Lesson Design: Patterns in Weather

Andrea Duncan

Candidate Name: B.S., H.R., T.R., C.S., H.D., Host Teacher Name: Lupita Alvarez
N.M, A.L.
School: Montessori Borealis Grade Level: K # Of Students: 7
Date & Time of Lesson: Length of Lesson:
Observations and documentation: 5 min. daily
Graphing: 30 min.
Finding patterns/writing/illustration: 35 min.
Topic of Lesson: Patterns in Weather Content Area: Science

Materials: Include all materials including types of technology used:

Writing journal, pencils, graph paper, dot stickers – multiple colors, ruler, story paper, colored pencils
Phone with internet to check weather on days not recorded by children (Saturday and Sundays)
Website: world-weather.info

ALASKA CONTENT STANDARD

K- Weather and Climate
K-ESS2-1 Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over
time.

Alaska Cultural Standard for Educators

B. Culturally-responsive educators use the local environment and community resources on a regular
basis to link what they are teaching to the everyday lives of the students.

TRANSFER GOAL(S) (transferability)

Students will be able to use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time and be able
to make observations about the weather.

STAGE ONE – Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings (meaning)

Enduring Understanding(s): What Essential Questions will be Considered?
Students will understand that….

STAGE ONE: Objectives STAGE TWO: Assessments

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 Evidence of Learning/Accountability -
Formative/Summative/Performance

Knowledge - What students should know…. Assessment(s)/Other Evidence:

Students should be able to use the data to find any Students will use their observations and graph the
patterns. different weather.

Students should know how to determine which Students will use the graph to find which weather
weather occurred the most. occurred the most.

Students should know which weather occurred the Students will use the graph to find which weather
least. occurred the most.

Skills - What students should be able to do……. Assessment(s)/Other Evidence:

Students should be able to identify and describe
patterns in the data for the relative
number of days of different types of
weather conditions in a month.
Students, with guidance, should be able to graph
their data through observations
and the media to find the number of
sunny, cloudy, rainy, or snowy
days.
The students will use their graphs to determine
which weather condition
occurred the most and
which occurred the least in
the month.
The student will use their graph to find the
numbers of days each
weather conditions there
were.

STAGE THREE: Opportunities to Learn (Acquisition)

Introduction/Hook:
The teacher will gather the students and invite them to bring their writing notebooks with their
weather observations in them.

The teacher will pull out the graph paper and dot stickers and say “we are going to graph our weather
and see what we notice about the second half of February.

Processes and products for Learning Strategies for Differentiation/ Multimodal

Opportunities Instruction/Universal Design for Learning

Starting in February, the Kindergarten class will

monitor the weather and draw the weather
graphic in their writing journal. Each day they
are required to write in their writing journal, so
this is where the observations will be recorded.
After they finish their work, they will draw a
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 graphic indicating the weather they are having
that day (raining, sunny, cloudy, snowing).

We are going to check the weather pattern for

two-week intervals to see what they notice.

Day 1:
The teacher will have the students find February
14th in their journal and they will flip through and
report all the weather conditions they observed.

The teacher will hand out a graph paper for each

student. They can work in pairs if they choose.

The teacher will model how to use the ruler and

draw a line across the base of the graph paper.
They will count how many squares there are
across and figure out how to divide the boxes up
so each weather system has the same amount of
space. The teacher will then model how to use the
ruler and draw a line all the way up on of the
lines on the graph paper. Each student will have
time to make their graph.

The teacher will model how to write days on the y

axis and weather condition on the x axis because
we are determining how many days each weather
condition occurred.

The teacher will model how to segment the bottom

of the graph so the students can draw the graphic
of the weather condition in each segment. The
teacher will model and draw the first graphic, the
students will follow and draw the same graphic
(same as what they used in their observation).
The teacher will do this with each graphic and the
students will follow. The teacher is available to
help as needed.

The teacher will model how to write the number

of days going up, starting with 1. The students
will follow along and write their own numbers,
one number per square.

The teacher will pull out the sheet of dot stickers

and state that we are going to use these dots to
help graph our weather. The teacher will let the
students collaborate and decide what colored dot
goes with which weather pattern.

The teacher will have the students go back to the

14th of February for the first day of observations.
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 The teacher will ask what the weather was. Once
the students inform the teacher, she will take the
colored dot sticker that is used for that weather Students will use their observations and graph the
and place it on her graph to model how to do it. different weather.
The students will then do the same to their graph.

Once they complete the first day, they will find

the next day and do the same thing. If the
weather was different, they will find the correct
color dot and place it on their graph.

There will be days that the students did not

record due to the weekend, holidays, sick days, or
no work/observation days so the teacher will use
the website: world-weather.info to track the
weather.
.
“There will be days that we did not record. On the
weekends we did not write in our journals and did
not observe the weather, but those days count for
February, right? I will help you find what the
weather was for those days so we can record the
data.”

If there are students who do not have a day

written and recorded in their journal, I will invite
them to collaborate with their peers to figure out
what the weather was that day. If no one has it,
we will look at the webpage to figure out the
weather.

Once their graph is complete for February, the

teacher will have them work together to confirm
that they all have the same data for each weather
system.

Once they confirm all their data, the teacher will

have them put away their writing books.

Day 2:
The teacher will invite each friend to count their
weather for sunny and see what they have. The
teacher will then invite each student, one at a
time to share their number. They will do this with The student will use their graph to find the
each weather condition. numbers of days each
weather conditions there
The teacher will then ask, “what do you notice were.
about our data?’

The teacher will note what they come up with.

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 Questions to have prepared are: The students will use their graphs to determine
• What weather did we have the most in which weather condition
February? occurred the most and
• What weather did we have the least? which occurred the least in
• What did you find interesting about our the month.
weather?

The teacher will then inform the students that we

are going to write about the weather patterns we
noticed. The teacher will take out a story paper
and have the students talk about what they want
to say. They are going to write three sentences
together. The teacher will first write it all down
then hand out the paper for the students to write
themselves. If a student is still practicing their
writing, the teacher will write it down for them to
trace.

After they compete their writing, then students

are invited to draw a picture above their writing
of anything they want that has to do with the
weather they observed and experienced.

Closure:

The students will be invited to share their story with the younger class, reporting on the weather
pattern we found for February. They are welcome to hang their art and story on the wall outside of the
classroom.

They will do this again for March and compare their data and see the difference and similarity in the
weather patterns.

Summary:
The host teacher and I sat down and discussed all three of my lessons in the beginning of February, so we made
sure we were on the same page and had all the appropriate materials. I told her I wanted to do something with weather
patterns, and she informed me that she already started the children on observing the weather and drawing a graphic of that
weather condition in their writing journal, so it was a perfect transition into my lesson. We decided it would be good to
first graph February’s weather since they had started their observations that month. We decided to graph the last two
weeks of the month since this was their first lesson on graphing. She helped me find the graph paper and color sticky dots
that I could use for the graphing portion. We also discussed having the students using the graph to observe and find any
patterns in the weather. Once the students made their observations, I would work with the group to write down at least
three sentences of what patterns they found. The host teacher said that I may have to have the children dictate their answer
and then I write it down for them to trace because most of them were still developing their writing skills. Once completed,
they would then draw a picture about the weather. My host encourages writing first and then the illustration, so students
do the writing component. I felt prepared after our preparation with all the little bits of advice she gave.
This lesson has a lot of strengths that I feel helped the students track the patterns. By using the different colors
and graph paper, students were able to visually see the patterns and figure out which occurred the most, least and in this
case, an equal amount. They were able to collaborate and work together, which these students love to do. Not all the

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students wrote and tracked the weather every day, so they had to work together by looking at their journals and figuring
out what weather they had. There were some days that only one student tracked it and some none of them did. We had to
use a weather data site for Juneau to get some of the days, especially for Saturdays and Sundays. The students wrote their
findings first and then had a chance to draw, so they were motivated to write. This was also the first time this year the
students had drawn a graph and were explained how to use them correctly. The weakness of this lesson was that it took a
long time to draw the graph and then chart it. The other weakness is that I was not monitoring their journal work so some
children stopped observing and drawing the weather.

Evaluation:
Overall, this lesson went well. We ended up having to do it all in one day due to two of the children leaving early
for spring break, and the fact that the following week was spring break, and we were not going to be in school. Ideally this
lesson should have been two to three days. The one thing I would change and do differently next time is have a mini
lesson on how to draw a graph. This is the first time these students created one, which took up a lot of our time. The host
has the students create a graph, but not as detailed as mine. She just has them draw the graphic and then put on the
stickers. They are then able to make observations and count how many days each weather condition occurred. Maybe
having a real detailed graph would be for a later time, I think I jumped skills and should have had a very basic graph.
Even though it took a long time, the students were still engaged. At one point another class came into the room and were
filling the hydroponic grow system, which naturally took their attention. They were able to pause and listen to the new
lesson but came back and went right back to work. I tried to stop the lesson after we graphed so the next day we could
analyze and observe the graph to find patterns in the weather, but two students said they were going to be gone the next
day. I told them we could continue, and the others can wait until tomorrow, but they all said they still wanted to work, so
we continued. They worked together to notice the patterns, and then I would rephrase it and we would create one sentence
at a time. I wrote it down on my paper and they would try and write it themselves. I would then help write out the
sentence or words they didn’t do, and they traced over them while stating the sentence. Once complete they were able to
illustrate it, which was exciting for them. Using the dots was also fun and kept them engaged for the lesson. My favorite
part was after they noticed that we had more rainy days, Hollis stated, “the Earth is crying!” All the students followed, and
they kept repeating it. I should have added that statement to their sentences.
As I stated before, I should have made this a two- or three-day lesson, starting off with a mini lesson on drawing
and designing a graph. I feel like the second day were could have graphed and wrote out their findings. The graph design
took up the most time.
The collaboration of the students was successful. They worked well together and had a happy demeanor while
working. At times they could distract each other, but I was able to bring them back successfully. One child had a harder
time staying focused and paying attention. I should have moved his chair so his back was to the rest of the class. We put
two worktables together so six of the kindergarteners could work together. This does not happen a lot, so they were
excited to be working and collaborating in this workstation.
I feel I should have paid more attention to the daily observations and their graphics. Some of the students didn’t
work in their writing journal every day, so they did not observe and document the weather. The expectation for the class
work is that the Kindergarteners need to work every day on their language arts, math, and reading. It was apparent that
some of the students to not do their writing every day. At the end of the lesson, I let them know that they need to stay on
top of their writing and documenting observations because we are going to graph and look for patterns again. I am going
to make sure I come back to this after spring break and pay more attention to their writing and observation work.

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