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Part 2: Revised lesson plan

Lesson Title: What kind of Weather?

Content Standards:

K.E.3A.1 Analyze and interpret local weather condition data (including precipitation,

wind, temperature, and cloud cover) to describe weather patterns that occur from day to day,

using simple graphs and pictorial weather symbols.

K.E.3A.4 Define problems caused by the effects of weather on human activities and

design solutions or devices to solve the problem.

K.W.2.1 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose

informative/explanatory texts that name and supply information about the topic.

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to observe the weather and describe what kinds of

clothes are appropriate for different kinds of weather.

Materials and preparation

 The book “What Will the Weather Be Like Today?” by Paul Rogers

 Class set of the I’m Ready For Anything worksheet

 Interactive whiteboard (Smartboard)

 MP Weather app

 ShowMe app

 Seesaw app

Key terms: weather, observe

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Introduction

 Explain that today you will be observing the weather. Ask students what the word

“observe” means.

 Define “observe” as “looking very carefully at something.”

 Take the class outside to observe the weather. Help students note what they see by paying

attention to the temperature, wind, etc.

 Allow students to take notes on what they see by using the Seesaw app in pairs to draw

the weather characteristics.

Warm-Up

 Students will take a 7 question warm-up quiz on their survey monkey account. Once each

quiz is submitted, the answers will be reviewed as a class. The teacher will read all

questions aloud and clarify any questions.

 Read aloud the book What Will the Weather Be Like Today? by Paul Rogers

 Pause as you read to notice the clothing the people are wearing and the different kinds of

weather. Ask guiding questions about the text such as, "What type of clothing are the

people wearing? Why do you think they are wearing that?"

 Display the sentence frame, "They are wearing ____ because ____. " Allow students to

respond to your prompts in a peer conversation using think-pair-share, before choosing a

volunteer to share their own or their partner's thinking with the whole class.

 Ask students to give you a thumbs up if they can find the same weather in the book that

they saw outside this morning.

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Guided Practice

 As a class we will discuss the rules of using technology and the importance of staying on

the app given or site given.

 Placing students in pairs, use the iPad app MP Weather to allow students to explore

various weather types that may not have been covered in the book. Allow 10 minutes for

exploration.

 Return to the carpet and make a class weather chart using the interactive whiteboard. Ask

the students to think of as many kinds of weather as they can, referring back to the book

and app as needed.

 Record different types of weather on the chart (sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, foggy, etc.)

as students make suggestions.

 Place students in small groups of no more than 2-3 students. Assign each group a type of

weather.

 Review the rules for group discussions by displaying the poster titled, "Group Work."

1. Take turns

2. Work together

3. Listen to others

4. Talk about the topic

 Have each group brainstorm the different types of clothing needed for their assigned type

of weather. Ask students to think about things like shoes, coats, etc. Groups will illustrate

their topic by using the ShowMe interactive whiteboard app as they engage in discussion.

They will label or write sentences about the illustrations that are added to the
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presentation. Three to five written components are needed. They will then take turns

recording the narration of all items they added to their presentation.

 Once their presentation is complete, students will share presentations with the teacher by

publishing to their ShowMe group page.

Independent working time

 Tell students that they will now get to choose their favorite kind of weather from the class

chart and draw a picture of themselves dressed for that weather.

 Display the I’m Ready for Anything! worksheet and answer questions as needed.

Encourage students to use invented spelling in their writing.

 Students will log onto Seesaw and complete the I’m Ready for Anything! worksheet,

once finished they will submit it to the teacher.

Review and closing (5 minutes)

 Invite groups to share their ShowMe presentation to the class, and share their weather and

clothing choices.

 Prompt students to build on one another's ideas by suggesting other clothes that could be

included in the presentation.

Differentiation

Enrichment:

 Encourage students to write additional sentences about the kinds of activities they could

do for their chosen weather.

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Support:

 For students who need additional support, help them choose a kind of weather to focus

on. Then, support them in writing words by having the students label each article of

clothing.

Assessment

Students will be assessed in two parts. The first part will be the assessment of the

ShowMe group presentation. The students will be assessed based on the accuracy of their

information, whether their written components are included with narration and the participation

of all group members. This assignment has a mid-level grade. The second part will be on the

completion of the I’m Ready for Anything! worksheet. This assignment has a low-level grade.

1 (NS) 2 (^) 3 (+)

Content accuracy Information is Some information is All information is
inaccurate or unclear. accurate and clear. accurate and clear.

Written No written 1-2 written 3-5 written

Components & components or components and components and
Narration narration are present. narration pieces narration pieces
present. present.
Participation Only one group Some group members All group members
member contributed contributed to participated and
to the completion of illustrations or contributed to
the presentation. narrations or written illustrations, written
components. components, and
narrations.

“Before and After” Reflections

The lesson I choose was a lesson from Education.com that I have used in my classroom

in the past during our weather unit. This lesson combined weather analysis with collaborative
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group work. Prior to this lesson, students have been introduced to various weather types during

calendar time and they have a basic understanding of weather types that are unusual to our daily

changes form previous lessons. The original lesson began with students understanding

vocabulary terms and observing the weather outside. Then, after reading a story students had

peer conversation and volunteers sharing with the class. It moved into making a class weather

chart then creating groups and having groups illustrate on a piece of paper the items needed for

their assigned weather type. Students were then given a worksheet to illustrate and write about

their favorite weather type and what they would wear. The lesson was concluded when groups

shared their poster with the class, allowing classmates to review and offer suggestions to

improve their work. Reflecting on the original lesson the first thing I notice is the length of time

students are at the carpet. From the book to peer discussion and then creating a class chart, there

is no variety in instruction. The completion of the tasks is also not meaningful and engaging. I

understand why my students have been distracted and there was a very low quality in their work

submitted. I wanted to integrate technology to engage my students and give them assignments

that are engaging and meaningful to them.

To begin I wanted to help my students stay focused and engaged during the observation

of the weather by having them draw in Seesaw what they observed. My students enjoy using

technology any time throughout the day especially when they are able to create. The picture they

create will be submitted to me for review before posting it to our class “discussion board” on

Seesaw. By giving them a task during the observation my students have to fully focus on

observing and creating. In the past when they have been given observation lessons they are

quickly distracted and it turns into playtime. I really think by adding this initial creation piece by

students will be excited about the upcoming lesson.

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The next part of the lesson is the warm-up quiz. Throughout the week students have been

learning about various weather conditions. The warm-up quiz is a review of the material taught.

There are times when a traditional paper/pencil quiz is necessary but when it is not necessary I

love using technology such as Kahoot or survey monkey for assessments. I have noticed that my

students are much more enthused about taking the quiz and oftentimes, they forget it is a quiz, to

begin with. By reviewing the questions and answers as a class, the teacher can quickly see which

concepts students are still struggling with and which they have mastered. The students are also

able to gain clarity on any concepts they struggled with.

After the warm-up activities, we move into the guided practice portion of the lesson

which is where the majority of student work will take place. The original lesson plan only

allowed for recalling information and does not allow students to analyze new information. I

wanted to include multiple opportunities for technology within this section because I believe it

allows students to deepen their understanding of the content. The first piece of technology comes

after a review of the digital citizenship rules. By reviewing the safety rules and expectations of

internet and app use, students are aware of the expected use and handling of the device. Before

creating the class chart, I wanted to get students off of the carpet and I also wanted them to gain

new knowledge to help keep them engaged. The MP Weather app is a fun interactive way for

students to explore various weather conditions and shows the effect the temperature has on each

weather condition. My students love when they are free to explore this app and I would make

sure this was the first time they had a chance to explore. After this lesson, students will have an

assignment to complete independently with this app. Once exploration time is complete, I will

then bring them back to the carpet to help create the class chart on the smartboard. By replacing
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paper with the smartboard it ensures everyone can see the chart and allows me to quickly create a

chart that stands out and is neat and easy to interpret.

The next piece of technology integrated into the guided practice is during the small group

activity. The original lesson had students creating on a poster which can be fun for students but it

can also lose their attention quickly. I wanted students to use the ShowMe app because it is one

we use sparingly in the classroom. It’s similar to Seesaw which makes creating on it easy or

students to understand. I like the ShowMe app for this assignment because it allows students to

include text and narration to go along with their illustrations. This app will also allow students to

review their presentations and the presentations of their classmates if they need clarification later

in the unit. Students have to work together to create their presentation and add the necessary

components to show mastery of the content. I believe my students will be more enthused to

participate when they know their classmates can watch their presentation as many times as they

may need, unlike a poster which is only up during the time of their presentation due to lack of

space.

The final integration of technology comes during independent work time. In

kindergarten, the use of traditional worksheets is necessary in order for students to work on

handwriting skills. Since the majority of this lesson involves sharing work I wanted students to

have another opportunity to post in the class discussion board on Seesaw. They will complete the

same worksheet as the original lesson plan but it will be in digital format. This incorporates

technology in a meaningful way and not just to add technology because students always work

harder when they know an audience will see their work.

These assignments focus mainly on collaboration and creation. The integration of

technology helps to ensure students are engaged and focused and it offers them an opportunity to
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add to their digital portfolio that is shared with parents. This lesson also allows us to review the

importance of digital citizenship by reviewing the rules for handling devices and staying on the

app or website given to them. By incorporating digital and nondigital tools into a lesson, teachers

can ensure they are creating meaningful and engaging lessons for students.
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References

Education.com, & Gibson, J. (2018, July 8). Education.com: Lesson plan. Retrieved from

https://www.education.com/lesson-plan/what-kind-of-weather/