Olivia Leong

TED 509
Lesson Plan for Comprehension Strategies
Class: ​Kindergarten

Unit: ​Weather

Teacher: ​Olivia Leong

Objectives​: Students will be able to use background knowledge about weather to help them
understand a nonfiction book. Students will also be able to make a text-to-self connection about
weather appropriate activities they can do.

Prior assessment:
This lesson will introduce the topic of weather with a prereading activity that activated background
knowledge. Students will discuss the current weather and make a text-to-self connection about a weather
appropriate activity.

Purpose:
1. Students will use background knowledge to brainstorm different types of weather
2. Students will look at the pictures in the book and make a text-to-self connection about weather
appropriate activities
3. Students will write and draw the current weather as well as a weather appropriate activity

ELD Standards​:
● K.I.B.6. Reading closely literary and informational texts and viewing multimedia to determine
how meaning is conveyed explicitly and implicitly through language. [Emerging] Describe ideas,
phenomena (e.g., parts of a plant), and text elements (e.g., characters) based on understanding of
a select set of grade-level texts and viewing of multimedia, with substantial support.
ELA Standards:
● RI.K.7 . With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text
in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).
● RI.K.10 10. Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
a. Activate prior knowledge related to the information and events in texts. CA
b. Use illustrations and context to make predictions about text. CA
● W.K.8 . With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather
information from provided sources to answer a question.
● SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through
other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if
something is not understood.
● SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional
detail.
SJ Standards:
● ID.K-2.2 I can talk about interesting and healthy ways that some people who share my group
identities live their lives.
NGSS Standards:
● K-PS3-1 Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth’s surface.

Materials​:
 1. What Will the Weather be Like Today?​ book by Paul Rogers
2. Whiteboard and dry erase markers
3. “What are some different kinds of weather?” poster and markers
4. Weather worksheets (class set)
5. Document camera, projector
6. Pencils and crayons (class set)

Duration​: 30 mins

Assessment: ​Students will follow along and write the current weather to complete the first sentence
starter, “Today it is_________.” Then, students will write down an activity they can do in that weather
condition to complete the second sentence starter, “...and I can ______.” Students will draw a picture of
the weather and the weather appropriate activity. Student drawing will demonstrate that they understood
the read aloud and the class discussion about weather.

Anticipatory Set (7-10 mins)

Introduce the topic of weather and activates students’ background knowledge with a prereading
activity:
1. Ask class “Do you know the word ‘weather’? Have you heard it before? What do you
think it means?” Give students PRT time to think about the question and call on
volunteers to answer the question.
2. Place “What are some different kinds of weather?” poster on the easel and read the
poster to students.
3. Call on volunteers to share different kinds of weather (ex: sunny, windy, rainy) and
write responses on the poster.
4. Show students the What​ Will the Weather be Like Today?​ book and tell the class that
this is a nonfiction book, which means that it teaches us about new information.
5. they will be reading about different kinds of weather.
6. Lead class on a picture walk and shows students some pictures from the book before
reading it. Call on volunteers to talk about what they think is going on in the picture.
Instructional Sequence (Include time allotted for each):

Input
Activate students’ background knowledge about weather during Anticipatory Set. Introduce the topic
of weather and explain vocabulary terms on “What are some kinds of weather?” poster. Students need
to know basic weather vocabulary (ex: sunny, windy, rainy) and make a connection to self by thinking
about a weather appropriate activity (ex: flying a kite when it’s windy, playing outside when it’s
warm).

Modeling (10-15 mins)

Read ​What Will the Weather be Like Today?​ book. Point out basic weather vocabulary and make
connections to prereading activity. Call on some students to describe what is happening in some of the
pictures. After reading the book, ask students the question at the end of the book, “How is the weather
where you are today?” Ask students to look out the window and think about the weather in the
morning or at recess. Then, give students PRT time and calls on volunteers to share. Ask the rest of
the class if they agree with a thumbs up/thumbs down response. Write the sentence starter on
whiteboard, “Today it is_________.” and fill in the blank. Read the sentence with the class. Then tell
students that good readers think about how stories remind them of something in their own lives;
readers make personal connections to the text. Explain that like in the story, people like to do different
activities when the weather changes. Give an example, “Today it is ​warm​ and I can ​play outside​.”
Write down the second sentence starter (“...and I can_____.”), fill in the blank, and draw a picture of
the activity on the white board. Ask the class how to draw a warm day and show the picture
illustrating a warm day in the book. After waiting for responses from the class, point out that the sun
shows it is a warm day. Then ask the class “What is one thing you like to do when the weather is
______?” Give students PRT to think about an activity they like to do in this weather and have
students share their activity with a partner. Encourage students to use the sentence starter when
sharing with their partner. Call on a few students to share with the whole class. Explain to students
that they will be getting their own worksheet where they need to trace the sentence starter, write an
activity, and draw a picture. Pass out papers and ask students to go back to their seats.

Guided Practice (5 mins)

Project worksheet. Tell students that the class agreed the weather was _____ and demonstrate how to
write that word in the first blank as students follow along. Instruct students to write down their
activity in the second blank and then draw a picture of themselves doing the activity. Emphasize that
students should include lots of details in their drawings.

Independent Practice (10-15 mins)

Students trace the sentence starters and then write down the weather in the first blank and an activity
they like to do in the second blank. Circulate the room and helps students with spelling. Students will
draw a picture of the weather and the activity they wrote about.

Checking for Understanding

Students will follow along and write the current weather to complete the first sentence starter (“Today
it is_________.”). Then, students will write down an activity they can do in that weather condition to
complete the second sentence starter (“...and I can ______.”). Students will draw a picture of the
weather and the weather appropriate activity. Student drawing will demonstrate that they understood
the read aloud and the class discussion about weather.
Questioning Strategies
As students are writing and drawing, walk around the room and ask students about their writing and
drawing. Ask them about the activity they wrote down. Ask them to explain their drawing.

Closure​:
Ask students to share their drawing and sentence to a student sitting next to them. Then, collect papers
and gather students at the carpet. Review the topic of weather and explain that the weather can be
different each day. Point out some of the terms on the “What are some different kinds of weather?”
poster.

Next Steps:
Teacher can begin a unit on weather starting with this introductory lesson. Future lessons can use read
alouds and student activities to focus on a different weather conditions. Teacher can add a weather
section to the daily calendar routine where students observe the weather everyday and track the
conditions on a graph or chart.

Accommodations​:
● Allow extra time and give time warning before transitions
● Project teacher’s copy of worksheet so all students can see and follow along
● Provide extra writing support (ex: have students trace highlighted words, write down words on
post its) for students who struggle with writing
● Provide alphabet charts to help students spell words

Academic Language:
● I will identify the language demands of this lesson by doing a prereading activity where I
activate students’ background knowledge about the topic. Before reading the book, I will ask
students what they know about weather and together as a class we will brainstorm different
weather conditions on the “What are some kinds of weather?” poster. Then I will do a picture
walk of some of the pages from the book and ask students what they see in the pictures. These
prereading activities identify vocabulary, syntax, and connecting to the text as the language
demands associated with this literacy task.
● I will support the language demands of this lesson (vocabulary, syntax, and connecting to the
text) during the responding stage of the reading process. Together as a class we will discuss the
current weather conditions and brainstorm weather appropriate activities. To address vocabulary
development, I will reference the weather condition vocabulary words in the book and on the
“What are some kinds of weather?” poster. To support syntax development, I will model writing
a sentence with vocabulary words and I will provide students with sentence starters. To support
the learning objective of connecting to the text, I will ask students to brainstorm and discuss
weather appropriate activities that they can do in the current weather conditions.
● My planning supports academic language development by providing students with sentence
starters and vocabulary terms on the “What are some kinds of weather?” poster. Students will
have the chance to share their sentences and drawing with a seat partner.