fourth grade worksample -weather unit
TRANSCRIPT
Wild & Wacky Weather
Topic: Weather
Concept: Patterns
By: Tasha Grant
Fourth Grade Science Unit
Spring 2009
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Table of Contents
Chapter Page
Instructional Setting………………………………………………… 1 3 Family Communication Plan……………………………………….. 2 11 Unit Rationale………………………...…………………………….. 3 13 Unit Outline…………………………...……………………………. 4 15 Assessment Plan……………………………………………………. 5 26 Learning Plan……………………………………………………….. 6 42 Lesson 1: What Do You Know About Weather?....………………... 7 50 Lesson 2: Weather Haikus…………………………………………. 8 54 Lesson 3: What is Weather?............................................................... 9 59 Lesson 4: Weather Tools…………………………………………… 10 65 Lesson 5: Clouds…………………………………………………… 11 69 Lesson 6: Water Wonders………………………………………….. 12 72 Lesson 7: Weather Patterns and Seasons…………………………… 13 88 Lesson 8: Looking into the Crystal Ball—Predicting the Weather.... 14 93 Lesson 9: Extreme Weather………………………………………… 15 100 Lesson 10: 3, 2, 1—You‟re On!......................................................... 16 110 Lesson 11: Weather Wizards…..…………………………………… 17 118 Post Assessment Data Display……………………………………... 18 125 Assessment Analysis……………………………………………….. 19 128 Summary of Student Growth………………………………………. 20 129 Analytical Essay……………………………………………………. 21 136
Resources…………………………………………………………… 22 139 Appendix A: Samples of student work……..………………………. 23 140
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Part I: Community, School, and Classroom contexts
Community:
The school is located in a retirement community with a population of 34,237. The city is
located in the valley of the Rogue River and much of the community and its activities revolve
around this feature. The economy of the area was at one time based upon the timber industry but
has since diversified to include a mix of light manufacturing, secondary wood products, retail
trade, tourism, and recreation and service based industries. The climate in the area is mild; with
temperatures ranging from the mid 20‟s to high‟s right above 100. This mild climate and outdoor
inspired living led the community to be featured in a national magazine as one of the top ten
places to retire and since then the retirement population has boomed. This population boom
fueled the expansion of the medical and retirement facilities in the valley. Another result of the
steadily increasing retirement population was an increase in housing prices to the point where the
average family in the area cannot afford to purchase a home. The average home price in the area
is $231,700 an increase of over 200% since 2000 when the average home sold for $111,200. The
median household income is $37,400. The racial composition is as follows: White, non-
Hispanic—90.1%; Hispanic—5.4%; Two or more races—2.9%; Native American—2.5%; other
race—1.6% (total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted as other races).
Based upon the information from the City-Data website, it is easy to conclude that the
community is not that diverse.
The community is served by six elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high
schools. For the past one and a half years the library has been closed due to lack of funding.
This has put a burden on the community in many ways. A makeshift library was created this past
summer as an effort by teachers in the valley to continue exposing the students to great literature
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and the joy of reading. Thanks to the hard work of many community members, the library
recently reopened. Another resource in the valley is the vast population of retired people. Many
times these folks are looking for opportunities to help out in the community and would love to
come to the school and be involved in reading with students.
School Setting:
The mission of the school is to create “a community dedicated to academic success,
social responsibility, and the pursuit of lifelong learning.” The guiding principles are to provide
a caring environment that enhances self worth, guiding children to make responsible decisions,
that each individual has unique talents, prepare students to appreciate and contribute to our
multicultural, diverse, global society, set high standards, and that families are partners in
education.
The school has 17 classroom teachers, a P.E. teacher, a music teacher, a special ed
teacher, and a reading specialist for a total of 21 teachers. All of the teachers except the special
ed teacher and the ELL teacher are female. The school has 390 students, 74% of whom qualify
for free or reduced price lunches. The racial composition of the school is as follows: 82% white,
non-Hispanic; 16% Hispanic; 2% American Indian; <1% Asian/Pacific Islander; <1% Black, not
Hispanic. There is a slight difference in the racial composition of the school as compared to the
community. This difference is mainly between the White, non-Hispanic totals and the Hispanic
totals. I believe that the cause of this discrepancy is the fact that the school is one of two
elementary schools in the district that has programs for ELL students. The school is also
recognized as a Title I school, which means that the school receives additional funding to
provide supplementary instruction in the areas of reading and math instruction for students. The
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Title I reading specialist and trained instructional assistants work with students both in individual
classrooms and in the reading room. A speech therapist visits the school on a regular basis to
work with students who are referred for services. The child development specialist visits the
school several days a week to teach lessons on positive interactions and consult individually with
students.
The school day lasts from 8:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Students are given a 45 minute lunch,
of which 15 minutes is allotted for eating and 30 minutes for recess. There is also a 10 minute
morning recess. Students also are out of the main classroom for music and P.E. They attend one
or the other every day. In the fourth grade students are given the option to participate in string
instruments, and in fifth grade they can choose to play band instruments. These programs are in
addition to the regular music classes.
The school is a Positive Behavior School (PBS). This means that the emphasis is on
creating proactive strategies to encourage positive school environments. Strategies used at this
school include „Caught Slips‟ in which the teacher marks a box stating whether the behavior was
responsible, respectful, safe, or for helping others. The slip then gets entered into drawings for
random things, like books or lunch with the principal or teacher.
Read at Home is a school wide program to encourage students to read at home every
night throughout the year. Each student chooses a book and takes it home where they read to an
adult for at least 15 minutes each night. The adult then signs a slip that is returned with the
student stating the book that was read and whether or not the student had trouble reading.
Throughout the year students can earn classroom parties, t-shirts, and other prizes.
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One of my favorite features at this school is the morning announcements. After the main
announcements and Pledge of Allegiance, the composer of the week is announced with a short
statement about the composer or music. Then a five minute piece of classical music is played
over the intercom. I feel that this sets the mood for the rest of the morning.
Classroom Setting:
The fourth grade classroom that I am currently student teaching in consists of 16
students. There are 5 boys and 11 girls in the classroom. There is one ELL student and 3 Special
Education students in the classroom. These four students are all absent from the classroom for
most of the afternoon. The classroom itself is an inviting place. There is a small carpeted area
with a couch and rocking chair that functions as the class library and reading area. Plump pillows
line the couch and are thrown on the floor to create a soft place for students to curl up with a
book. There are two horse-shoe shaped tables at the back of the classroom that are used mainly
for reading group and when students are working together as groups. The desks are arranged in
two groups that are each shaped like a „C‟, with one group facing the other. There are 8 kids on
each side.
There is a lot of time built in for silent reading throughout the day. After the
announcements, the day begins with half of the class participating in Strings and half of the
students who are left in the classroom leaving for the computer lab to participate in Read
Naturally. This program is used to help increase their reading fluency. These students are gone
for 30 minutes. When they return, reading groups begin. There are three reading groups in this
class: yellow, blue, and green groups. There is one assistant in the classroom during this time,
and she works primarily with the green group. These students are the most intensive group and
work together. The students in the yellow and blue groups split their time between working
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independently and working in a group with the teacher. After reading, the students participate in
P.E. on Mondays and Wednesdays and music on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The class switches
every Friday from P.E. to Music (one week is music, next is P.E.). When the students return to
the classroom they have writing time. Most of the time the students are writing using specific
prompts that relate to what they are studying in science or social studies. The last hour before
lunch is spent studying math. The three fourth grade teachers work together to teach math. The
students are divided based upon their skill level in regards to math, and then they go to the
specific classroom for their level. The classroom that I am student teaching in caters to the high
level students. Most of the students are identified as Talented and Gifted. After lunch the
students come in from recess ready to listen to the read-aloud. This lasts for 15 to 20 minutes
and helps to calm the students down for SSR (sustained silent reading), which lasts for forty
minutes. There is one student who leaves during this time to participate in Double Dose reading
instruction in the Title 1 room. Students can take their accelerated reader tests and read to an
adult if needed during SSR. The final part of the day is spent on either science or social studies.
There is 30 minutes allotted for these lessons, but often the same topic is discussed during
writing.
Part II: Individual Learners and Adaptations
NA is a newer immigrant to this country. She arrived in California a little over a year ago
and moved to our area prior to the start of this school year. She is learning English quickly. She
has a sister who is also in the fourth grade. Much of her writing is stories from when she was
living in Mexico. She is an extremely hard worker and is always trying to complete her work to
the best of her abilities. There are three reading and math groups; she is in the lowest reading
group and the middle math group. She recently started Read Naturally to help improve her
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fluency. She will not be in the classroom during most of this unit as she is in the ELL classroom
from 11:35 until the end of the day at 2:15.
AA is a student who aims to please. She is always asking how she can help around the
classroom. She is a former ELL student. She has very strict, protective parents who often forbid
her from participating in field trips. Her family attends Jehovah‟s Witness services, so she does
not participate in the flag salute in the morning or any sort of holiday celebration. She is in the
middle reading and math groups.
AC is quiet and shy. She often has a thick book at her fingertips. She has a great
temperament and is a good leader in groups. She is in the highest reading and math groups. She
is a dedicated student and hard worker. It is almost impossible to get her nose out of a book. She
is a TAG student. She participates in strings every morning. Her family is involved in her
education, and she is close to extended family (aunts, uncles, and cousins) as well.
NC is a very smart student, but she struggles with staying on task. She is in the highest
math and reading groups and is a TAG student. If she applied herself she would be an even better
student. She frequently forgets her homework and “Read At Home” slips.
MF is one of the success stories in this class. At the beginning of the year she was a
struggling reader in the lowest group. At the start of this trimester she made the leap to the
highest reading group. She is doing well and she feels more challenged in this group. She is in
the middle group for her math instruction. She tends to be shy and quiet until she has something
to share, and then she will speak up right away.
RH is a student who tends to get excited easily. She can be silly at times, and if SS and
she are close to each other they are bound to be talking. She sometimes struggles with making
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decisions. She is in the middle reading and math groups. She is interested in Goosebumps and
always chooses these books to read.
TH struggles with completing his work. The apathy he shows for schoolwork is
something that is more often seen in older students. He is a Special Education student and spends
time out of the classroom every afternoon. He is in the lowest reading and math groups. With
guided, one-on-one help he is very capable of completing his work.
TM is a student who needs constant attention. He is almost always off task. He has
ADHD and receives medicine. He needs redirection frequently throughout the day. TM is also a
Special Education student for math. He is in the lowest math group and the middle reading
group.
DM is a newer student at this school. He has been here for about 3 months now, and at
the beginning he was excelling. Recently though, his work has been slipping. He is struggling to
meet his reading goals. He is in the middle groups for reading and math.
KM is a shy student who glows when she receives praise. She is a Special Education
student for math and reading. She is out of the classroom for the afternoon. She is in the lowest
reading and math groups. KM exclusively reads non-fiction books. She has a sister in the fourth
grade too.
CN is a responsible student. He can be counted on to finish his homework and work
independently at his desk. He is in the middle math and reading groups. His home life is not the
greatest. He wanted to go live with his dad but didn‟t tell his mom and step-dad. His step-dad has
treated CN in a rude manner. This week it was brought to our attention that his mom and step-
dad are getting a divorce.
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CR is a fun student to have in class. She is somewhat shy, but she is smart. She is always
willing to take on a challenge. CR is in the highest math and reading groups. She is also a TAG
student. Her family is very involved in her education, although her dad is currently in training for
the Army. Her parents are divorced and have since remarried.
SS is a student who is constantly trudging along. She struggles in reading and math, and
is in the lowest groups in both of these subjects. Her family is working with the school to help SS
succeed. Although she often has difficulties, she does not allow this to affect her attitude. She
seems to always have a positive, happy attitude.
CS is one of the brightest students in class. The math and reading assignments are easily
understood and quickly mastered by her. She is in the highest math and reading groups and is
also a member of the TAG program at the school. Her family is always willing to lend a hand for
class activities and field trips.
JT is a student who is constantly moving on hyper-drive. He is always in motion, even if
it is just his mouth. There tends to be problems between TM and him, but they are quickly
solved. JT is in the middle reading and math groups. He has insightful writing, but he often tries
to get away with not doing his work.
KV is a student with an impressive knowledge about vocabulary and random facts. This
knowledge tends to make its way into the classroom in many ways, however most often she
dominates the classroom discussion by blurting out her thoughts. She currently uses a tracking
system that stays on her desk in which she makes a tally every time she blurts out. This has
helped to raise her awareness of times she is interrupting the class and stealing the think time of
other students. She is in the highest math and reading groups and is a member of TAG.
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Dear Families,
My name is Mrs. Grant and I am a student teacher in your son/daughter’s
fourth grade classroom. This opportunity is the last step I will take before receiving my
Master in Teaching from Southern Oregon University, and I’m very excited to be here at
Riverside. I spent the first part of the school year in a first grade classroom at
Riverside, occasionally popping into the fourth grade to get to know the students. I have
been in the classroom observing and working with Mrs. Seeley on a full time basis since
coming back from spring break. I will be working with your child in this classroom until
the end of the year.
I will begin teaching a unit on “weather” the first week of May. This unit will
help your child discover how weather is formed, the effects of weather, and how to
predict and measure weather. In the weeks leading up to this unit, please take the time
to watch the weather forecast on the nightly news or read the weather page in the
newspaper.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. You can reach me
by phone at 218-0099, or by email at [email protected].
I am looking forward to getting to work with you and your child in the upcoming
weeks. We will have many wonderful experiences and opportunities to learn and grow in
the days ahead.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Grant
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Dear Families,
These past two weeks I taught my work sample weather unit to your child. The
kids had a blast learning about the different aspects of weather.
The students participated in several projects over the past two weeks. They created
various art projects included a torn paper collage to match their weather haikus and
bleach art cloud drawings. They also got to experience life as a drop of water as it
travelled throughout the water cycle. The students’ final project was to create a weather
broadcast for another class that would be leaving on a field trip. Sadly I was unable
to be in the classroom to see these presentations, but I heard from the substitute that
their presentations were fabulous! Many of the students’ said that this was their
favorite activity this spring.
If you would like to discuss your child’s results from this unit, please feel free to
contact me with any questions or concerns. You can contact me by phone at 218-0099,
or by email at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Mrs. Grant
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Weather influences every person on this planet. It can have a small impact that just dictates
whether you will wear shorts or pants. But for some people it can have a huge impact, often determining
if their family will survive the year or not. For both of these reasons it is important for students to study
and learn about weather. In this unit I will teach the fourth grade students the different aspects that make
up weather as well as simple ways to monitor and track the patterns of weather that they experience.
Patterns in weather will be explored throughout this unit. We will look at the different seasons
that are experienced around the world and how the sun influences these seasons. We will also look at
patterns in the water cycle and why these patterns continue to repeat. As this knowledge of patterns
develops in the students they will be able to apply this knowledge to patterns that they notice occurring
around themselves. This concept is important for students to learn and understand because it can help
them to make sense of the world around them. Recognition of these patterns will also help students to
predict future weather patterns.
This unit will lead to a greater awareness of the environment and how different actions that we
take can have an impact on the world. This can lead to discussions about the different values people hold
in relation to the environment and how these values are (or are not) contributing to the idea of global
warming. Students can also examine the diversity issues that arise from severe weather phenomena, such
as the horrific events of Hurricane Katrina, and how most people affected by this type of weather live in
poverty. Students could discuss how to educate the people affected by extreme weather (hurricanes,
tornados, monsoons, droughts) so that the severity and length of recovery from these events could be
lessened.
The enduring understandings of this unit will show students that weather is more than just what is
happening in the atmosphere. Throughout this unit students will be learning to analyze their surroundings
to find other ways of looking at an event or series of events. Patterns will be discovered in the many
aspects of weather. Students will also realize that even simple scientific events can invoke an emotional
response in people. This is important for students to learn because often more empathy is needed in our
world when weather disasters occur.
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My unit design reflects my personal philosophy of education. I will utilize my
love of technology to fully engage the students in the unit. I plan on using new technology
throughout the unit to allow the students to create their own understandings. From there I will
lead students on an adventure to discover how weather affects each person‟s life. I believe that
students will learn best when presented with a project that relates directly to their lives. In this
unit, students will be working together to create a weather forecast to broadcast to other
classrooms around the school for an upcoming week of weather.
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Wild & Wacky Weather
Topic: Weather
Concept: Patterns
Grade Level: 4th grade
Focus Standards
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Knowledge Skills
*Vocabulary of weather terms
*time periods for different types of weather
(hurricanes in summer, snow in winter)
*Water cycle
*The sun‟s role in causing weather
*Describe patterns of weather
*Draw the water cycle
Implied or Stated Understandings/Big Ideas
*Patterns exist all around us.
*Heating of the Earth‟s surface & atmosphere by the sun drives convection within the
atmosphere and oceans producing winds and ocean currents.
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.01: Describe weather in measurable
quantities including temperature, wind direction, wind speed, and
precipitation.
Knowledge Skills
*Tools to use—barometer, thermometer
(Fahrenheit and Celsius), weather vane and
wind directions, anemometer and wind
speeds, rain gauge
*Choosing which tool to use
*reading the measurements
*Use readings to describe the weather
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Implied or Stated Understandings/Big Ideas
*The same thing can be described and measured in different ways
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.02: Interpret data over a period of time
and use information to describe changes in weather from day to
day, week to week, and season to season.
Knowledge Skills
*Accurate measurements from a specific
period of time
*Interpret data
*Identify changes and patterns
*Analyze and predict future weather
Implied or Stated Understandings/Big Ideas
*Weather doesn‟t stay the same; it is constantly changing.
Standards: Math
Common Curricular Goal: Data Analysis and Predictions: Develop and evaluate
inferences and predictions that are based on data.
Standard: Statistics and Probability
Benchmark MA 04.SP.06: Predict the degree of likelihood of a
single event occurring using words such as certain, impossible,
most often, least often, likely, and unlikely.
Knowledge Skills
*Vocabulary—certain, impossible, most
often, least often, likely, and unlikely
*Make predictions by examining patterns
and studying the weather data collected
Implied or Stated Understandings/Big Ideas
*Patterns that may not be obvious will become clear through statistical analysis and
display of data.
Standards: English Language Arts
Common Curricular Goal: Writing Applications: Narrative Writing: Write narrative,
expository, and persuasive texts, using a variety of written forms—including journals,
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essays, short stories, poems, research reports, research papers, business and technical
writing—to express ideas appropriate to audience to purpose across the subject areas.
Standard: Writing
Benchmark EL.04.WR.23: Write personal narratives: Include
ideas, observations, or memories of an event or experience.
Provide a context to allow the reader to imagine the world of the
event or experience. Use concrete sensory details. Provide insight
into why the selected event or experience is memorable.
Knowledge Skills
*Haiku form—5-7-5
*Details and words to describe weather
*Visualization of a weather event
*Recording and writing the details of the
event
Implied or Stated Understandings/Big Ideas
*Weather can be an emotional experience
Standards: Career Related Learning
Common Curricular Goal: Integrate academic, technical and organizations knowledge
and skills to work successfully in family, school, community, and workplace settings.
Standard: Employment Foundations
Benchmark 1: Identify uses of technology in home, community, and
jobs.
Knowledge Skills
*Types of technology used at home and by
communities and meteorologists to track
weather
*Identify the different uses of technology
*Critical thinking about the different ways
people can use the technology
Implied or Stated Understandings /Big Ideas
*There are many different ways people can use technology to predict weather.
Support Standards
Standards: Math
Common Curricular Goal: Direct & Indirect Measurement: Apply appropriate
techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements.
Standard: Measurement
Benchmark MA.04.ME.04: Read temperature measurements of
thermometers with Fahrenheit and Celsius units and recognize
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reasonable ranges of temperatures for different events (e.g. cold or
hot day).
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.03.01: Identify effects of wind and water
on Earth materials using appropriate models.
Standards: Art
Common Curricular Goal: Express ideas, mood and feelings through the arts and
evaluate how well a work of art expresses one‟s intent.
Standard: Create, Present, and Perform
Benchmark AR.05.CP.03: Create, present and/or perform a work
of art and explain how the use of essential elements and
organizational principles shapes an idea, mood or feeling found in
the work.
Standards: English Language Arts
Common Curricular Goal: Listen to and Read Informational and Narrative Text: Listen
to, read, and understand a wide variety of informational and narrative text across the
subject areas at school and on own, applying comprehension strategies as needed.
Standard: Reading
Benchmark EL.04.RE.05: Demonstrate listening comprehension
of more complex text through class and/or small group interpretive
discussions across the subject areas.
Enduring Understandings: Students will understand that:
There are many different ways people can use technology to predict weather.
Natural events can invoke strong emotions.
Patterns that may not be obvious will become clear through statistical analysis and
displaying of the data.
Weather doesn‟t stay the same; it is constantly changing.
The same thing can be described and measured in different ways.
Patterns exist all around us.
Essential Questions:
What is weather?
Are there true patterns in nature? In weather?
Can weather be predicted accurately?
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Task Analysis:
Students will know: The purpose of the sun in relation to weather.
What the atmosphere is (blanket of gases), as well as the different layers (Thermosphere,
mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere).
The water cycle: precipitation, run off, evaporation, transpiration
How a cloud is formed
Identify different types of clouds (cirrus, cumulus, cumulonimbus, stratus)
Wind and its causes
Different types of weather: rain, sun, monsoon, hurricane, tornado, thunderstorms, etc.
Patterns of weather in different parts of the world (different seasons)
Students will be able to: Forecast the weather
Read the different tools to measure weather
Label the water cycle
Analyze past weather patterns to predict future weather patterns
Students will understand the following Big Ideas: Patterns exist all around us, especially in weather.
Predictions are just that: predictions. They are rarely 100% accurate.
Weather can be seen as a good thing (helps plants to grow) or a bad thing (destroys
communities).
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Final Performance Task: GRASPS
You are a meteorologist that recently moved to the Rogue Valley. You were asked by
(insert teacher‟s name here) to do a special broadcast for her students to prepare them for their
upcoming field trip. (insert teacher‟s name here) has asked you to provide the students in her
classroom with information about the current day‟s weather (including high and low
temperatures and any precipitation) and your forecast for the following day‟s weather (using
words like „certainly‟ „likely‟ „unlikely‟ „impossible‟ „most often‟ and „least often‟).
You will need to create and/or choose at least 2 props to go along with your clip,
including but not limited to umbrellas, sunglasses, hats, rain jackets, rain boots. You will also
create large signs with pictures (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) to visually show what the weather
will be like for the following day. It will be helpful to write down a script of what you want to
say before getting in front of the camera. You can then either memorize what you will say or
create cue cards to read as you present.
Once you have your prediction and script ready, the film crew will record your broadcast.
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GRASPS
Goal: Your task is to present an accurate forecast of the weather to a specific
audience around the school.
Role: You are a meteorologist in the Rogue Valley.
Audience:
Your target audiences are the different classrooms around the school (3
first grade classrooms, 3 second grade classrooms, 3 third grade
classrooms, 3 fifth grade classrooms).
Situation: Your challenge is to accurately present the following day‟s weather
forecast.
Product,
Performance, and
Purpose:
You need to use the tools that you have learned about to record weather,
as well as your knowledge about patterns in weather, to help predict the
weather for a specific day. You will then write a script and shoot a short
digital clip that will be broadcast to the students around the school.
Standards and
Criteria for Success:
Your clip will need to include :
Highlights about the current day‟s weather (including high and
low temperatures and any precipitation).
Forecast for tomorrow using words like „certainly, likely,
unlikely, impossible, most often, least often‟.
You will need to create/choose at least 3 props to go along with
your clip, including but not limited to umbrellas, sunglasses, hats,
rain jackets, rain boots, large signs with pictures you have drawn
(sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.).
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Final Performance Task Rubric
CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Performance Speaks clearly
and distinctly all
of the time and
mispronounces
no words.
Speaks clearly
and distinctly all
of the time but
mispronounces 1
or more words.
Speaks clearly
and distinctly
most of the time
and
mispronounces
no words.
Does NOT speak
clearly and
distinctly most of
the time AND/OR
mispronounces
more than 1
word.
Predictions/Measurements All supportive
facts are reported
accurately (3 of
3).
Almost all facts
are reported
accurately (2 of
3).
One fact is
reported
accurately.
No facts are
reported
accurately OR no
facts were
reported.
Point of View - Purpose Newscast
establishes a
purpose at the
beginning and
maintains that
focus throughout!
Cohesive
newscast.
Establishes a
purpose at the
beginning, but
occasionally
wanders from
that focus.
The purpose is
somewhat clear
but many aspects
of the newscast
seem only slightly
related.
It was difficult to
figure out the
purpose of the
newscast.
Group Work The group
functioned
exceptionally
well. All members
listened to,
shared with and
supported the
efforts of others.
The group (all
members) was
almost always on
task!
The group
functioned pretty
well. Most
members listened
to, shared with
and supported
the efforts of
others. The group
(all members)
was almost
always on task!
The group
functioned fairly
well but was
dominated by one
or two members.
The group (all
members) was
almost always on
task!
Some members
of the group were
often off task
AND/OR were
overtly
disrespectful to
others in the
group AND/OR
were typically
disregarded by
other group
members.
23
Prior Knowledge Inventory
KWL Chart—Students will complete a KWL chart on weather. During the pre-assessment
phase the students will complete the section of the graphic organizer that applies to what they
already know about weather and the section that asks what the students would like to learn about
weather. This chart will be done individually and as a group. Individually, students will keep the
chart in their science notebook. Once they have the chart completed for themselves, students will
write two items from their “know” section and two items from the “want to know” section on
Post-It notes. We will then create a classroom chart using these Post-It notes. This chart will be
hanging somewhere in the room, and at certain points throughout the unit I will have students
examine the chart and move items from the “want to know” section to the “learned” section. This
design will help students to visually see what they are learning throughout the unit with the
ultimate goal to move every post it from the “want to know” to the “learned” section.
Pre-Test—This pre-test will help me to assess what the students know about weather as we go
into the unit. The questions on the pre-test will be based upon the learning goals that I have
created for this unit. I will mainly be looking for the identification of vocabulary terms and
knowledge on the facts of weather. I will also be testing the students‟ knowledge of different
types of tools to help measure weather. The test will be administered using Turning Point Clicker
technology. This technology helps to reduce the test anxiety for most students and turns testing
almost into a game.
Water Cycle Drawing—Students will be given a blank sheet of paper and asked to draw the
water cycle. I chose to include this as a pre-assessment because drawing is an easy way to model
the water cycle, which is a major aspect of many of the different types of weather.
24
Weather What do you
KNOW
What do you
WANT TO LEARN
What have you
LEARNED
25
26
27
28
Formative Assessments
Science Journal—During the course of this unit, students will be keeping a science notebook.
This notebook will have various graphic organizers and places for students to take notes during
lessons. The first page of the journal will be the KWL chart students completed as a pre-
assessment. I will guide students back to this page at points throughout the unit so they can
observe and record what they are learning. Another aspect of this notebook will be a daily
weather log. Students will take turns observing and sharing with the class the current weather
measurements for the temperature, precipitation, wind speed, humidity, barometric pressure, and
cloud cover. These will be recorded twice a day, at 8:05 a.m. and at 12:35 p.m. In the next
section of the students‟ notebook will be a glossary of weather terms. I will also include
drawings for students to label. These pages will have pictures of clouds, a drawing of the water
cycle, and also a drawing of the layers of the atmosphere. Students will get to watch a Bill Nye
the Science Guy episode on the water cycle, so I will include a guided notes page for the
students to record what they learn from watching the video.
Poetry and Artwork—At the beginning of the unit students will explore the weather that they
have experienced through poetry and artwork that they create. This will help students to
understand that we feel weather physically (rain falling on our skin, sunshine warming our
faces), but it can also affect us emotionally.
29
Weather Watch Chart
Date Temperature Humidity Barometer Wind Precipitation Cloud Type
30
Weather Vocabulary What is Weather?
Air mass___________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Air pressure________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Atmosphere_________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Front______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Mesosphere_________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Stratosphere________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Thermosphere_______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Troposphere________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Clouds:
Cirrus_____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
31
Cumulus___________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Cumulonimbus______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Stratus_____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
The Water Cycle:
Condensation_______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Evaporation_________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Precipitation________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Transpiration________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Water cycle_________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
32
Word Bank:
a) Precipitation b) Snow c) Rain d) Hail e) Evaporation f) Condensation g) Run-off h) Streams & rivers i) Lakes, seas, and oceans j) Water vapor k) Ice crystals l) Water droplets
1.______________
2.______________
3.______________
4._______
5._______
6._______
12.______________
7.______________
8.______________
9.______________
10.______________
11.______________
33
Cause Effect Earth’s axis is
tilted.
The Northern
Hemisphere is
pointed away
from the sun.
The Southern
Hemisphere of
Earth is pointed
toward the sun.
34
Extreme Weather:____________________________
What happens in this kind of weather?
What time of the year is this weather most likely to occur?
Where in the world does this type of weather occur?
What should you do in this type of weather to protect yourself?
35
Water Wonders Score Card Name: ______________________________________________________________
Station Stop What Happens Destination Example:
Cloud Fall as rain Ocean
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
36
Summative Assessment
Post-Test—The post test will be used to assess what facts and terms the students have learned
about weather. I will use the same test as I used for the pre-test so that I can compare the scores.
I will use Turning Point Clicker technology for this test.
Water Cycle Drawing and paragraph—Students will draw and label the water cycle on a
blank sheet of paper. This summative assessment will help me to determine if the students
understand the water cycle and the different components that it is made of.
Final Performance Task—You are a meteorologist that recently moved to the Rogue Valley.
You were asked by (insert teacher‟s name here) to do a special broadcast for her students to
prepare them for their upcoming field trip. (insert teacher‟s name here) has asked you to provide
the students in her classroom with information about the current day‟s weather (including high
and low temperatures and any precipitation) and your forecast for the following day‟s weather
(using words like „certainly‟ „likely‟ „unlikely‟ „impossible‟ „most often‟ and „least often‟).
Working with a partner, you will need to create and/or choose at least 2 props to go along
with your clip, including but not limited to umbrellas, sunglasses, hats, rain jackets, rain boots.
You will also create large signs with pictures (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) to visually show what
the weather will be like for the following day. It will be helpful to write down a script of what
you want to say before getting in front of the camera. You can then either memorize what you
will say or create cue cards to read as you present. Your partner will be the cameraman for you,
and you will be the cameraman for your partner.
This task will allow the students to put to use everything they have learned about
weather.
37
Student Interview—After the unit is completed I will interview the students to assess what they
have learned and what they enjoyed during this unit. I will ask students to evaluate their own
performance during the interview as well.
38
39
40
41
What‟s the Weather? Take on the role of a weather forecaster. Observe and record current weather conditions. Then predict
the weather for the next day and write your own forecast.
1. Review the current weather conditions on your Weather Watch Chart and observe what
you see happening out the window.
2. Fill in the chart with words that describe current weather conditions in nonstandard
measures.
Weather Forecast
Temperature
Humidity
Air Pressure
Wind
Precipitation
Cloud Cover
3. Use your observations to write a forecast for tomorrow‟s weather. Use words such as
certain, impossible, most often, least often, likely, and unlikely.
42
Lesson 1: What do you know about weather? Students will work on their own and in groups to examine what they already know about weather
and what they want to learn about weather.
Students will be able to:
Objective 1: Complete a KWL graphic organizer on what they know and want to know about
weather on the graphic organizer in their science journal.
Objective 2: Create a group KWL graphic organizer using their own notes.
Instructional Strategies:
Brainstorming & discussion
Standards being addressed:
Focus Standards:
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Modifications/Adaptations:
The groups of desks in the classroom are organized in a way that there is an academically
strong student who function as a leader at each group of desks to help keep students on
task.
Lesson 2: Weather Haikus Students will examine their thoughts, feelings, and emotions associated with weather by
expressing themselves through haikus.
Students will be able to:
Objective 1: Compose a haiku on the subject of weather, based upon personal experience.
Objective 2: Create a paper collage to illustrate haiku using the scraps of construction paper.
Instructional Strategies:
Brainstorming and discussion
Metaphors, analogies, & similes
Visualization & guided imagery
Standards being addressed:
Focus Standards:
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Benchmark EL.04.WR.23: Write personal narratives: Include ideas, observations, or memories
of an event or experience. Provide a context to allow the reader to imagine the world of the event
or experience. Use concrete sensory details. Provide insight into why the selected event or
experience is memorable.
43
Modifications/Adaptations:
Students with difficulties in writing or recognizing syllable patterns will work one on one
with the teacher.
For students who don‟t have time to get to the artwork, I have a coloring page with a
haiku example and an illustration to color.
Lesson 3: What is Weather? What is weather? What causes weather? Where exactly does weather take place? These are the
questions that will be addressed in this lesson.
Students will be able to:
Objective 1: identify how air masses affect weather in a group discussion.
Objective 2: define weather terms (air mass, air pressure, atmosphere, front, mesosphere,
stratosphere, thermosphere, and troposphere) in science journal.
Instructional Strategies:
Direct instruction
Visuals
Writing & journals
Standards being addressed:
Focus Standards:
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Support Standards:
Benchmark EL.04.RE.05: Demonstrate listening comprehension of more complex text through
class and/or small group interpretive discussions across the subject areas.
Modifications/Adaptations:
Work with students to create shorter definitions for the weather terms.
Keep eye on TM. He gets antsy during direct instruction. Make sure he is on task.
Check in often with NA. She is an ELL student and is not in the classroom for most
science lessons.
Lesson 4: Weather Tools In this lesson students will learn about the different ways that weather can be measured and the
tools that can be used to accurately measure weather. Students will also be introduced to the
chart in their science notebook to record the weather every day.
Students will be able to:
Objective 1: Identify, with 100% accuracy, the weather instruments verbally and list their
function in the science journal.
44
Objective 2: Choose the correct instrument to measure the different aspects of weather
(precipitation, temperature, barometric pressure, and wind speed and direction) with 100 %
accuracy.
Instructional Strategies:
Technology
Visuals
Manipulatives, experiments, labs, and models
Standards being addressed:
Focus Standards:
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.01: Describe weather in measurable quantities including temperature,
wind direction, wind speed, and precipitation.
Career Related Learning, Benchmark 1: Identify uses of technology in home, community,
and jobs.
Support Standards:
Benchmark MA.04.ME.04: Read temperature measurements of thermometers with Fahrenheit
and Celsius units and recognize reasonable ranges of temperatures for different events (e.g. cold
or hot day).
Modifications/Adaptations:
Ensure that each student is given an equal amount of time with each weather instrument.
Lesson 5: Clouds Clouds can be seen on most days, whether they are puffy, fanciful clouds or dark, scary storm
clouds. In this lesson students will examine clouds and how they affect weather.
Students will be able to:
Objective 1: Draw the four main types of clouds (cirrus, cumulonimbus, cumulus, and stratus)
using blue construction paper and bleach.
Objective 2: Identify and define the four main types of clouds on artwork
Instructional Strategies:
Direct instruction
Drawing and artwork
Visuals
Standards being addressed:
Focus Standards
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
45
Career Related Learning, Benchmark 1: Identify uses of technology in home, community,
and jobs.
Support Standards
Benchmark SC.05.ES.03.01: Identify effects of wind and water on Earth materials using
appropriate models.
Modifications/Adaptations:
Circulate throughout the room, checking in with TM, TH, KM, and NA to check for
understanding.
Lesson 6: Water Wonders Students will review what they learned in the Bill Nye video about the water cycle and then
participate in the “Water Wonders” game. After the game, students will discuss how the game
was a simulation of the water cycle through guided questions.
Students will be able to:
Objective 1: Draw and label the different stages of the water cycle (precipitation, evaporation,
condensation, and runoff) in the science journal with no errors.
Objective 2: Interpret and relate the outcome of the “Water Wonders” game to the water cycle
through a guided whole class discussion.
Instructional Strategies:
Brainstorming and discussion
Games
Movement
Standards being addressed:
Focus Standards:
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Support Standards:
Benchmark SC.05.ES.03.01: Identify effects of wind and water on Earth materials using
appropriate models.
Benchmark EL.04.RE.05: Demonstrate listening comprehension of more complex text through
class and/or small group interpretive discussions across the subject areas.
Modifications/Adaptations:
Pair TM, TH, NA, KM with CN, KV, CS, AC.
Lesson 7: Weather Patterns/Seasons
46
In this lesson students will explore the weather patterns and seasons of Oregon, the Northwest
region, the United States, and the world.
Students will be able to:
Objective 1: Analyze the similarities and differences of weather patterns between the regions on
a graphic organizer.
Instructional Strategies:
Direct instruction
Graphic organizers
Visuals
Standards being addressed:
Focus Standards:
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.01: Describe weather in measurable quantities including temperature,
wind direction, wind speed, and precipitation.
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.02: Interpret data over a period of time and use information to
describe changes in weather from day to day, week to week, and season to season.
Modifications/Adaptations:
Circulate throughout the room, checking in with TM, TH, KM, and NA to check for
understanding.
Lesson 8: Predicting the Weather Students will become predictors of the weather in this lesson.
Students will be able to:
Objective 1: Interpret the collected weather data to predict the weather for the different scenarios
on the PowerPoint by talking with a friend and then voting as a class.
Objective 2: Verbally predict the weather for the following day using words such as certain,
impossible, most often, least often, likely, and unlikely.
Instructional Strategies:
Brainstorming and discussion;
Project based and problem based instruction
Reciprocal teaching and cooperative learning
Technology
Standards being addressed:
Focus Standards
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.02: Interpret data over a period of time and use information to
describe changes in weather from day to day, week to week, and season to season.
47
Benchmark MA 04.SP.06: Predict the degree of likelihood of a single event occurring using
words such as certain, impossible, most often, least often, likely, and unlikely.
Modifications/Adaptations:
This lesson could be done using the clicker or by using a “think-pair-share” strategy.
Lesson 9: Extreme Weather In this lesson, students will learn about the different types of weather and how it affects people
around the world.
Students will be able to:
Objective 1: Research the assigned type of extreme weather on the Internet and answer four
questions: What happens in this type of weather? What time of the year is this weather most
likely to occur? Where in the world does this type of weather occur? What should you do in this
type of weather to protect yourself?
Objective 2: Summarize and give examples of their assigned type of extreme weather as a small
group in a presentation to the class.
Instructional Strategies:
Brainstorming and discussion
Reciprocal teaching and cooperative learning
Standards being addressed:
Focus Standards:
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.01: Describe weather in measurable quantities including temperature,
wind direction, wind speed, and precipitation.
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.02: Interpret data over a period of time and use information to
describe changes in weather from day to day, week to week, and season to season.
Modifications/Adaptations:
Pair TM, TH, NA, KM with CN, KV, CS, AC.
Lesson 10: 3, 2, 1….You’re on! The final performance task will be introduced in this lesson. Students will then review different
weather broadcasts from around the nation and then discuss what they liked and disliked about
each video clip. They will also work with their partner on the final performance task, making
decisions about what features they liked and didn‟t, and what they would like to incorporate into
their own broadcasts. Students will be given ideas for writing their script and will work with
their partner to determine what they will say.
48
Students will be able to:
Objective 1: review different clips of weather broadcasts to identify effective communication for
a specific audience.
Objective 2: Interpret the collected weather data to predict the weather for the following day on a
worksheet.
Objective 3: Predict the weather for the following day using words such as certain, impossible,
most often, least often, likely, and unlikely.
Instructional Strategies:
Visuals
Project based and problem based instruction
Standards being addressed:
Focus Standards
Career Related Learning, Benchmark 1: Identify uses of technology in home, community,
and jobs.
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.02: Interpret data over a period of time and use information to
describe changes in weather from day to day, week to week, and season to season.
Benchmark MA 04.SP.06: Predict the degree of likelihood of a single event occurring using
words such as certain, impossible, most often, least often, likely, and unlikely.
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.01: Describe weather in measurable quantities including temperature,
wind direction, wind speed, and precipitation.
Modifications/Adaptations:
Pair TM, TH, NA, KM with CN, KV, CS, AC.
Lesson 11: Weather Wizards Students will demonstrate what they have learned throughout the unit by taking the final test and
presenting their weather broadcast.
49
Lesson 1: What do you know about weather? Students will work on their own and in groups to examine what they already know about weather
and what they want to learn about weather.
Grade Level: 4th
Subject areas: Earth Science
Materials needed:
Dry erase markers/whiteboard OR Elmo, pen, and paper
KWL graphic organizer
Large KWL charts
Post-It notes
Timer
Part 1: Rationale
Focus and purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to determine what the students know and
want to learn in this unit.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Complete a KWL graphic organizer on what they know and want to know about weather
in their science journal.
Create a group KWL graphic organizer using their notes.
State Content Standards:
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.01: Describe weather in measurable
quantities including temperature, wind direction, wind speed, and
precipitation.
Assessments:
KWL charts
50
Selection of Instructional Strategies:
Brainstorming & discussion—this strategy will allow students to explore what they
already know before discussing what they want to learn as a class.
Modifications and adaptations:
The groups of desks in the classroom are organized in a way that there is an academically
strong student who function as a leader at each group of desks to help keep students on
task.
Part 2: Procedure
Concept or rule to be discovered: Weather affects our lives every day.
Open 10:30
1. Introduce weather unit. Have students think about weather and
how it affects people. Show KWL chart on Elmo and do a couple
examples of things that are known and things we would like to
know about weather.
Body
2. Explain that each student will fill in their own KWL chart starting
with what they already know about weather. Set timer for 5
minutes.
3. Have students move to the section titled “what you want to learn
about weather”. Set timer for 5 minutes.
4. When timer goes off, have students discuss what they know and
what they want to know in their table groups.
5. Give each group a stack of post-it notes and have them write a
different thing they want to know about weather on each post-it.
6. Hand out giant KWL charts to each table and instruct students to
post their notes on the appropriate section.
Close 10:55
7. Each group will now present what they want to learn in the
weather unit.
51
Part 3: Resources
52
Weather What do you
KNOW
What do you
WANT TO LEARN
What have you
LEARNED
53
Part 4: Reflection
This lesson went very well if I was just looking for student involvement. Students were
ready to participate from the very beginning and I encountered few behavior issues during this
thirty minute lesson. After the short introduction to KWL charts, the students were on their own
and they got right down to business. I walked around the room to monitor what each student was
writing. I asked several students questions to prompt more thought, but most students had their
heads down writing. I started passing out the Post-It notes and poster board KWL charts during
the last minute of the individual KWL chart assignment and the students were instantly intrigued.
As soon as I was finished giving the directions, students had their heads together at their table
groups.
Students were very involved in this lesson; however I don‟t feel as if my objectives were
met. The students were able to complete the task asked for in the objectives, but they did not put
a lot of thought into their answers. The “want to learn” section had one to two word phrases
saying the students wanted to learn about „weather‟, „rain‟, or „thunderstorms‟. These responses
were generic, and I would have liked to see more specific answers. If I taught this lesson in the
future I would set the expectations for the responses at the beginning. I am left wondering how I
could word the directions so that students would respond in a more thoughtful way. I believe
that the problem is in the questions I ask to provoke thought in the students. If I change my
questioning strategies during this lesson, will I get a better response from the class?
54
Lesson 2: Weather Haikus Students will examine their thoughts, feelings, and emotions associated with weather by
expressing themselves through haikus.
Grade Level: 4th
Subject areas: Writing, Science
Materials needed:
Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein and Ed Young
Dry erase markers/whiteboard OR Elmo, pen, and paper
Cloud background printer paper
Construction paper scraps
Glue
Part 1: Rationale
Focus and purpose: Students will identify weather in their lives and the emotions they
associate with it by writing a haiku.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Compose a haiku on the subject of weather, based upon personal experience.
Create a paper collage to illustrate the haiku using scraps of construction paper.
State Content Standards:
Focus Standards
Standards: English Language Arts
Common Curricular Goal: Writing Applications: Narrative Writing: Write narrative,
expository, and persuasive texts, using a variety of written forms—including journals,
essays, short stories, poems, research reports, research papers, business and technical
writing—to express ideas appropriate to audience to purpose across the subject areas.
Standard: Writing
Benchmark EL.04.WR.23: Write personal narratives: Include
ideas, observations, or memories of an event or experience.
Provide a context to allow the reader to imagine the world of the
event or experience. Use concrete sensory details. Provide insight
into why the selected event or experience is memorable.
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
55
Support Standards
Standards: Art
Common Curricular Goal: Express ideas, mood and feelings through the arts and
evaluate how well a work of art expresses one‟s intent.
Standard: Create, Present, and Perform
Benchmark AR.05.CP.03: Create, present and/or perform a work
of art and explain how the use of essential elements and
organizational principles shapes an idea, mood or feeling found in
the work.
Assessments:
Haikus that use the correct syllable pattern on the topic of weather
Collage artwork illustrating haikus
Selection of Instructional Strategies:
Brainstorming & discussion—Students will be given the opportunity to discuss the
different types of weather and seasons before beginning to write. This will be done to
spur their creative genius and provide inspiration.
Metaphors, analogies, & similes—A key part of the fourth grade writing curriculum this
year was learning about metaphors, analogies, and similes. I will provide examples of
haikus that use these figures of speech and encourage the students to create their own to
use in their own haikus.
Visualization & guided imagery—In my examples I will have students close their eyes
and visualize what I am reading. This will help students realize that these poems need to
create a picture in the reader‟s mind.
Modifications and adaptations:
Students with difficulties in writing or recognizing syllable patterns will work one on one
with the teacher.
For students who don‟t have time to get to the artwork, I have a coloring page with a
haiku example and an illustration to color.
Part 2: Procedure
Concept or rule to be discovered: Weather can provoke an emotional response in people.
Open 1:30
1. Introduce haikus. Use the book “Wabi Sabi”. Go over syllable
patterns in haikus (5-7-5) and discuss how most often haikus are
about nature. Explain that the author‟s purpose during writing a
haiku is to transform a simple topic into something special.
Body 1:35
2. Haikus often have a wide variety of descriptive words, both nouns
and verbs that help to create a picture in the reader‟s mind.
3. The haikus you will be writing today will be on the topic of
56
weather. As a whole class, brainstorm a list of weather topics
(clouds, rain, snow, etc).
4. Model Writing a Haiku
a. The first step in writing a haiku poem is to choose a good
topic. Haiku poems are generally written about nature.
b. Encourage students to use their emotions and senses to
brainstorm a list of nature-related topics. Subjects might
include: different types of weather, clouds, landforms,
water formations, seasons, etc. Record students'
suggestions on the board or overhead projector.
c. Choose a topic from the generated list and write it on the
board or overhead projector.
d. Invite students to name words or phrases that describe the
topic. Then, as a group, experiment with putting the words
and phrases together to describe the topic in three lines
according to the 5-7-5 syllable pattern.
e. Model rearranging and rethinking word choices to match
the syllable pattern. For example, if a chosen phrase has
four syllables, but the pattern requires that it have five,
model selecting a similar two-syllable word.
f. Encourage them to use a dictionary or thesaurus to find
synonyms or more interesting and precise words as
necessary.
5. Give students time to work on creating their haikus. Before
starting the writing, tell students that as they finish they can create
a collage style piece of artwork like in the book “Wabi Sabi” to
go along with their artwork. Show them the materials at the back
tables available for them to work with.
Close 2:05
6. Students read their poetry/share their artwork.
Part 3: Resources
57
Part 4: Reflection
This lesson was a resounding success! I started this lesson in the early afternoon on the
first day of the Weather Unit. Because of other classes happening around the school I began this
lesson teaching to seven students. The small group gathered their chairs in a circle around me
and I began talking about haikus. Most of the students had heard about haikus before, but most
did not remember the framework of a haiku (five syllables on lines one and three, seven syllables
on line two). After telling the students what a haiku was I shared examples from the book Wabi
Sabi and examples I had found on the internet. The students were very involved in this part of
the lesson. A handful of students were confused about the syllables. After dismissing the other
students to work at their desks, I taught these students a mini-lesson on syllables. I circulated
throughout the room frequently to make sure all questions were answered as quickly as possible.
I met my objectives for half of the students in this lesson during the allotted time. The
rest of the students were unable to finish in the time allowed for this lesson. Most students were
able to complete their haiku, but ran out of time before getting to complete the accompanying
artwork. In the future I would allow more time to complete this exercise.
I became a little annoyed with myself during this lesson. As students finished their
haikus, they would come to me for approval and to find out what to do next. I had forgotten to
go over the art project while we were all sitting together. This meant that I had to explain the art
project over and over to each student as they finished their poem. In the future I will make sure
that I explain all aspects of independent work before students return to their desks.
I am left wondering if the students really thought about the weather as they were writing
their haikus, or if they were just completing an assignment. If I were to teach this lesson again I
would allot more time to a collective brainstorming session to create a list of topics that the
58
haikus could be written on. I believe that this would help students to make more connections
between the emotions that weather evoke and the actual weather events.
59
Lesson 3: What is Weather? What is weather? What causes weather? Where exactly does weather take place? These are the
questions that will be addressed in this lesson.
Grade Level: 4th
Subject areas: Earth Science
Materials needed:
Science Texts
Teacher Edition Science Text
Pencils
Weather vocabulary worksheet
KWL Charts from previous day
Globe
Part 1: Rationale
Focus and purpose: Students will learn about the atmosphere and the sun‟s purpose in regards
to weather.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Define weather terms (air mass, air pressure, atmosphere, front, mesosphere, stratosphere,
thermosphere, and troposphere) on a worksheet.
State Content Standards:
Focus Standards
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Support Standards
Standards: English Language Arts
Common Curricular Goal: Listen to and Read Informational and Narrative Text: Listen
to, read, and understand a wide variety of informational and narrative text across the
subject areas at school and on own, applying comprehension strategies as needed.
Standard: Reading
Benchmark EL.04.RE.05: Demonstrate listening comprehension
of more complex text through class and/or small group interpretive
discussions across the subject areas.
60
Assessments:
Weather vocabulary worksheet
Walking around the room to read students answers to questions, using checklist to keep
track of students
Selection of Instructional Strategies:
Direct instruction—This lesson imparts many facts and definitions with the students. The
clearest way to accomplish this is through direct instruction.
Visuals—Although I am using direct instruction, I will pull in many visuals to bring this
lesson to life for the students.
Writing & journals—Students will be using their science journal to record thoughts that
they have learned throughout the lesson.
Modifications and adaptations:
Work with students to create shorter definitions for the weather terms.
Keep eye on TM. He gets antsy during direct instruction. Make sure he is on task.
Check in often with NA. She is an ELL student and is not in the classroom for most
science lessons.
Part 2: Procedure
Concept or rule to be discovered: Weather takes place in the atmosphere of Earth and is caused
by the Sun.
Open 1:35
5 minutes
1. Review KWL charts that were completed in lesson one. Ask
students to think about these questions: What is weather? What
causes weather? Where does weather take place? After each
question, give students a short period of time to jot down their
ideas about the answers. Tell students to keep these questions in
mind as we read.
Body 1:40
20-25
minutes
2. Summarize pages D6-D9 about the atmosphere. Explain the
atmosphere as the layer of air that surrounds our planet like a
blanket. It is made up of a mixture of gases, including oxygen
which is what we breathe. These gases are the tiny particles that
make up air. Air takes up space and has weight (have students
take a deep breath to fill up their lungs—ask students if they
could feel their chest moving—This is air taking up space in their
lungs!) When all of these air particles are pressing on a surface—
like the inside of the lungs—they cause air pressure. The
atmosphere is made up of four layers. The uppermost, highest
layer in the atmosphere is the thermosphere. The next highest
layer is the mesosphere, the coldest layer in the atmosphere.
When we see an airplane flying in the sky, most often it is flying
in the stratosphere layer of the atmosphere. This layer contains
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the most of the atmosphere‟s ozone, a kind of oxygen. The ozone
helps to protect us from the sun‟s harmful rays. The layer closest
to the Earth is the troposphere. Almost all weather happens in this
layer.
3. Have students define terms on the Weather Vocabulary page.
4. Read pages D12-D17 together. Define the rest of the terms for
day one on the Weather Vocabulary page.
Close 2:05
5 minutes
5. Review the questions from the beginning of class. Ask students if
they want to change their answers and discuss the actual answers
to these questions.
Part 3: Resources
62
Weather Vocabulary What is Weather?
Air mass___________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Air pressure________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Atmosphere_________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Front______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Mesosphere_________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Stratosphere________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Thermosphere_______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Troposphere________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Clouds:
Cirrus_____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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Cumulus___________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Cumulonimbus______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Stratus_____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
The Water Cycle:
Condensation_______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Evaporation_________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Precipitation________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Transpiration________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Water cycle_________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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Part 4: Reflection
This lesson began well and quickly fizzled. I began the lesson by asking students some
questions about weather. I recorded the answers on the overhead as students called them out. I
then summarized the book so students didn‟t have to spend forever reading about the
atmosphere. I used the globe and talked about the atmosphere being like a blanket that covers
the Earth. Students seemed to enjoy this (and when I asked students about the atmosphere at the
end of the unit, most of them described it in this way). After this part, the lesson seemed tedious.
I felt like the students were staring at me blankly or staring off into nowhere as the other students
read. As I was talking about the different layers of the atmosphere I stumbled and mixed up my
facts. I caught myself, but this can be confusing to someone just learning about a topic. When it
came to defining the terms on the vocabulary page students worked at many different paces.
Some students were as slow as molasses while others were finished before I had written the
second definition on the overhead.
Although this lesson seemed boring to both the students and me, I believe that I met the
objectives. Students were able to thoughtfully discuss the answers to their questions from before
the lesson and compare their answers to their answers from after the lesson.
It has become exceedingly clear, especially after this lesson that I do not do well in a
direct instruction situation/lesson. I plan on observing some teachers that do well using direct
instruction, and asking them to observe me, to determine what I can do to turn my direct
instruction around.
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Lesson 4: Weather Tools In this lesson students will learn about the different ways that weather can be measured and the
tools that can be used to accurately measure weather. Students will also be introduced to the
chart in their science notebook to record the weather every day.
Grade Level: 4th
Subject areas: Earth Science, Math
Materials needed:
Weather tools worksheet
Weather chart
Pencils
Thermometer
Anemometer
Barometer
Rain gauge
Wind vane
Computer with internet access
Science textbooks
Science text—Teacher Edition
Part 1: Rationale
Focus and purpose: Students will get hands on experience with five different weather tools and
learn about measuring the different aspects of weather using these tools.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Identify, with 100% accuracy, the weather instruments verbally and label the instruments
on a worksheet.
Choose the correct instrument to measure the different aspects of weather (humidity,
precipitation, temperature, barometric pressure, and wind speed) with 100 % accuracy.
State Content Standards:
Focus Standards
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.02: Interpret data over a period of time
and use information to describe changes in weather from day to
day, week to week, and season to season.
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Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.01: Describe weather in measurable
quantities including temperature, wind direction, wind speed, and
precipitation.
Support Standards
Standards: Math
Common Curricular Goal: Direct & Indirect Measurement: Apply appropriate
techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements.
Standard: Measurement
Benchmark MA.04.ME.04: Read temperature measurements of
thermometers with Fahrenheit and Celsius units and recognize
reasonable ranges of temperatures for different events (e.g. cold or
hot day).
Assessments:
Weather tools worksheet
Selection of Instructional Strategies:
Technology—I will be using the computer to introduce the final performance task and
show students clips of weather broadcasts. This will help the students begin to think
critically about the uses of the weather tools.
Visuals—The worksheet that the students will define the use of each tool on has pictures
to match the definition. This is valuable because the shape of the tool can help to identify
what it is used for.
Manipulatives, experiments, labs, and models—Students will get hands on experience
using each of the tools.
Modifications and adaptations:
Ensure that each student is given an equal amount of time with each weather instrument.
Part 2: Procedure
Concept or rule to be discovered: Students will identify the weather instruments and what each
instrument measures.
Open 9:45
5 minutes
1. Show students a video clip of a weather broadcast. Ask students
how the meteorologist determines the weather to report.
Body 9:50
25 minutes
2. Summarize science text pages D20-D21. Meteorologists are
scientists who study and measure weather conditions. Some of the
67
conditions that they monitor are the air temperature, air pressure,
and wind speed and direction.
3. Introduce the different instruments. Start easy and get
progressively more difficult: thermometer, wind vane, rain gauge,
anemometer, hygrometer and barometer. Show students how each
instrument is used and explain what it measures. Let each student
examine the instruments closely. Have students fill in definitions
for each of the instruments on the weather forecasting instruments
page.
4. Have each table group practice taking the measurements. Monitor
students to make sure that they are correctly using the
instruments.
Close 10:15 5 minutes
5. Go over the weather chart. Show students the link that we will use
to get the weather information and how we will record the
information in our science journal.
Part 3: Resources
http://www.weather.com
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Part 4: Reflection
The students were engaged during this lesson. I began by showing students a clip of a
weather broadcast from The Weather Channel‟s website. The students were glued to the screen
and wanted to discuss the broadcast as soon as I had shut off the clip. This led to many
comments that were blurted out, which doesn‟t seem like a big problem—at least they were
paying attention and want to talk about it—but it did bring the lesson to a halt while I regained
control of the class. The discussion led nicely to the next part of the lesson in which students got
hands-on experience with the four different weather tools I had available to use for the class.
I felt that I met the objectives because all of the students could identify the different tools
and what they measured. I also presented different situations in which a weather tool would be
used in, and then asked the students which tool I would need. I called on each individual student
with a different scenario and every student was able to answer correctly.
When I teach this lesson again I will make sure to have a full set of tools for each group
of students. It would take a lot less time if each group had each of the tools. I would also like to
give the students more opportunities to actually use the tools instead of just looking at them. I
would like to incorporate more of a “field experience” for the students instead of a passive
learning environment. It would have been relatively easy to implement in this class with only 16
students, 11 of whom are in the class for every science lesson. However when I enter the real
world and I have a class of 25+ students, how will I be able to keep lessons engaging for every
student?
69
Lesson 5: Clouds Clouds can be seen on most days, whether they are puffy, fanciful clouds or dark, scary storm
clouds. In this lesson students will examine clouds and how they affect weather.
Grade Level: 4th
Subject areas: Earth Science, Math
Materials needed:
Science textbooks
Science textbook—Teacher Edition
Pencils
Blue construction paper
Bleach
Q-tips
Black markers
Weather vocabulary worksheet
Part 1: Rationale
Focus and purpose: Discover the 4 main types of clouds what types of weather they are
associated with.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Draw the four main types of clouds (cirrus, cumulonimbus, cumulus, and stratus) using
blue construction paper and bleach.
Identify and define the four main types of clouds on artwork
State Content Standards:
Focus Standards
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Support Standards
Standards: Art
Common Curricular Goal: Express ideas, mood and feelings through the arts and
evaluate how well a work of art expresses one‟s intent.
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Standard: Create, Present, and Perform
Benchmark AR.05.CP.03: Create, present and/or perform a work
of art and explain how the use of essential elements and
organizational principles shapes an idea, mood or feeling found in
the work.
Assessments:
Correctly labeled bleach art depicting four different types of clouds
Selection of Instructional Strategies:
Direct Instruction—Students will learn the facts about clouds through direct instruction
and their texts.
Drawing and artwork—Creating the cloud artwork will help to cement the knowledge in
each student‟s mind.
Visuals—The visuals provided in the text will help students when they are creating their
own depiction of the clouds.
Modifications and adaptations:
Circulate throughout the room, checking in with TM, TH, KM, and NA to check for
understanding.
Part 2: Procedure
Concept or rule to be discovered: Students will learn how clouds are formed, the functions of
clouds, and the different types of clouds that are seen in the atmosphere.
Open 10:20
5 minutes
1. Have students close eyes and visualize a nice summer day. They
are lying on a grassy hill, enjoying a picnic. After finishing their
sandwiches they lay back and relax and look up at the sky. What
is up there? (fluffy clouds) Now imagine you are home later that
evening. You see a flash of light coming through your window, so
you look up at the sky. The sunny sky has been replaced by dark,
gray clouds.
Body 10:25
25 minutes
2. Another aspect of the weather that can be monitored is the clouds.
There are four main types of clouds. Turn to page D15 in your
science book. Have students read about the different types of
clouds.
3. Define the different clouds together on the Weather Vocabulary
worksheet.
4. Demonstrate the art we will be creating. On a white piece of
paper students will sketch the four different clouds in their proper
place (in relation to altitude). After the sketch is completed they
can use bleach to create the clouds. After the bleach has dried,
students can label each cloud with a black marker.
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5. Clean-up.
Close 10:50 5 minutes
6. Have an art walk so students can see each others‟ work.
Part 3: Resources
Part 4: Reflection
This lesson seemed too short. It was based on one page out of the science textbook that
discussed the different types of clouds. Because of the short amount of time for this lesson (30
minutes) I did not get to cover everything planned. I was unable to discuss how clouds are
formed and the functions of clouds in relation to weather. I wanted to make sure that the
students had plenty of time to complete their artwork without rushing and chancing a bleach
spill. The students loved the bleach art cloud drawings.
Overall I felt that this lesson went well, but there were several things I would change. If I
had a choice I would teach this lesson over the course of an hour instead of thirty minutes. This
adjustment would give me time to meet all of my objectives, which I was unable to do during
this lesson. I would also add some writing to the art assignment. This would be a short
paragraph on how clouds are formed and their function.
After finishing this lesson I am wondering what the best strategy is for continuing a
lesson that was cut short. Many times in my teaching I have ran out of time while in the middle
of a lesson. It can be difficult on the students to just jump back in the next day—and difficult for
me. What techniques can I employ to make the transition back into the lesson the following day?
72
Lesson 6: Water Wonders Students will review what they learned in the Bill Nye video about the water cycle and then
participate in the “Water Wonders” game. After the game, students will discuss how the game
was a simulation of the water cycle through guided questions.
Grade Level: 4th
Subject areas: Science
Materials needed:
Pencils
Water Wonders worksheet
Water Wonders vocabulary
Water Wonders signs
9-6 sided dice
Part 1: Rationale
Focus and purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to experience life as a drop of water traveling
through the water cycle.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Draw and label the different stages of the water cycle (precipitation, evaporation,
condensation, and runoff) in the science journal with no errors.
Interpret and relate the outcome of the “Water Wonders” game to the water cycle through
a guided whole class discussion.
State Content Standards:
Focus Standards:
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within the
lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within the
lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.03.01: Identify effects of wind and water on
Earth materials using appropriate models.
Support Standards:
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Standards: English Language Arts
Common Curricular Goal: Listen to and Read Informational and Narrative Text: Listen
to, read, and understand a wide variety of informational and narrative text across the
subject areas at school and on own, applying comprehension strategies as needed.
Standard: Reading
Benchmark EL.04.RE.05: Demonstrate listening comprehension
of more complex text through class and/or small group interpretive
discussions across the subject areas.
Assessments:
Students will be given a blank copy of the water cycle and a list of key vocabulary.
Students will then be expected to put the terms in the correct spot on the drawing.
Selection of Instructional Strategies:
Brainstorming and discussion—This will serve as a review of the Bill Nye video from the
previous day and a warm-up for the game that the students will be playing today.
Games—the Water Wonders game allows students to experience life as a drop of water
and is a valuable way for them to become a part of the water cycle.
Movement—this game lets students get out of their seat and move around the room. This
is especially valuable for the students with ADHD.
Modifications and adaptations:
Pair TM, TH, NA, KM with CN, KV, CS, AC.
Part 2: Procedure
Concept or rule to be discovered: All water on Earth is a part of the water cycle.
Open 1. Review the Bill Nye movie on the water cycle.
2. Divide class into pairs. Ask pairs to write down words that
describe what they know about the water cycle and draw a quick
sketch of the water cycle.
3. Ask volunteers to share with the class.
Body 4. Share the data showing Earth‟s water distribution on chart.
5. Put drawing of the water cycle on the Elmo and review terms that
students need to know.
6. Ask questions to focus students‟ attention: If every living thing
needs so much water, why isn‟t it used up? Where does the water
go when a puddle dries up? Where does rain come from? Do you
think water always follows the same path as shown in the water
cycle?
7. Explain that the water cycle diagram shows many paths that a
water drop could take when traveling through the cycle. To
experience this, students will play a game where each group of
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students will be a water drop.
8. Explain the game to the students‟: each student will have a
scorecard and will start at one of the stations around the room. At
each station, you or your partner will roll your die and read the
statement that corresponds with the number rolled. On their
scorecard they should write their current station, what happens to
them, and their destination. They then wait for the cue to move to
the next station (weather sounds: falling rain).
9. Have students each start at a different station and cycle through
until most students have been to most stations.
10. On the board, write the names of the seven stations in black.
Assign a different color to each group, and ask each group what
their water drops journey was. Show each response on the board
in a different color.
Close
11. Discuss the following questions:
Even though individual drops took different paths, was anything
similar about the journeys they took?
In the game, which stations seemed to be visited by the most
drops, regardless of their particular journey? What can be
determined from this information?
Can you think of other parts of the water cycle that were not
included in the game? Where might these be included in the
cycle?
The water cycle is usually shown like this (put up water cycle
diagram). Do you think this is a useful way to show the cycle,
even if the sketch doesn‟t include all the pats water might take?
What makes water move through the cycle? (sun, gravity,
physical properties of water) What would happen if the sun‟s
energy were blocked from Earth?
What might happen if all of Earth‟s water stayed in the oceans? In
the clouds?
How is the water cycle important to plants and animals? (It moves
water to them; it makes water available at different times)
Part 3: Resources
Project Learning Tree: PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide
75
Water Source Water volume, in
cubic miles
Percent of
total water
Oceans 317,000,000 97.24%
Icecaps, Glaciers 7,000,000 2.14%
Groundwater 2,000,000 0.61%
Fresh-water lakes 30,000 0.009%
Inland seas 25,000 0.008%
Soil moisture 16,000 0.005%
Atmosphere 3,100 0.001%
Rivers 300 0.0001%
Total water
volume 326, 074, 400 100%
Source: Nace, U.S. Geological Survey, “Earth’s Water Distribution,” 1967.
http://ga.usgs.gov/edu/waterdistribution.html, accessed 8/18/05.
76
Station 1: Cloud 1. You fall as rain onto an ocean. Go to Ocean.
2. You fall as rain onto an ocean. Go to Ocean.
3. You fall as rain onto a stream. Go to Stream.
4. You fall as snow onto a Glacier. Go to Glacier.
5. You fall as snow onto the ground. Go to
Groundwater.
6. You fall as rain onto a parking lot. Go to
Stream.
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Station 2: Glacier
1. You evaporate into the air. Go to Cloud.
2. You stay frozen in ice. Stay at Glacier.
3. You stay frozen in ice. Stay at Glacier.
4. You melt and become part of a stream. Go to
Stream.
5. You melt and become part of a stream. Go to
Stream.
6. You break off from the glacier and fall into
the ocean. Go to Ocean.
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Station 3: Ocean 1. You are one of countless water molecules in an
ocean and you stay there. Stay at Ocean.
2. You are one of countless water molecules in an
ocean and you stay there. Stay at Ocean.
3. You are one of countless water molecules in an
ocean and you stay there. Stay at Ocean.
4. You evaporate into the air. Go to Cloud.
5. You evaporate into the air. Go to Cloud.
6. You evaporate into the air. Go to Cloud.
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Station 4: Stream 1. You evaporate into the air. Go to Cloud.
2. You evaporate into the air. Go to Cloud.
3. An animal comes to the stream and licks you
up. Go to Animal.
4. You continue rolling downhill and become part
of an ocean. Go to Ocean.
5. You continue rolling downhill and become part
of an ocean. Go to Ocean.
6. A human drinks from the stream. Go to Animal.
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Station 5: Groundwater 1. You move slowly underground and eventually
flow into an ocean. Go to Ocean.
2. You move slowly downward and become part of
an aquifer. Stay at Groundwater.
3. You move slowly underground between grains
of sediment and eventually flow downward into
a wetland and from there into a stream. Go to
Stream.
4. You move slowly underground between grains
of sediment and eventually flow downward into
a wetland and from there into a stream. Go to
Stream.
5. A plant takes you in through its roots. Go to
Plant.
6. You are pumped out of the ground from a well
to irrigate a farm. Go to Plant.
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Station 6: Animal 1. After using you to process food, the animal
urinates and you end up in the ground. Go to
Groundwater.
2. After using you to process food, the animal
urinates and you end up in the ground. Go to
Groundwater.
3. You are exhaled from an animal’s lungs into the
air as vapor. Go to Cloud.
4. You are exhaled from an animal’s lungs into the
air as vapor. Go to Cloud.
5. A person uses you for brushing his or her
teeth and you end up going through a sewage
treatment plant and then put into a stream. Go
to Stream.
6. After using you to quench their thirst, a
person urinates and you end up going through a
sewage treatment plant and then put into a
stream. Go to Stream.
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Station 7: Plant 1. The plant transpires you through its leaves and
you evaporate into the air. Go to Cloud.
2. The plant transpires you through its leaves and
you evaporate into the air. Go to Cloud.
3. The plant transpires you through its leaves and
you evaporate into the air. Go to Cloud.
4. The plant uses you to grow. Stay at Plant.
5. The plant stores you in its edible fruit. Go to
Animal.
6. The plant stores you in its edible leaves. Go to
Animal.
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Water Wonders Vocabulary
Aquifer: underground bed or layer yielding ground water for wells, springs, etc.
Bedrock: solid un-weathered rock lying beneath surface deposits of soil.
Erosion: the wearing away of the land surface by wind or water. Erosion occurs naturally from weather
or runoff.
Evaporation: a physical change of state in which a liquid is transformed into a vapor or gas.
Glaciers: a flowing body of ice, formed in a region where snowfall exceeds melting.
Icebergs: a large floating mass of ice detached from a glacier.
Precipitation: water from the atmosphere that falls to the ground as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
Runoff: fresh water from precipitation and melting ice that flows on the ground surface into nearby
streams, lakes, wetlands, and reservoirs.
Sediment: the material deposited by water, wind, or glaciers.
Sedimentation: the action or process of depositing sediment.
Transpiration (transpires): the process by which water evaporates from plant tissues.
Vapor: a visible suspension in the air of some substance.
Watershed: the land area that delivers runoff water and sediment to a major river or stream and its
tributaries.
Water Table: underground surface below which the ground is wholly saturated with water
84
85
Word Bank:
m) Precipitation n) Snow o) Rain p) Hail q) Evaporation r) Condensation s) Run-off t) Streams & rivers u) Lakes, seas, and oceans v) Water vapor w) Ice crystals x) Water droplets
1.______________
2.______________
3.______________
4._______
5._______
6._______
12.______________
7.______________
8.______________
9.______________
10.______________
11.______________
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Water Wonders Score Card Name: ______________________________________________________________
Station Stop What Happens Destination Example:
Cloud Fall as rain Ocean
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
87
Part 4: Reflection
This was the most fun lesson to teach in this unit! Students were excited when I explained
we would be playing a game. I started the lesson with questions about the Bill Nye Water Cycle
video that they had watched the previous day. This got students thinking about the water cycle
and helped to activate the knowledge from the previous day. I knew that I wouldn‟t have enough
time for everything in my lesson, so I skipped the part of my lesson in which I was going to have
students draw a sketch of the water cycle. I decided to skip forward and ask the students
questions about the water cycle. This part of the lesson went extremely well. The students were
thinking critically and before long were ready to begin playing the Water Wonders game. I then
began the game. After six cycles, I had students return to their seats and started discussing what
could be learned from the game. The discussion led me to believe that I met the objectives of
this lesson. All of the students were able to vocalize the thought that water does not follow the
same path through the water cycle, and that no matter what path the water took, it was still water
and a part of the water cycle. The only thing that I would change is the amount of time spent on
the lesson. I spent about 25 minutes on a 50+ minute lesson.
88
Lesson 7: Weather Patterns and Seasons In this lesson students will explore the weather patterns and seasons of Oregon, the Northwest
region, the United States, and the world.
Grade Level: 4th
Subject areas: Earth Science
Materials needed:
Globe
World map
Science textbooks
Science textbook—teacher edition
Cause & effect graphic organizer
Part 1: Rationale
Focus and purpose: Discuss seasons and climate and how these two terms are related to our
study of weather.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Analyze the similarities and differences of weather patterns between the regions on a
graphic organizer.
Identify the causes of seasons around the world in a whole class discussion.
State Content Standards:
Focus Standard
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.02: Interpret data over a period of time
and use information to describe changes in weather from day to
day, week to week, and season to season.
Support Standards
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Standards: English Language Arts
Common Curricular Goal: Listen to and Read Informational and Narrative Text: Listen
to, read, and understand a wide variety of informational and narrative text across the
subject areas at school and on own, applying comprehension strategies as needed.
Standard: Reading
Benchmark EL.04.RE.05: Demonstrate listening comprehension
of more complex text through class and/or small group interpretive
discussions across the subject areas.
Assessments:
Participation in class discussion about the causes of seasons
Cause and effect graphic organizer
Selection of Instructional Strategies:
Graphic organizers—The use of the graphic organizer to demonstrate cause and effect
creates a handy tool that students can quickly glance at to determine what happens.
Direct Instruction—This lesson imparts many facts and definitions with the students. The
clearest way to accomplish this is through direct instruction.
Visuals—Often the mind will remember a face but forget the name. Using visuals will
hopefully help the student remember the concept, even if they forget the name of the
concept later.
Modifications and adaptations:
Circulate throughout the room, checking in with TM, TH, KM, and NA to check for
understanding.
Part 2: Procedure
Concept or rule to be discovered: Seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth and how the sun hits
the different areas of the Earth. Recurring patterns of weather in a region is the area‟s climate.
Open
1. Bring the globe to the front of the class. Ask students if it is the
sun or Earth that moves…explain that the earth revolves around
the sun.
Body
2. Have students open their science books to page D66. Read “Earth
and the Seasons” and then examine the picture on page D66.
3. Complete the cause and effect graphic organizer.
4. Explain that climate is a region‟s weather that is consistently the
same year after year. (It‟s the climate) Ask students “what does
the Earth‟s tilt have to do with the climate?
5. Put map of the world on Elmo. Ask students where the warmest
waters should be, then the coldest waters. Explain that the
warmest waters get evaporated and that this is where most of the
rain comes from. The wind then blows the clouds (which are the
evaporated water) and eventually rain (or other precipitation) will
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fall. If an area of land is separated from this warm water by a
barrier of mountains or long distance, it will tend to be a drier
area with less precipitation.
6. Have students make predictions about different areas of the world
in relation to their climates. What is climate like north of the
United States? Around the middle of the Earth? Point out other
areas on the map and have students make guesses/predictions.
7. On Elmo, list climate regions: tropical—wet; tropical—dry;
temperate—wet; temperate—dry; and polar. Explain that the
areas that are closest to the equator are the tropical wet areas. As
they move away from the equator then comes the tropical dry
areas. After that are the temperate wet areas. Moving towards the
arctic comes the temperate dry areas and finally the polar regions.
Near the equator there is a lot of rainfall. Remember this refers to
climate because it receives the same amount year after year. It is
the rain that we associate with weather. Temperate areas change
throughout the year.
Close
8. Pull up climate map from Weather.com. Ask students to find
Oregon and determine what zone we are located in.
Part 3: Resources
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Cause Effect
Part 4: Reflection
Earth’s axis is
tilted.
The Northern
Hemisphere is
pointed away
from the sun.
The Southern
Hemisphere of
Earth is pointed
toward the sun.
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Part 4: Reflection
This lesson seemed to fall flat. Maybe because it was a Monday or maybe it was just a
boring lesson I really don‟t know, but I do know that I would need to make changes before
teaching this lesson again. I felt like this lesson met the objectives and students were able to
follow along during this lesson, but at the same time they were like mindless zombies. The
excellent critical thinking skills that I witnessed in the previous lesson disappeared over the
course of the weekend. I will work on improving the types of questions I am asking to foster the
critical thinking skills of my students.
I believe that I met the objectives because students were able to tell me what the climate
would be like at different points around the world, like in the arctic, at the equator, or even in
Russia. One thing that worked really well in this lesson was the demonstration I did with the
globe and one of the students. I had a boy stand up in the center of the room. Using the globe, I
walked around the room demonstrating how the Earth circles the sun and how the Earth is tilted.
My big question after this lesson (and all other direct instruction lessons) is what will
make direct instruction more interesting for my students. It seems during each of the direct
instruction lesson the students are tuned out. I wonder if this is a reflection of my feelings
towards direct instruction. I often feel that direct instruction is a boring way to learn, and I think
that this comes across during my direct instruction lessons.
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Lesson 8: Predicting the weather Students will become predictors of the weather in this lesson.
Grade Level: 4
th
Subject areas: Earth Science
Materials needed:
Computer with PowerPoint
Internet access
Part 1: Rationale
Focus and purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce techniques to analyze the
collected weather data and predict the weather.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Interpret the collected weather data to predict the weather for the different scenarios on
the PowerPoint by talking with a friend and then voting as a class.
Verbally predict the weather for the following day using words such as certain,
impossible, most often, least often, likely, and unlikely.
State Content Standards:
Focus Standards
Standards: Career Related Learning
Common Curricular Goal: Integrate academic, technical and organizations knowledge
and skills to work successfully in family, school, community, and workplace settings.
Standard: Employment Foundations
Benchmark 1: Identify uses of technology in home, community, and
jobs.
Standards: Math
Common Curricular Goal: Data Analysis and Predictions: Develop and evaluate
inferences and predictions that are based on data.
Standard: Statistics and Probability
Benchmark MA 04.SP.06: Predict the degree of likelihood of a
single event occurring using words such as certain, impossible,
most often, least often, likely, and unlikely.
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
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Support Standards
Standards: English Language Arts
Common Curricular Goal: Listen to and Read Informational and Narrative Text: Listen
to, read, and understand a wide variety of informational and narrative text across the
subject areas at school and on own, applying comprehension strategies as needed.
Standard: Reading
Benchmark EL.04.RE.05: Demonstrate listening comprehension
of more complex text through class and/or small group interpretive
discussions across the subject areas.
Assessments:
Students will be voting on which action they believe each parent should take. I will be
recording these results on my tally sheet.
Selection of Instructional Strategies:
Brainstorming and discussion—Students will discuss the clues and then come to a
conclusion based upon the facts. This will allow the students to practice their powers of
persuasion.
Project based and problem based instruction—the scenarios in the PowerPoint are written
as if it was the student actually on a camping trip. This allows the students to put
themselves into the story and situations so that it becomes real.
Reciprocal teaching and cooperative learning—students will be turning and sharing with
a friend at their group of desks. If one student does not get it, another student will be able
to step in and go over the steps to make the predictions.
Technology—Although this lesson could be done without the use of technology, I feel
that the students respond better when technology is used in the lessons.
Modifications and adaptations:
This lesson could be done using the clicker or by using a “think-pair-share” strategy.
Part 2: Procedure
Concept or rule to be discovered: Even without access to the fancy tools that meteorologists use,
students can predict the weather.
Open
5 minutes
1. Read some weather sayings. Discuss how the sayings came about
and whether or not there is any validity to these sayings.
Body
20 minutes
2. Start PowerPoint activity. The slides cover how meteorologists
forecast the weather and how students can forecast the weather
just by looking at the clouds and feeling the wind. Students will
practice making predictions on 4 different scenarios after learning
about how to use clouds and wind to make a forecast. At the end
of the slideshow there are weather maps to show how
95
Part 3: Resources
meteorologists track the weather.
Close 5 minutes
3. As a ticket to go, ask students to predict the weather for lunch
recess using the words certainly, likely, unlikely, most often, least
often, or impossible on a scrap of paper and hand to me.
96
97
98
99
Part 4: Reflection
The students loved the instructional strategies of this lesson. Every time I have used
technology in my lessons, students have responded well. This lesson could have been a bust.
There is a lot of reading and teacher talking. As I went through the PowerPoint reading and
talking about the different slides the students took charge. Before long they were taking turns
reading each slide and in turn teaching their fellow students about how to predict the weather
using clouds and the wind. The closing of the lesson was the only area that I felt could have
used some improvement. Students were able to complete this activity, but most of them did not
understand how it related to predicting the weather. I would have liked to pair this lesson with a
math lesson (or unit) on probability so that the students would have a better understanding of the
relationship between probability and predictions.
During this lesson all students were able to meet the objectives. I polled students as we
were going through the slide show to see if they were absorbing the information. All students
were able to make the correct predictions. If I were to teach this lesson again I would add more
scenarios for the students to practice making predictions.
As I finished this lesson I realized the importance of using technology in my lessons.
These students are extremely plugged in. This has led to a generation of students who respond
well whenever a new technology is used. I am lucky because I am the type of person who likes to
try out the newest techno gadgets as soon as they hit the market. I will be sure to use technology
as much as possible in my future lessons and units.
100
Lesson 9: Extreme Weather In this lesson students will explore the different types of weather and how it affects people
around the world.
Grade Level: 4th
Subject areas: Earth Science, social studies
Materials needed:
Computers for students with internet access
Extreme Weather worksheet
Pencils
Clipboards
Part 1: Rationale
Focus and purpose: Students will learn about the types of extreme weather and how this
weather affects the people of the world.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Construct a list of the different types of weather experienced around the world during a
whole class discussion.
Summarize and give examples of their assigned type of extreme weather in a small group
presentation to the class.
State Content Standards:
Focus Standards
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
Support Standards
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.03.01: Identify effects of wind and water
on Earth materials using appropriate models.
Standards: English Language Arts
101
Common Curricular Goal: Listen to and Read Informational and Narrative Text: Listen
to, read, and understand a wide variety of informational and narrative text across the
subject areas at school and on own, applying comprehension strategies as needed.
Standard: Reading
Benchmark EL.04.RE.05: Demonstrate listening comprehension
of more complex text through class and/or small group interpretive
discussions across the subject areas.
Assessments:
Jigsaw presentation on extreme weather
Selection of Instructional Strategies:
Brainstorming and discussion—Students will be discussing what they have learned from
their websites in their small group. This will allow them to determine what they will
teach their classmates about their assigned weather.
Reciprocal teaching and cooperative learning—Students will be the teacher during the
jigsaw exercise. Each group will present the relevant information on their type of
extreme weather with help from their worksheet completed while surfing the web.
Modifications and adaptations:
Pair TM, TH, NA, KM with CN, KV, CS, AC.
Part 2: Procedure
Concept or rule to be discovered: Extreme weather can have a major effect on the people of the
world and is often difficult to predict.
Open 1:15
5 minutes
1. Have students close their eyes and visualize the different types of
weather that they have experienced. Think about the different
times of year, maybe the different things they have seen on TV, or
maybe even stories that their parents or grandparents have told
them about.
2. Create a list together of all the different types of weather.
3. Introduce today‟s topic: Extreme Weather. Tell students that in
their folder on the computer there are links to several sites.
Body 1:20
30 minutes
4. Group the students and have them get out their extreme weather
question page from their binder. Assign groups of students to the
different types of weather (5 groups: lightening, snow, tornados,
hurricanes, and floods).
5. Have clipboards by the door, and have each student grab a
clipboard and take their pencil and paper to the computer lab.
6. In the lab have students sit next to their group member(s) and
explore the links to their topic.
7. Have students turn off computers and head back to the classroom.
8. In small groups, give students 5 minutes to discuss what they
learned and what they want to share with their classmates.
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Close 1:50
20 minutes
9. Students report on what they learned about their extreme weather.
Part 3: Resources
Extreme Weather Groups:
CS and SS and NA
NC and CR and TM
KV and MF and KM
AA and CN and TH
RH and JT
DM and AC
103
Flood Websites to Visit:
General Weather:
http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/
Floods:
http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/disaster/flooding.html
http://www.fema.gov/kids/floods.htm
104
Hurricane Websites to Visit:
General Weather:
http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/
Hurricanes:
http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/disaster/hurricanes.html
http://www.fema.gov/kids/hurr.htm
105
Lightening Websites to Visit:
General Weather:
http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/
Lightening:
http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/lightning/index.html
http://www.fema.gov/kids/thunder.htm
106
Snow Websites to Visit:
General Weather:
http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/
Snow:
http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/disaster/snow.html
http://www.fema.gov/kids/wntstrm.htm
107
Tornados Websites to Visit:
General Weather:
http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/
Tornados:
http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/disaster/tornadoes.html
http://www.fema.gov/kids/tornado.htm
108
Websites to visit:
General Weather:
http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/
Floods:
http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/disaster/flooding.html
http://www.fema.gov/kids/floods.htm
Hurricanes:
http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/disaster/hurricanes.html
http://www.fema.gov/kids/hurr.htm
Snow:
http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/disaster/snow.html
http://www.fema.gov/kids/wntstrm.htm
Tornados:
http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/disaster/tornadoes.html
http://www.fema.gov/kids/tornado.htm
Lightening: (advanced)
http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/lightning/index.html
http://www.fema.gov/kids/thunder.htm
109
Part 4: Reflection
This lesson was dropped due to lack of time and access to the computer lab.
110
Lesson 10: 3, 2, 1…You‟re on! The final performance task will be introduced in this lesson. Students will then review different
weather broadcasts from around the nation and then discuss what they liked and disliked about
each video clip. They will also work with their partner on the final performance task, making
decisions about what features they liked and didn‟t, and what they would like to incorporate into
their own broadcasts.
Grade Level: 4th
Subject areas: Science, Language Arts
Materials needed:
Computer with internet access
“What‟s the Weather” worksheet
“Weather Watch Chart” worksheet
Pencil
Part 1: Rationale
Focus and purpose: Students will begin working on their final performance task in this lesson.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Review different clips of weather broadcasts to identify effective communication for a
specific audience.
Interpret the collected weather data to predict the weather for the following day on a
worksheet.
Predict the weather for the following day using words such as certain, impossible, most
often, least often, likely, and unlikely.
State Content Standards:
Focus Standards
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
111
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.01: Describe weather in measurable
quantities including temperature, wind direction, wind speed, and
precipitation.
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.02: Interpret data over a period of time
and use information to describe changes in weather from day to
day, week to week, and season to season.
Standards: Math
Common Curricular Goal: Data Analysis and Predictions: Develop and evaluate
inferences and predictions that are based on data.
Standard: Statistics and Probability
Benchmark MA 04.SP.06: Predict the degree of likelihood of a
single event occurring using words such as certain, impossible,
most often, least often, likely, and unlikely.
Standards: English Language Arts
Common Curricular Goal: Writing Applications: Narrative Writing: Write narrative,
expository, and persuasive texts, using a variety of written forms—including journals,
essays, short stories, poems, research reports, research papers, business and technical
writing—to express ideas appropriate to audience to purpose across the subject areas.
Standard: Writing
Benchmark EL.04.WR.23: Write personal narratives: Include
ideas, observations, or memories of an event or experience.
Provide a context to allow the reader to imagine the world of the
event or experience. Use concrete sensory details. Provide insight
into why the selected event or experience is memorable.
Standards: Career Related Learning
Common Curricular Goal: Integrate academic, technical and organizations knowledge
and skills to work successfully in family, school, community, and workplace settings.
Standard: Employment Foundations
Benchmark 1: Identify uses of technology in home, community, and
jobs.
Assessments:
“What‟s the Weather” worksheet
Group participation
Selection of Instructional Strategies:
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Visuals—the different video clips will help prepare the students for what to expect when
completing their projects.
Project based and problem based instruction—Students will be participating in a final
performance task that relates to their lives as students at the school. This will boost their
motivation to participate.
Modifications and adaptations:
Pair TM, TH, NA, KM with CN, KV, CS, AC.
Part 2: Procedure
Concept or rule to be discovered: Preparation is key when predicting the weather over the
airwaves.
Open 1. Introduce the final performance task for the unit: You are a
meteorologist that recently moved to the Rogue Valley. You were
asked by (insert teacher‟s name here) to do a special broadcast for
her students to prepare them for their upcoming field trip. (insert
teacher‟s name here) has asked you to provide the students in her
classroom with information about the current day‟s weather
(including high and low temperatures and any precipitation) and
your forecast for the following day‟s weather (using words like
„certainly‟ „likely‟ „unlikely‟ „impossible‟ „most often‟ and „least
often‟). Working with a partner, you will need to create and/or
choose at least 2 props to go along with your clip, including but
not limited to umbrellas, sunglasses, hats, rain jackets, rain boots.
You will also create large signs with pictures (sunny, cloudy,
rainy, etc.) to visually show what the weather will be like for the
following day. It will be helpful to write down a script of what
you want to say before getting in front of the camera. You can
then either memorize what you will say or create cue cards to read
as you present. Your partner will be the cameraman for you, and
you will be the cameraman for your partner.
Body 2. Tell students that now we will watch some different weather
forecasts from around the nation to help give them ideas for their
own broadcasts. Encourage students to take notes on what they
like and don‟t like on the videos.
3. Have students get out their “What‟s the Weather” and “Weather
Watch Chart” from their science notebook and go over the
directions.
Close
4. Tell students who their partners are and give them time to start
discussing their broadcast.
Part 3: Resources
113
You were asked by Mrs. Kolb to do a special broadcast for her students to prepare them for their
upcoming field trip to the Kassab Family Farm. She knows that you have just learned about
weather and would like you to help her students get ready for an upcoming field trip. Mrs. Kolb
has asked you to provide the students in her classroom with information about the current day‟s
weather (including high and low temperatures and any precipitation) and your forecast for the
following day‟s weather (using words like „certainly‟ „likely‟ „unlikely‟ „impossible‟ „most
often‟ and „least often‟).
Working with a partner, you will create a weather broadcast. Your video clip should be at
least one minute long and will need to include:
At least 2 props to go along with your clip, including but not limited to umbrellas,
sunglasses, hats, rain jackets, rain boots.
Two large signs with pictures (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) to illustrate the current weather
and what the weather will be like for the following day.
A written script that you will follow that includes the current day‟s weather and your
forecast for the following day. Be sure to use phrases that you have seen on the different
weather broadcasts. Use at least one of the following words/phrases: certainly, likely,
unlikely, impossible, most often, least often.
You were asked by Mrs. Kassab to do a special broadcast for her students to prepare them for
their upcoming field trip to her farm. She knows that you have just learned about weather and
would like you to help her students get ready for an upcoming field trip. Mrs. Kassab has asked
you to provide the students in her classroom with information about the current day‟s weather
(including high and low temperatures and any precipitation) and your forecast for the following
day‟s weather (using words like „certainly‟ „likely‟ „unlikely‟ „impossible‟ „most often‟ and
„least often‟).
Working with a partner, you will create a weather broadcast. Your video clip should be at
least one minute long and will need to include:
At least 2 props to go along with your clip, including but not limited to umbrellas,
sunglasses, hats, rain jackets, rain boots.
Two large signs with pictures (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) to illustrate the current weather
and what the weather will be like for the following day.
A written script that you will follow that includes the current day‟s weather and your
forecast for the following day. Be sure to use phrases that you have seen on the different
weather broadcasts. Use at least one of the following words/phrases: certainly, likely,
unlikely, impossible, most often, least often.
114
You were asked by Mrs. Gove to do a special broadcast for her students to prepare them for their
upcoming field trip to the park. She knows that you have just learned about weather and would
like you to help her students get ready for an upcoming field trip. Mrs. Gove has asked you to
provide the students in her classroom with information about the current day‟s weather
(including high and low temperatures and any precipitation) and your forecast for the following
day‟s weather (using words like „certainly‟ „likely‟ „unlikely‟ „impossible‟ „most often‟ and
„least often‟).
Working with a partner, you will create a weather broadcast. Your video clip should be at
least one minute long and will need to include:
At least 2 props to go along with your clip, including but not limited to umbrellas,
sunglasses, hats, rain jackets, rain boots.
Two large signs with pictures (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) to illustrate the current weather
and what the weather will be like for the following day.
A written script that you will follow that includes the current day‟s weather and your
forecast for the following day. Be sure to use phrases that you have seen on the different
weather broadcasts. Use at least one of the following words/phrases: certainly, likely,
unlikely, impossible, most often, least often.
You were asked by Mrs. Speelman to do a special broadcast for her students to prepare them for
their upcoming field trip to the park. She knows that you have just learned about weather and
would like you to help her students get ready for an upcoming field trip. Mrs. Speelman has
asked you to provide the students in her classroom with information about the current day‟s
weather (including high and low temperatures and any precipitation) and your forecast for the
following day‟s weather (using words like „certainly‟ „likely‟ „unlikely‟ „impossible‟ „most
often‟ and „least often‟).
Working with a partner, you will create a weather broadcast. Your video clip should be at
least one minute long and will need to include:
At least 2 props to go along with your clip, including but not limited to umbrellas,
sunglasses, hats, rain jackets, rain boots.
Two large signs with pictures (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) to illustrate the current weather
and what the weather will be like for the following day.
A written script that you will follow that includes the current day‟s weather and your
forecast for the following day. Be sure to use phrases that you have seen on the different
weather broadcasts. Use at least one of the following words/phrases: certainly, likely,
unlikely, impossible, most often, least often.
115
You were asked by Mrs. Harris to do a special broadcast for her students to prepare them for
their upcoming field trip to the park. She knows that you have just learned about weather and
would like you to help her students get ready for an upcoming field trip. Mrs. Harris has asked
you to provide the students in her classroom with information about the current day‟s weather
(including high and low temperatures and any precipitation) and your forecast for the following
day‟s weather (using words like „certainly‟ „likely‟ „unlikely‟ „impossible‟ „most often‟ and
„least often‟).
Working with a partner, you will create a weather broadcast. Your video clip should be at
least one minute long and will need to include:
At least 2 props to go along with your clip, including but not limited to umbrellas,
sunglasses, hats, rain jackets, rain boots.
Two large signs with pictures (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) to illustrate the current weather
and what the weather will be like for the following day.
A written script that you will follow that includes the current day‟s weather and your
forecast for the following day. Be sure to use phrases that you have seen on the different
weather broadcasts. Use at least one of the following words/phrases: certainly, likely,
unlikely, impossible, most often, least often.
You were asked by Mrs. Beck to do a special broadcast for her students to prepare them for their
upcoming field trip to the coast. She knows that you have just learned about weather and would
like you to help her students get ready for an upcoming field trip. Mrs. Beck has asked you to
provide the students in her classroom with information about the current day‟s weather
(including high and low temperatures and any precipitation) and your forecast for the following
day‟s weather (using words like „certainly‟ „likely‟ „unlikely‟ „impossible‟ „most often‟ and
„least often‟).
Working with a partner, you will create a weather broadcast. Your video clip should be at
least one minute long and will need to include:
At least 2 props to go along with your clip, including but not limited to umbrellas,
sunglasses, hats, rain jackets, rain boots.
Two large signs with pictures (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) to illustrate the current weather
and what the weather will be like for the following day.
A written script that you will follow that includes the current day‟s weather and your
forecast for the following day. Be sure to use phrases that you have seen on the different
weather broadcasts. Use at least one of the following words/phrases: certainly, likely,
unlikely, impossible, most often, least often.
116
You were asked by Mrs. Dennis to do a special broadcast for her students to prepare them for
their upcoming field trip to the coast. She knows that you have just learned about weather and
would like you to help her students get ready for an upcoming field trip. Mrs. Dennis has asked
you to provide the students in her classroom with information about the current day‟s weather
(including high and low temperatures and any precipitation) and your forecast for the following
day‟s weather (using words like „certainly‟ „likely‟ „unlikely‟ „impossible‟ „most often‟ and
„least often‟).
Working with a partner, you will create a weather broadcast. Your video clip should be at
least one minute long and will need to include:
At least 2 props to go along with your clip, including but not limited to umbrellas,
sunglasses, hats, rain jackets, rain boots.
Two large signs with pictures (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) to illustrate the current weather
and what the weather will be like for the following day.
A written script that you will follow that includes the current day‟s weather and your
forecast for the following day. Be sure to use phrases that you have seen on the different
weather broadcasts. Use at least one of the following words/phrases: certainly, likely,
unlikely, impossible, most often, least often.
You were asked by Ms. Ellerman to do a special broadcast for her students to prepare them for
their upcoming field trip to the coast. She knows that you have just learned about weather and
would like you to help her students get ready for an upcoming field trip. Ms. Ellerman has asked
you to provide the students in her classroom with information about the current day‟s weather
(including high and low temperatures and any precipitation) and your forecast for the following
day‟s weather (using words like „certainly‟ „likely‟ „unlikely‟ „impossible‟ „most often‟ and
„least often‟).
Working with a partner, you will create a weather broadcast. Your video clip should be at
least one minute long and will need to include:
At least 2 props to go along with your clip, including but not limited to umbrellas,
sunglasses, hats, rain jackets, rain boots.
Two large signs with pictures (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) to illustrate the current weather
and what the weather will be like for the following day.
A written script that you will follow that includes the current day‟s weather and your
forecast for the following day. Be sure to use phrases that you have seen on the different
weather broadcasts. Use at least one of the following words/phrases: certainly, likely,
unlikely, impossible, most often, least often.
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Part 4: Reflection
This lesson was taught by my classroom teacher due to a medical emergency.
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Lesson 11: Weather Wizards Students will demonstrate what they have learned throughout the unit by taking the final test and
presenting their weather broadcast.
Grade Level: 4th
Subject areas: Earth Science
Materials needed:
Computer with Turning Point
Clickers (one for each student)
Video camera
Part 1: Rationale
Focus and purpose: Students demonstrate what they have learned throughout the unit.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Answer the questions on the final test with 90% accuracy.
Present weather broadcast to class over the internet using a digital video camera and
computer.
State Content Standards:
Focus Standards
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02: Describe patterns of seasonal weather
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.01: Describe weather in measurable
quantities including temperature, wind direction, wind speed, and
precipitation.
Standards: Science
Common Curricular Goal: The Dynamic Earth: Understand changes occurring within
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
Standard: Earth and Space Science
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Benchmark SC.05.ES.02.02: Interpret data over a period of time
and use information to describe changes in weather from day to
day, week to week, and season to season.
Standards: Math
Common Curricular Goal: Data Analysis and Predictions: Develop and evaluate
inferences and predictions that are based on data.
Standard: Statistics and Probability
Benchmark MA 04.SP.06: Predict the degree of likelihood of a
single event occurring using words such as certain, impossible,
most often, least often, likely, and unlikely.
Standards: English Language Arts
Common Curricular Goal: Writing Applications: Narrative Writing: Write narrative,
expository, and persuasive texts, using a variety of written forms—including journals,
essays, short stories, poems, research reports, research papers, business and technical
writing—to express ideas appropriate to audience to purpose across the subject areas.
Standard: Writing
Benchmark EL.04.WR.23: Write personal narratives: Include
ideas, observations, or memories of an event or experience.
Provide a context to allow the reader to imagine the world of the
event or experience. Use concrete sensory details. Provide insight
into why the selected event or experience is memorable.
Standards: Career Related Learning
Common Curricular Goal: Integrate academic, technical and organizations knowledge
and skills to work successfully in family, school, community, and workplace settings.
Standard: Employment Foundations
Benchmark 1: Identify uses of technology in home, community, and
jobs.
Assessments:
Clicker test
Presentation of weather broadcast
Selection of Instructional Strategies:
Project based and problem based instruction—Students will be participating in a final
performance task that relates to their lives as students at the school. This will boost their
motivation to participate.
Modifications and adaptations:
Provide written tests for students as needed to allow for more time per question than
allowed with clicker test.
Part 2: Procedure
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Concept or rule to be discovered:
Open 1. A quick review before the clicker test (atmosphere, clouds, and
weather tools).
Body 2. Start clicker test after handing out clickers.
3. Allow students 5 minutes to meet with groups before
presentations.
4. Start presentations.
Close
5. Student self evaluation interviews.
Part 3: Resources
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Final Performance Task Rubric
CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Performance Speaks clearly
and distinctly all
of the time and
mispronounces
no words.
Speaks clearly
and distinctly all
of the time but
mispronounces 1
or more words.
Speaks clearly
and distinctly
most of the time
and
mispronounces
no words.
Does NOT speak
clearly and
distinctly most of
the time AND/OR
mispronounces
more than 1
word.
Predictions/Measurements All supportive
facts are reported
accurately (3 of
3).
Almost all facts
are reported
accurately (2 of
3).
One fact is
reported
accurately.
No facts are
reported
accurately OR no
facts were
reported.
Point of View - Purpose Newscast
establishes a
purpose at the
beginning and
maintains that
focus throughout!
Cohesive
newscast.
Establishes a
purpose at the
beginning, but
occasionally
wanders from
that focus.
The purpose is
somewhat clear
but many aspects
of the newscast
seem only slightly
related.
It was difficult to
figure out the
purpose of the
newscast.
Group Work The group
functioned
exceptionally
well. All members
listened to,
shared with and
supported the
efforts of others.
The group (all
members) was
almost always on
task!
The group
functioned pretty
well. Most
members listened
to, shared with
and supported
the efforts of
others. The group
(all members)
was almost
always on task!
The group
functioned fairly
well but was
dominated by one
or two members.
The group (all
members) was
almost always on
task!
Some members
of the group were
often off task
AND/OR were
overtly
disrespectful to
others in the
group AND/OR
were typically
disregarded by
other group
members.
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Part 4: Reflection
This lesson was taught by a substitute as I was out of the class due to a medical emergency and
my classroom teacher was serving on a jury.
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Figure 1
This chart represents the percentage of students who got each question correct. It
compares the pre-test to the post-test by showing the percentage change over the course of the
unit. This comparison allows me to see change in my students and it also helps me to evaluate
the test. I can look at the numbers and tell if a question is too hard or too easy by looking at the
percentages.
I was able to tell that the students improved on each question. This tells me that the unit
was successful in meeting the learning goals.
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Figure 2
This chart shows each students answers on the pre-test (yellow) and the post-test (blue) as
well as their score the number correct and percentage. I also included the percentage change so I
could determine if the student improved their score during the unit.
I was impressed with the students‟ performance on the final exam. There was no score
lower than 70 percent and the students improved their scores by as little as 18% to a whopping
65% improvement for one student. Based on these results, I would conclude that the learning
objectives were met for the unit.
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The pre-assessments were somewhat helpful in evaluating the students‟ readiness for this unit. I
was able to discover what students knew in regards to the facts of the unit (atmosphere, cloud,
and water cycle questions on the pre-test), whether students could identify weather tools, and if
students could model the water cycle by drawing. The KWL chart was helpful in identifying
what the students were most interested in learning during the unit.
There were several things that I would change about my pre-assessments to make them
more appropriate and helpful. The first thing I would change is in regards to the KWL chart. The
students were extremely vague when completing the graphic organizer. In the future I would
have a list of questions ready to prompt students to think more critically about what they know
and what they want to learn. The next thing I would change would be the water cycle drawing.
Instead of having students draw the water cycle from scratch, I would provide the blank water
cycle diagram and have student choose the words from a word bank. All I got back for this pre-
assessment was a handful of blank papers. On one hand this was helpful—I knew the students at
least couldn‟t remember the water cycle even if they had learned about it before. However once
we got to that point in the unit, students did know important aspects of the water cycle, and this
pre-assessment failed me in that regard.
The final performance task was an opportunity for the students to apply what they had
learned about weather in an activity that specifically applied to them and their classmates at the
school. Overall the performance of the students was great. The majority of the students were able
to meet the objectives for this task and they enjoyed doing it.
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NA is a newer immigrant to this country. She arrived in California a little over a year ago and
moved to our area prior to the start of this school year. She is learning English quickly. She has
a sister who is also in the fourth grade. Much of her writing is stories from when she was living
in Mexico. She is an extremely hard worker and is always trying to complete her work to the best
of her abilities. There are three reading and math groups; she is in the lowest reading group and
the middle math group. She recently started Read Naturally to help improve her fluency. She will
not be in the classroom during most of this unit as she is in the ELL classroom from 11:35 until
the end of the day at 2:15.
This student was not present in the classroom during the science lessons.
AA is a student who aims to please. She is always asking how she can help around the
classroom. She is a former ELL student. She has very strict, protective parents who often forbid
her from participating in field trips. Her family attends Jehovah’s Witness services, so she does
not participate in the flag salute in the morning or any sort of holiday celebration. She is in the
middle reading and math groups.
AA is a student who tends to do moderately well in whatever the class is studying. This
unit was no different. AA scored a 35% on the pre-test and by the end of the unit she was able to
score 94%. She improved her score by 59%. She said that the favorite part of the unit for her
was the clicker test. One thing that I noticed during this unit was how chatty she could get when
in a group situation (not talking about the topic though). In the future I would be sure to place
her with the quieter students who tend to focus on the work that needs to be done to help focus
her attention.
AC is quiet and shy. She often has a thick book at her fingertips. She has a great temperament
and is a good leader in groups. She is in the highest reading and math groups. She is a dedicated
student and hard worker. It is almost impossible to get her nose out of a book. She is a TAG
student. She participates in strings every morning. Her family is involved in her education, and
she is close to extended family (aunts, uncles, and cousins) as well.
AC was able to meet all of the objectives for this unit. She enjoyed getting to write the
script for the weather broadcast. When I interviewed her and asked questions about what she
learned in this unit she was able to list all kinds of information she had learned about clouds and
the water cycle. AC did very well on the post-test, and was one of two students who scored a
100% on the final test. In the future I would differentiate the instruction so that she had more
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opportunities to be reading and writing during the unit. It was difficult to get her to transition
from SSR to science in the afternoons. She did not want to put down her book and I would often
catch her with the book in her lap reading. She is an exceptionally strong group member with the
ability to step out of her shell to become the leader.
NC is a very smart student, but she struggles with staying on task. She is in the highest math and
reading groups and is a TAG student. If she applied herself she would be an even better student.
She frequently forgets her homework and “Read At Home” slips.
This student struggled during this unit. It was not necessarily related to the difficulty of
the tasks, as I know she is capable. Her motivation was completely gone during the month that I
taught this unit. She was able to complete the tasks; however it was not at her usual quality. She
did increase her score on the final test in comparison to the pretest. She scored 88% on the final,
which was 24% better than her pretest score. Her strength in this unit was her ability to work
well in a group. When she had somebody to keep her on task, she seemed to stay motivated. In
the future I would recommend pairing her with a student who stays on task and that will be able
to keep her on task.
MF is one of the success stories in this class. At the beginning of the year she was a struggling
reader in the lowest group. At the start of this trimester she made the leap to the highest reading
group. She is doing well and she feels more challenged in this group. She is in the middle group
for her math instruction. She tends to be shy and quiet until she has something to share, and then
she will speak up right away.
MF loved this unit! She is a student who works at a much slower pace than most students
but that quality wasn‟t present during this unit. She was on task and completing her work. She
was one of the main students participating in class discussions. She showed the most
improvement on her final test, improving by 65% and finishing with a score of 100%. She
enjoyed making the posters for the final performance task the most. During the final interview,
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she was able to answer every question I asked. In the future I would recommend incorporating
science into other areas of the day to keep this student motivated.
RH is a student who tends to get excited easily. She can be silly at times, and if SS and she are
close to each other they are bound to be talking. She sometimes struggles with making decisions.
She is in the middle reading and math groups. She is interested in Goosebumps and always
chooses these books to read.
The favorite part of the unit for this student was the final presentation. She enjoyed
including jokes in their weather broadcast. In regards to other aspects of the unit, she was able to
recall many of the obscure facts from the unit (for example: the water we drink today could have
been dinosaur spit). Her final score on the test was 82%, a 41% increase over her score on the
pretest. She was a strong group member and had the ability to keep her group members on task.
TH struggles with completing his work. The apathy he shows for schoolwork is something that is
more often seen in older students. He is a Special Education student and spends time out of the
classroom every afternoon. He is in the lowest reading and math groups. With guided, one-on-
one help he is very capable of completing his work.
This student was not present in the classroom during most of the science lessons. For the
amount of time he was in the classroom I feel that he did extremely well on the final test. He
scored a 71%, which was the lowest final score in the class. He was more engaged during the
science lessons than he was for other subjects. It seemed as though he felt more comfortable
contributing to group discussions during these science lessons than what is normal for this
student. He enjoyed the lessons that allowed him to get up and move around too. In the future I
would suggest incorporating more of these type of lessons into the other subjects.
TM is a student who needs constant attention. He is almost always off task. He has ADHD and
receives medicine. He needs redirection frequently throughout the day. TM is also a Special
Education student for math. He is in the lowest math group and the middle reading group.
This student was not present in the classroom during most of the science lessons. When
he was in the classroom he was one of the few students to act out. He had a difficult time
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following directions, and in the future I would make sure to have a printed set of directions for
him to read as well as a partner in the classroom who could help him remember to stay on task
and to not talk. He did really well on the final test only missing one question. His favorite part
of the unit was the group broadcast.
DM is a newer student at this school. He has been here for about 3 months now, and at the
beginning he was excelling. Recently though, his work has been slipping. He is struggling to
meet his reading goals. He is in the middle groups for reading and math.
DM is an average student. He tends to do as little as possible to get by, and at times this
attitude was present during this unit. Sometimes though he surprised me and was more than
ready to actively participate in the class discussions. In several of the lessons, he was excited to
share what he knew with the class. He also shared his experience with humidity from his time
living in Texas. He scored an 82% on his final test, an increase of 29% over his pretest. His
interview with me went very well. He was able to answer every question that I asked, from
questions about the atmosphere to the water cycle and even the cause of thunderstorms. His
favorite part of the unit was making the bleach drawings of the clouds. In the future I would
suggest giving him more opportunities to share stories from his life. This seemed to be the
turning point for him. After sharing he became more involved in the unit.
KM is a shy student who glows when she receives praise. She is a Special Education student for
math and reading. She is out of the classroom for the afternoon. She is in the lowest reading and
math groups. KM exclusively reads non-fiction books. She has a sister in the fourth grade too.
This student was not present in the classroom during the science lessons.
CN is a responsible student. He can be counted on to finish his homework and work
independently at his desk. He is in the middle math and reading groups. His home life is not the
greatest. He wanted to go live with his dad but didn’t tell his mom and step-dad. His step-dad
has treated CN in a rude manner. This week it was brought to our attention that his mom and
step-dad are getting a divorce.
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CN did okay in this unit. He scored an 82% on the final test, an increase of only 6%. He
came into the unit with a lot of knowledge about weather, and it didn‟t seem as though he
learned that much from the unit. His favorite part of the unit was the water cycle lesson. I would
recommend interviewing students like CN who do well on the pretest to determine how much
they actually know about what I will be teaching. This would help me to determine if they are
just good guessers or if they actually know the content well. Afterwards, the interview would
give me the information I would need to better serve that student and differentiate their
instruction so that he or she would be learning new material.
CR is a fun student to have in class. She is somewhat shy, but she is smart. She is always willing
to take on a challenge. CR is in the highest math and reading groups. She is also a TAG student.
Her family is very involved in her education, although her dad is currently in training for the
Army. Her parents are divorced and have since remarried.
CR was always challenging me to challenge her during this unit. Her favorite activity
during this unit was the weather forecast presentation. She was able to recall all aspects of the
water cycle and the different predictions that we can make about the weather by observing the
clouds. She did have struggles during the haiku/collage lesson. She became extremely emotional
and did not like the way her artwork turned out. She fixed it, and then was okay. She scored a
94% on her final test. In the future I would differentiate the instruction to better serve this
student.
SS is a student who is constantly trudging along. She struggles in reading and math, and is in the
lowest groups in both of these subjects. Her family is working with the school to help SS succeed.
Although she often has difficulties, she does not allow this to affect her attitude. She seems to
always have a positive, happy attitude.
This student did well in this unit. She began the unit with a 53% on her pretest and
finished the unit with an 88%, an increase of 35%. The weather forecast at the end of the unit
was her favorite part of the unit. She enjoyed drawing the pictures and telling people what she
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had learned. I would recommend that she be given the chance to share her successes with her
fellow classmates to encourage her future learning.
CS is one of the brightest students in class. The math and reading assignments are easily
understood and quickly mastered by her. She is in the highest math and reading groups and is
also a member of the TAG program at the school. Her family is always willing to lend a hand for
class activities and field trips.
CS enjoyed this unit on weather. Her strength in science is her ability to retain
information from what she has read. In class discussions she was often able to recall details from
our previous readings. She scored a 94% on her final exam, an increase of 35%. Her favorite part
of the unit was the water cycle game.
JT is a student who is constantly moving on hyper-drive. He is always in motion, even if it is just
his mouth. There tends to be problems between TM and him, but they are quickly solved. JT is in
the middle reading and math groups. He has insightful writing, but he often tries to get away
with not doing his work.
This student improved his knowledge of weather over the course of the unit. He
improved his score on the final test by 35%. His favorite part of the unit was the water cycle
game. I believe this is because the game gave students the opportunity to get up and move
around the room. In the future I would incorporate more lessons that allowed students to move
for students like JT.
KV is a student with an impressive knowledge about vocabulary and random facts. This
knowledge tends to make its way into the classroom in many ways, however most often she
dominates the classroom discussion by blurting out her thoughts. She currently uses a tracking
system that stays on her desk in which she makes a tally every time she blurts out. This has
helped to raise her awareness of times she is interrupting the class and stealing the think time of
other students. She is in the highest math and reading groups and is a member of TAG.
KV is a student who reads a lot! In this unit that fact was apparent, as she often had
tidbits that she wanted to share. Her favorite part of the unit was the clicker test because it was
like playing a video game. She scored a 94% on the final test, only missing one question. I
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would recommend giving KV a special role in a future unit that would allow her to be the teacher
for certain things. She loves to share her knowledge and I feel this would help to relieve her need
to blurt out information at all times as she is prone to do.
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I was excited about the prospect of teaching a science unit. This was my first opportunity
and I went into it with the belief that it would be easier to align the standards than it was for the
writing unit I taught for my half day work sample. This was not the case. The standards for
fourth grade weather didn‟t give me a lot to work with in planning this unit. They were vague
and left a lot of room for me to make the final decision about what I would teach during this unit.
I decided to focus on the patterns that can be found in weather. This was done through studies of
the water cycle, seasons, and climates around the world. Intertwined in these lessons was
information on clouds, the atmosphere, and ways to predict the weather by using the patterns of
weather. Overall I felt that the unit was aligned well. The lessons proceeded in a logical manner
in which information was built upon prior knowledge. I would have liked to do more with the
standard that deals with interpreting weather data. This is an important skill, and it would have
allowed students to see how weather patterns are developed over the years. The enduring
understandings were aligned with the standards and the lessons. Each of the questions and
understandings were met at different times during this unit.
I chose a variety of instructional strategies to engage the wide range of learning styles in
the classroom. There were 14 different instructional strategies used throughout this 11 lesson
unit. The strategies that I used most often were brainstorming and discussion, direct instruction,
and visuals. These strategies were important for me to use because I feel that these strategies are
the most effective way for students to construct knowledge when learning about science. Most
of the lessons were engaging for students; however several were particularly difficult for the
students to become excited about. These lessons were lesson 3 and lesson 7. These lessons were
two of the direct instruction lessons that I taught during this unit. I based them on the science
textbook. In the future when I use a textbook, I will try to incorporate it into a more exciting
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lesson, or make a PowerPoint to go along with the text to keep the students tuned in. The next
time that I teach a science unit I would like to incorporate strategies that will allow my students
to learn by discovery and critical thinking to better reflect the current “best practices”.
Students were given the opportunity in this unit to express themselves through poetry and
artwork. During the lesson 2 the students learned about syllables and how this concept is applied
to the writing of a haiku. I was surprised that so few of the students knew what a syllable was. I
also shared information about the history of haikus.
I believe that this unit would have been more complete if I had been able to be in the
classroom to finish teaching it. I missed the last 3 lessons due to a medical emergency and of
those lessons one was dropped due to lack of time, one was taught by my cooperating teacher,
and one was taught by a substitute. Of the lessons I was able to teach, the most important thing
for me to work on is to watch my time! I struggled with this in both work samples. Part of this
problem stems from the short amount of time allotted for science—only 30 minutes at the very
end of the day. I would have liked to incorporate more hands-on activities into this unit. I
struggled with finding activities that were more than just activities and would fit into the 30
minutes of science.
During this unit I realized that the more excitement I brought to the lesson the more
excitement my students would have. I was nearing the end of my pregnancy and by the end of
the day all I wanted to do was sit down and put my feet up. On the days where I let my energy
slip, the students were less engaged and seemed bored. The opposite was true when I brought the
energy! The correlation between my energy level and the students was direct. The more energy I
brought the more the students had.
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Another thing I learned in this unit is the power of having one on one interviews with
students after a unit. This allowed me to take a peek into the internal learning environment (i.e.
the student‟s brain). I learned a lot about how each student learned and what their likes and
dislikes were in the classroom.
My final observation of myself after teaching this work sample is that I still am not a fan
of direct instruction. When I did teach using direct instruction I was not as comfortable as when I
was teaching lessons in which students were given more freedom to explore the content. I would
like to continue focusing on improving my direct instruction skills in the future.
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Bibliography:
http://www.city-data.com/city/Grants-Pass-Oregon.html
http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/or/491#from..Tab
Websites:
Google Search: weather
The Weather Channel www.weather.com
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration http://www.nws.noaa.gov/
Google Search: weather unit 4th grade
The Teachers Guide http://www.theteachersguide.com/Weather.html
ProTeacher Community http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=30977
http://www.proteacher.com/110022.shtml
Saint Johns Brunswick Private School http://saint-johns-
brunswick.pvt.k12.me.us/teachers/teachers/4s.htm#Weather
Utah Educator Network http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=12467
Lesson Planet http://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=fourth+grade+weather+unit&rating=3
Wayne County Board of Education http://www.wcolweb.com/learningfocus/g4.htm
Flashcard Exchange http://www.flashcardexchange.com/flashcards/list/268197
Weather Webquests http://www.aps.edu/aps/lavaland/weather.htm
Google Search: water cycle diagrams
Earthguide Diagrams http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/watercycle/
Google Search: weather terms 4th
grade
Scholastic http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/index.htm
Weather Instruments http://www.surweb.org/ls/ls_view.asp?lsid=1272
The Cloud Case http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/cloudless/teachers.html
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