Weather Unit

written by

Johanna Lloyd & Miriam Shipard 1997

Unit Focus

This assignment is based on a Science and Technology unit titled "Weather Watch". It is designed for years 4/5 and investigates what weather is, what different components make up weather and how weather affects us. It involves many practical tasks as well as discussion, prediction, questioning and reporting activities.

1 Oral language development

1.1 Oral language required

The oral language required for this unit involves knowing some basic weather vocabulary. The students will also need to develop and use questioning and thinking language to express ideas, explain concepts or to predict outcomes. For example:
climate meteorology rain precipitation hail weather temperature thermometer thunder lightning pressure hurricane tornado atmosphere cloud measure model design record explain demonstrate
I think it is.... Why does it.... When does.... I think it is because.... What is.... How does it..... I think it could be..... What does this mean....? Do you think....

1.2 Planning to meet oral language development needs

• what am I planning to achieve?
• are the students proficient in one or more languages?
• are learning experiences concrete, meaningful and purposeful?
• who will be asking the questions?
• who controls the topic development - is the curriculum relevant?
• are there opportunities for the students to talk, interact and think?
• are there opportunities for students to practice their oral language?
• what level of linguistic demand is required?
• is the environment of oral language development context embedded or context reduced?

1.3 Interactive task

Using the topic of 'clouds', students can work in pairs on an enquiry and elimination task using a matrix. One student will choose a cloud from the matrix and will answer yes or no to their partner's questions. This can also be done as a whole class exercise. Alternatively, in pairs, students can use the cloud matrix to complete a cloud diagram that has the labels missing.

Click here to go to cloud interactive task.

1.4 Listening task

Tape a news report detailing the invents of a meteorological disaster eg. cyclone, flood, hailstorm, tornado etc. The tape needs to include the interviews of at least two victims/witnesses.
1. Play the tape asking children to listen carefully. What has happened? What's the situation?
2. Play the tape again. How many people are speaking on the tape? Are they male or female?
3. Give the students a list of statements such as:
"We were stranded in our car"
"We got out just before our roof blew off"
"The flood raged through Sydney"
The students are required to identify which statement applies to which character on the tape.
4. Replay the tape a third time to check predictions.
(5. As a joint construction activity the class can write a report about the event.)

1.5 Assessing oral language development

• what are the linguistic and cognitive demands of this unit? Are they appropriate?
• is the linguistic demand required in the activities in relation to linguistic ability of the students?
• what is the level of oral interaction in group discussions?
- who is talking
- what are they taking about
- how are they talking (eg. formally or informally)
• importance of using a variety of assessment strategies for oral language development

1.6 Principles of oral language development

• students need a supportive and relevant environment where mistakes are OK
• oral language needs to be modelled, both through teacher-student and student-student interaction. The students also need time to practice their oral language.
• the development of oral language needs to include both BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills) and CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) and classroom practices need to cater for both areas of oral language development.
[top][oral language][vocabulary][reading][writing][learning about the world]

2 Vocabulary development

2.1 Focus vocabulary

climate meteorology rain precipitation hail weather temperature thermometer thunder lightning pressure hurricane tornado atmosphere cloud

2.2 Etymology


climate: region having certain atmospheric conditions, French climat or late Latin clima, climat
meteorology: from meteor: atmospheric phenomenon, modern Latin meteorum
rain: Old English regn
precipitation: from precipice: headlong fall, vertical steep face of rock, French précipice or Latin praecipitium, precipitation: deposit in a solid form from a solution (French or Latin)
hail: frozen vapour falling in pellets, Old English haegl
weather: condition of the atmosphere with respect to heat or cold, calm or storm etc., Old English weder
temperature: mixture, temperament (obsolete); state with regard to heat and cold, French or Latin
thermometer: French thermométre or heat, Greek thérme
water: transparent liquid forming the material of seas, lakes and rivers, Old English waeter, Old Saxon watar
thunder: accompaniment of lightning, Old English punor = Old Saxon thuma
pressure: action of moral or mental force; action of pressing, Latin pressura
hurricane: Spanish huracan, Portuguese furacao
tornado: rotary storm of Africa, Spanish tornada
atmosphere: modern Latin atmosphaera
cloud: visible mass of watery vapour in the air, Old English clud
measure: prescribed or limited extent; action, result, or means of measuring, French mesure, Latin mensura
model: representation or figure in three dimensions, French modelle
design: plan, scheme, purpose, French disseigne
record: fact of being committed to writing as evidence; fact of being preserved to knowledge,authentic report of proceedings etc., French record, Latin recordare explain: unfold [a matter], give details of, Latin explanare
demonstrate: make evident by proof, past participle stem of Latin demonstrare

Reference : Hoad, F.T. (ed) (1986). The concise Oxford dictionary of English etymology, New York, Oxford University Press.

2.3 Vocabulary development activities


1. Matching words with definitions, for example:
1. climate A ( ) weather over a long period of time 2. weather B ( ) measure of the hotness of the air 3. temperature C ( ) horizontal movement of air 4. wind D ( ) state of the atmosphere at a particular time and place
2. Unjumble words, for example:
rtrpetmeaue (temperature)
rweehta (weather)
dwni (wind)
eaiclmt (climate)

3. Clines, for example: cyclones gales strong wind strong breeze breeze

zephyr



4. Class brainstorming to create a 'Weather Word Bank'.

2.4 Vocabulary development activity

Brainstorming would normally occur at the beginning of a unit as part of building the field. Students can be asked what words they already know about weather and these can be written up on a wall chart. These words can also be used for spelling and other vocab. activities so the children become very familiar with weather words. The students can add new words to the list throughout the duration of the unit.
[top][oral language][vocabulary][reading][writing][learning about the world]

3 Reading development

3.1 Three useful books


• Cosgrove, B. (1991). Weather, London: Dorling Kindersley.
Comment: comprehensive, good illustrations and photographs, suitable for year 6 children.
• Dineen, J. (1991). Natural disasters: Hurricanes and Typhoons, Great Britain: Gloucester Press.
Comment: report/explanation genre, good diagrams, photographs, illustrations and information.
• Farndon, J. (1992). Weather, London: Dorling Kindersley.
Comment: simplistic language, large print, good for those students with reading difficulties.

3.2 Short text

Reference : Hann, J. (1991). How science works, London: Dorling Kindersley, pp 124-125.

Staged Lesson Plan: Water in Weather.
1. Prediction : Play a tape of rain falling on different surfaces.
Brainstorm: What is this sound?
Where do you think the rain was falling?
Note: the tape may need to be played a couple of times.
2. Concrete focus : As a class explore different forms of water. Display three glass bowls containing water, ice and boiling water with steam (to emphasise water vapour).
Brainstorm: How do you think these different forms of water are made?
Where do you see these different forms of water?
3. Collaborative talk : Match photograph of 'weather' eg. hail, frost, to its name. This can be done as an interactive task such as a flow chart, matrix or enquiry and elimination. It can be done in pairs, groups or as a whole class. See appendix for text (includes photographs).
4. Prediction and Collaborative talk : In small groups students predict how a particular component of weather is formed eg. rain, snow, hail, frost, fog and mist.
5. Reading/Listening of text
This can be done: whole class from OHT teacher reads, class listens individually or in a small group
6. Review predictions (from step 5)

3.3 Reading activities

• A prediction exercise that requires the student to read ahead and guess what words might be missing. After reading the text the students can go back and check his or her predictions.
• Using sentence strips students can reconstruct a short text. Adding another dimension to this exercise: include sentences or words that do not belong to the text, requiring students to make sure their reconstruction is correct.

3.4 Principles for teaching of reading

• students are engaged in their learning when it has meaning and purpose for them. Using genuine texts which have meaning will engage bilingual students and make their learning more meaningful
• reading is a complex process, particularly for the second language speaker. The teaching of reading needs to encompass all cuing systems such as graphophonic, phonological, lexical and syntactical
• bilingual students need to be scaffolded in their learning. Therefore, the teaching of reading needs to involve modelling and a supportive environment. Staged lesson plans (see 3.2) that lead to the reading of a text can be adjusted for different needs and abilities.
[top][oral language][vocabulary][reading][writing][learning about the world]

4 Writing development

4.1 Genres

• report
• explanation
• procedure

4.2 Grammatical features

Report:
- present simple (timeless present) -adverbs eg. usually, often -technical terms eg. meteorology -reference chains eg. using and, because -material processes (verbs) eg. falling -general participants eg. the earth

4.3 Writing practice

Students can use a matrix or flow chart of clouds or water cycle etc. to practice writing at the clause and text level. They can draw information from the matrix or flow chart and create clauses using 'both', 'the most', 'the biggest', 'the smallest' etc. To extend this at the text level, the students can write a report drawing on the clause level exercise.

4.4 Benefits of joint construction

• language is modelled orally and written
• words and phrases are usually repeated which helps the bilingual speaker to become familiar with words and text
• students have the opportunity to contribute
• students are actively involved in the task and in thinking
• knowledge of content, grammar and structure of text is consolidated
• students are able to learn through their mistakes

4.5 Issues for assessment in writing

• if there is error then it is important that the source be located eg. graphological, phonological, lexical or syntactical
• the question of 'how to assess' arises. This needs to be done through meaningful and purposeful tasks where needs and weaknesses can be more easily identified. Formal testing does not always give an accurate assessment.
• the structure of writing in some languages differs from English. This will affect the way a bilingual student writes. This will also depend on the students' proficiency in other languages.
• assessment strategies need to be varied to gain a wider view of the students' development
• the writing task needs to analysed according to linguistic and cognitive demand
• the familiarity of the task to the learner
[top][oral language][vocabulary][reading][writing][learning about the world]

5 Learning about the world

5.1 Knowledge after completing the unit

• how the weather works, for example: -how thunder and lightning are produced -how rain, snow, hail etc. are formed -what makes wind etc.
• how weather is measured
• understand how weather is predicted and reported
• the importance of changes in weather for humans, animals and plants

5.2 Questions

Joh: How do meteorologists know how to predict the weather? What is the El Nino?
Miriam: How are satellite images compiled? Why are some parts of the earth more prone to tornadoes and thunderstorms etc. than others?

5.3 Principles for teaching bilingual students

• students need to be actively involved, particularly in their thinking
• the topic needs to be relevant and engaging
• language needs to be modelled and the students given opportunity to practice and make mistakes

5.4 Factors to assist bilingual students to learn content in this unit

• students are required to actively participate in activities, particularly when the students are required to design and make.

• oral and written language is drawn upon frequently when the students experiment, design and predict. It is a unit where students will need and want to ask questions.

• concrete experiences are used which consolidate the students' learning and understanding of concepts and phenomena.

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This page was created by Johanna Lloyd and Miriam Shipard

October 1998

climate	meteorology	rain
precipitation	hail	weather
temperature	thermometer	thunder
lightning	pressure	hurricane
tornado	atmosphere	cloud
measure	model	design
record	explain	demonstrate

I think it is....	Why does it....	When does....
I think it is because....	What is....	How does it.....
I think it could be.....	What does this mean....?	Do you think....

1. climate	A ( ) weather over a long period of time
2. weather	B ( ) measure of the hotness of the air
3. temperature	C ( ) horizontal movement of air
4. wind	D ( ) state of the atmosphere at a particular time and place

- present simple (timeless present)	-adverbs eg. usually, often
-technical terms eg. meteorology	-reference chains eg. using and, because
-material processes (verbs) eg. falling	-general participants eg. the earth