, mittens, kite, leaves, and magazine pictures depicting the different seasons. They will bring these things back to a given area in the room and place them on the floor. When all items are found we will come together as a class and graph the items on a floor graph. The students begin by grouping like things together and then a discussion of why they chose to put certain items together is facilitated. Then the graph will be given the heading of each season and the items will be placed in the appropriate season.

We also celebrate the beginning of our unit by reading Thunder Cake. This is a wonderful story for a young girl that is afraid of storms. Her grandmother teaches her not to be afraid by making thunder cake. The recipe is found on the last page of the book. After reading the book we make thunder cake and play a tape of storm sounds if it is not thundering.

We will also discuss all the kinds of weather that each student has experienced and then use a map of the United States to discuss other climates. We will color the states of New York, Alaska and Florida. (Alaska and Florida seem to be two states that kindergartners have heard about and know generalizations of each of their climates.) We will discuss the climate in these three places and the activities that one may enjoy there. When all discussions are completed the students will turn to a partner and in a think, pair, share format they will discuss the four seasons and activities that go along with each of the four seasons.

After the above activities are completed as a class we will complete a K and W of a KWL. Specifically on an umbrella divided into three areas I will take dictation on what the students know and want to know about the weather. I will model a question for the students stressing that a questions usually begin with who, what, where, when, how, why, or I wonder.

As a class we will then complete a large graphic organizer depicting things that remind us of each season. We will read The Seasons. The students will then choose to make a kite, snowman, apple with worm or sun depending on their favorite season. The students will then support their opinion by drawing pictures of things that they like to do in their favorite season on their project. As part of this activity the students will make a pattern out of the kite tail, worm, sun rays, and snowman scarf. Their project will be brought to life with a face drawn on it. There will be a speech bubble from the mouth with a dictated sentence, I like ___________ best because ____________. The students will dictate to the teacher what season they like best and give their reason for choosing that season. These will be places on the bulletin board in a graphic organizer format. (when the bulletin board is taken down it will be mounted on paper and made into a classroom book.) Before the group is dismissed the students will be reminded that their goal is to draw pictures that just by looking at them we will be able to tell what they enjoy most about their favorite season.

During our week of discussing, exploring and learning more about clouds we will read the book It Looked Like Spilt Milk. After reading It Looked Like Spilt Milk the students will use blue paper and blow white paint with straws or Claris Works for Kids they will use the paint bucket to paint the screen blueand then use the paint brush to paint a white cloud in the shape of something of their choice and fill in the sentences; It looked like a __________. But it wasn't a __________.

As part of the unit and as an extending and refining activity the students will be required to chart the weather on individual charts. After charting the weather the students will fill in a cloze sentence which states; Today is (date). It is (weather) outside. We have had mostly (what kind of weather) days. The graphs will be discussed in group and we will compare the weather on a daily basis. The students qill then transfer the information that they have gathered on their weather charts onto a weather graph in Claris Works for Kids. This will be completed in a lab setting each week. The students will update information once per week. It should be noted here that the students who have difficulty filling in the cloze sentences are either paired with a more capable student or work directly with the teacher. They may also be paired on the computer or work with the teacher on the computer this will be noted in the rubric.

CULMINATING ACTIVITY

The culminating activity is a decision making activity. We will begin by reviewing the climates of Florida, Alaska and New York. There will be enlarged outlines of each state on ditto paper. The students will need to choose which state they would most like to live in based on the climate of that state. They will support their decision by drawing the activities that they would be able to enjoy in that state. They will then dictate to the teacher the reason for their choice.

As a context review of the unit the class dictates a story to the teacher titled The Important Things About Weather. The students' third grade book buddies help put this book on the computer and they are always amazed at how much kindergartners know!

To celebrate the end of the unit the classroom is set up into four stations which represent each season. In each station there is an art t and a cooking project that relates to the season. For instance; in winter the students may use sugar cubes to construct igloos or cotton balls to glue igloos on paper and enjoy hot chocolate. In the summer station the students may jump rope or make a bubble painting and enjoy ice cream sundaes. In the fall station the students complete leave rubbings and enjoy apples. In the spring station the students make tissue paper flowers and enjoy making and eating a sunflower seed trail mix.

The very last activity is a whole class acitivity. We all return to spring and plant sunflower seeds. Since my next unit is a planning/gardening unit this activity makes a nice transition.

LEARNING EXPERIENCES

MORNING MEETING/SHARED READING

Each day in our whole group circle and calendar time we will complete the following activities. All of these activities lend themselves to both the ELA and the MST standards a fore mentioned. These activities also reinforce the procedural knowledge that states that each student will express him/herself clearly when reporting the weather .

INTERACTIVE CHART: Cloudy (This is a chart in which the students take turns changing the one or two words in the poem. The words are selected based on the letters and sounds that are being taught during that unit. The student then explains how they used the initial and final sounds of the words in order to "read" the word. They say the letter and the sound of that letter in isolation. This activity has become a very good way to reinforce letter and sound/symbol recognition.) This activity reinforces declarative knowledge #4.

Each day the appropriate charts and songs will be recited as a class. The student will then count the number of times certain words and letters appear in each chart. This is also a reinforce for letter and sound/symbol recognition.

The weather will be graphed as a group each day and the weather will be reported by one student each morning. Ex. It is sunny but cold today. We need to wear coats, mittens and hats today. After we learn about clouds the students will also report the kinds of clouds that are in the sky that day. This activity reinforces declarative knowledge 5 and 6 and procedural knowledge #3.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE 1:

In order to encourage inductive reasoning and teach declarative knowledge #1 we begin a demonstration on the water cycle with an experiment. First we will fill a plastic cup half full with water and mark the level. The water will then be frozen and we will mark the level of the ice. This will show how water expands when it is frozen. We will then let the water thaw. The water returns to it's original level. The cup will be left on the window sill and we will mark the new water level each day. After a few days we will measure how far the water level has decreased each day and make predictions as to how far it will decrease the next day. Questions will be posed each day as to what the students believe is happening to the water. No answers will be given until the water is completely evaporated which will be in about one weeks time. (This experience will continue at that time.)

LEARNING EXPERIENCE 2:

This experience directly deals with ELA standard #1, performance indicator 1.1 and also fulfills a district standard which states that kindergartners will be taught that the sun is out during the day and that the moon is in the night time sky. (Declarative Knowledge #3) Since my students cannot read on the level that some of the books used are written on I conduct a modified Directed Teaching Reading Approach (DRTA). I will ask questions and sometimes have students predict answers. Then I read or paraphrase the book What Makes Day and Night? having the students listen for the specific answers to the questions asked. As a class we will discuss the answer stated and if indeed it is the correct or best answer. A new question will naturally evolve due to our discussion. When we are finished with the book a venn diagram will be used to identify the differences between day and night and differences in the weather during the day and night. Using a globe costume for the earth and a flash light for the sun two children are chosen to role play and demonstrate how the earth moves around in a circle and the sun shines on different parts of the earth. As this is being demonstrated I ask which side of the world has day and night. A few of the students will ten be asked to explain what hey have learned to the class in their own words. This costume and flashlight will be placed in the discovery center so that the students can use these to further their understanding during center time.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE 3:

This experience reinforces the MST standard #4 and the performance indicator 4.1. It is important during this unit to discuss the wind and its effects on the weather. The wind makes you feel colder. You cannot see the wind, however you can see what the wind causes, you can hear the wind and you can feel the wind. We brainstorm all the ways that we know it is windy. What does the wind do? We discuss how the wind sounds and feels. We will read The Wind Blew and make windsocks. We then take the windsocks outside and use them to tell which way the wind is blowing. We walk in different directions and on different sides of the building, weather permitting, and note if there are any changes in the wind. When we come back inside the students discuss with partner (think-pair-share) what they have learned. Then a modified word splash is completed. The following words are read to the children: cold, warm, breeze, blowing, leaves, trees, kites. In pairs the students use three of these words and create a sentence that relates to the wind. The students share these with the class.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE 1 (CONT.):

This experience will reinforce the above mentioned ELA standard and the procedural knowledge which state that students will listen for specific information. When the water has finally evaporated discuss/predict what may have happened to the water. A modified DRTA will be conducted using the book entitled Weather where it describes evaporation. Let the children induce what happened to our water. Then discuss all the places that we have water in the world. Would the heat and sun also make that water evaporate? Where would it go? At this point we will read The Cloud Book. As a group we discuss how clouds are formed. The word evaporate is put on our morning board as our unit challenge word. In collaborative pairs the students will make the three main kinds of clouds; stratus, cumulus and cirrus. There clouds will be arranged in a graphic organizer to be a reminder of the characteristics of each cloud. The cirrus clouds will be made with feathers and hung highest on the wall because they are light and life like feathers. The cumulus clouds will be made with cotton balls and hung in the middle of the sky because they look like cotton balls. The stratus clouds are painted gray and hung lowest because they are full of water. We will then use these models to decide what kind of cloud or clouds are in the sky each day. The daily weather reporter will add this to their report.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE 4:

After the students have learned about clouds and evaporation as a class we will take a look at our KWL and fill in the answers to the questions that we have already answered. I will then take the cup used in our evaporation experiment and turn it over. Nothing will come out. After looking puzzled I will pose the question; Why don't rivers, streams, lakes and oceans dry up if the water continues to evaporate? Why doesn't all the water on the whole earth go up into the sky and make clouds?

This learning experience reinforces the both the ELA standard #1, performance indicators; 1.1 and 1.8 and the MST standard #4, performance indicator 4.1. It will assist the students in answering the essential question number three. This experience will also meet the criteria for declarative knowledge number one; the students will verbalize the water cycle.

First, we will conduct an experiment that demonstrates that there id water in the air. I use a covered jar half full of ice. Instead of simply thawing, the water droplets will be trapped inside the jar and form condensation on the jar and the lid of the jar. At this point I will let the students ponder about all the answers to the above questions. We will the read books having to do with rain and the part about rain in Weather. The students are be directed to listen for the answer to the question as we have in the past. (Modified DRTA). After we have read the books I ask the questions again. The students turn to their partner and complete a Think-Pair-Share at this time. The discussion now should lead to the fact that it will rain when there is to much water, moisture or precipitation in the air or clouds. Therefore the water will be replenished and not dry up. I have the class describe what happens with the water (cycle of water) while I draw this for the class on chart paper.

To further their understanding they complete an art project that clearly shows the water cycle. They will then turn to their collaborative pair and complete a think pair share activity where each partner describes the water cycle. We will use this during future class discussions taking turns to describe the water cycle to further their understanding and retention of this information.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE 5:

This learning experience reinforces the ELA standard #1 and answers the essential question number four and provides a setting for students to work together on one project. In groups of three the students explore with prisms. When brought back together as a group we brainstorm how we think rainbows are made. All answers are accepted at this time. Again we read our resource book Weather on rainbows and complete a modifies DRTA. Then we discuss what we think happens and how rainbows are relaly made. We discuss the correct colors found in a rainbow and use our prisms to find those colors. As a viual representation we paint a rainbow of the correct colors using all of our hands.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE 6:

This experience reinforces the MST standard #4 and performance indicator #4.1. It also teaches and reinforces the procedural knowledge that states that students will access a graph on Claris for Kids and edit that graph to contain new information. This experience will also reinforce the declarative knowledge that states that the students will draw conclusions that the weather will change from day to day. If possible, I will also have a meteorologist come and speak to the class about weather reporting since this will be one of their requirements to fill during this unit.

EXTENDING AND REFINING

WHAT KNOWLEDGE WILL STUDENTS BE EXTENDING AND REFINING? SPECIFICALLY, THEY WILL BE EXTENDING AND REFINING THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF…

The students will be extending and refining their understanding of patterns and how to create patterns, how to create and use graphs in order to compare specific information and how to support their opinions.

WHAT REASONING PROCESS WILL THEY BE USING?

• Inductive Reasoning
• Constructing Support
• Abstracting (patterning)

DESCRIBE WHAT WILL BE DONE.

• As stated above and to reinforce students ability to compare they will be required to complete a daily individual graph of the weather. Each day they will date their weather journal and write We have had mostly _________ days. This will be discussed as a group but completed individually. If necessary, students will be paired or work with the teacher in a small group. The product will also serve as assessment.
• Again to reinforce the students ability to compare we will as a class graph our favorite season and our favorite kind of weather. When our graph is complete we will discuss and question such as how many more people like summer than winter?
• To encourage the students abstracting ability they will use different shapes of paper and construct a pattern snowflake. This will also construct a pattern on a snowman's scarf, worm in an apple, tail of the kite and rays of the sun when choosing their favorite season. This will also serve as an assessment.
• The students will draw pictures to show support of their opinion on there favorite season.

NOTE: As part of this unit the letters mentioned in declarative knowledge will continuously be reinforced. Words beginning with these letters will be added to the word all and the students will practice writing these letters. We, as a group, also discuss the seasons on an on going basis beginning in the fall. There is an ever changing apple tree hanging in our room to always remind us of the changing seasons.

REFLECTION

Many of the learning experiences took more than one lesson. If the students do not induce the answers right away I found that it was more beneficial to let the questions hang while we read different books on the topic. This allowed then time to ponder and construct their own information.

I found the experiments to be of great motivation as well as a good learning tool. The experiments would spark conversations among the students and the excitement in their eyes when they realized that they had induced the correct answer was priceless.

I was surprised at the momentum of this unit. The students kept going on and they grasped concepts that I never dreamed a 5 or 6 year old could. I received many comments from parents. The students were telling and describing the clouds at home.

The oral presentation part of this unit was useful in the information that I gained about the children. The kindergarten students had presented orally many time, show and tell, song sharing or simply sharing an experience, story or a discovery they had made. This, however, was one of the few times that they presented information that did not come from them. This information had to be observed and analyzed and they needed to draw conclusions from this information. I felt that it was a good learning experience for them.

I also felt that March was a perfect month to complete this unit because we do get changes in the weather and the things we wear.

DECISION MAKING RUBRIC

TECHNOLOGY (Accessing and Editing) RUBRIC

ORAL PRESENTATION

OPINION/POINT OF VIEW WITH EVIDENCE (K-2)

Bibliography

Aronsky, Jim. Rabbits And Raindrops, Scholastic Inc. New York, 1997

Bradley, Franklin M. What Makes Day And Night, Harper and Row, New York, 1986

Branley, Franklyn, Rain And Hail, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York. 1963

Crawford, Sue. The Seasons, The Bookwright Press, New York. 1988

Darby, Gene. What is a Season, Beckley - Cardy Company, Georgia, 1962

De Pola, Tomie. The Cloud Book, Holiday House, New York, 1975

Drew, David. Somewhere in the Universe, Rigby Inc., Illinois.

Gibbons, Gail. Weather Forecasting, Macmillan Publishing, New York, 1987

Gibbons, Gail. Weather Words And What They Mean, Scholastic Ins. New York, 1990

Hutchins, Pat. The Wind Blew, Scholastic Inc. New York. 1974

Jennings, Terry. Weather, Glouster Press, New York. 1988

Polacco, Patricia. Thunder Cake, The Putnam and Grosset Group, New York 1990

Rothman, Joel. At Last to the Ocean, Crowell - Collier Press, New York. 1971

Shaw, Charles. It Looked Like Spilt Milk, Harper Collins Press, 1947

ClarisWorks for Kids 1.0 by Claris Cooporation, 1997

NOTE: Whitesboro Central School District or classroom teacher purchased all the above books/software to be used with students.