Rational: I wrote this unit plan in my ED338 field experience. The reason I chose weather for my unit plan was because upon asking my cooperating teacher what kind of a lesson she would like me to teach her class for my Formal Observation during the field, she advised that she would be starting a unit on weather and that she would love for me to do the intro lesson. This unit demonstrates my knowledge of the subject matter ranging from clouds and the water cycle all the way through measuring tools used by professionals of the field. It is also a very developmentally appropriate lesson because at age 5 children are eager to be independent and are learning to be by being able to dress themselves appropriately, predict potentially bad weather or storms and why they occur. The following are included in my unit plan A list of terms, facts and principles that I felt were appropriate within the unit. Learning and skills goals for the unit. Activities that I would like to take place during the unit including songs, field trips and guest speakers that I would like to invite in. The terms, facts and principles are connected to the type of instruction by letters and numbers. A tentative weekly calendar that discusses on which days which events take place. Lesson Plans A letter to the families introducing the unit. Jolen Tomlinson Unit Plan WEATHER 1. The weather affects the way people live. 2. Weather is a short term look at the atmosphere 3. Some main ingredients to weather; temperature, Precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, hail) clouds, and wind. The mixture of these ingredients helps us to understand why the weather is like it is right now, and predict what it might become. 4. Some weather occurs based on the season. 5. In winter, a location is receiving less direct light from the sun, making the temperature colder and the days shorter. 6. In summer, a location is receiving more direct light from the sun, making the temperature warmer and the days longer. 7. We can predict the weather based on observing characteristics outside, such as color and size of clouds and/or temperature changes, 8. People dress based on their observations of the weather. 9. We do different activities at different times of the year (sledding, swimming, raking leaves, picnics) 10. Many people s work is dependent upon the cooperation of the weather; including pilots, mail carriers, and everyday people who have to drive or ride in order to get to and from work. 11. Some people who work to provide us with information about the weather are meteorologists, news forecasters, and climatologists. 12. These people have certain tools that they use in order to measure the weather. 13. There are different analogies people use when referring to weather; it s raining cats and dogs (do we literally mean that cats and dogs are falling from the sky?) Terms
a. Weather b. Four seasons c. Direct Sunlight d. Temperature e. Water cycle f. Evaporation g. Clouds h. Precipitation i. Wind j. Pressure k. Meteorologist l. Climatologist m. Pilots n. Mail carrier o. Thermometer p. Rain gauge q. anemometers Objectives: Students will recall the four seasons and the temperatures that occur during the different seasons. Students will identify some activities that take place during certain seasons (sledding during winter time) Students will apply their knowledge of clouds to predicting weather (black clouds means it may storm so we need to wear a rain jacket). Students will explain the water process that occurs (It rains, and then the sun causes the water to evaporate thus creating clouds, and then when the clouds get full and it rains again). Children will share orally and in writing concepts that they learned from field trips or guest speakers. Children will describe observations of the weather (There are many dark clouds in the sky today) Children will observe the weather outside and predict what may happen based on their observations (it may rain or snow). Children will create a graph based on the weather outside. Students will keep a daily journal of the weather. Type of Instruction Concepts Assessment Field trip to Betty Brinns Children Museum where 2,3,11 Have students write about there are weather stations for the children to play in. what they learned during the Dramatic Play area that is set up like a weather station. Play desk, microphone, video camera, weather map, Velcro sun, rain, snow, clouds, rain jackets, umbrella, snow books, shorts, pants, swimsuits. Have a meteorologist guest speaker come and discuss his/her work and what it entails. Keep track of weather for the entire unit in their journals. Science center: guess which objects will the wind blow and then use fan to find out. Make weather tools such as thermometers, anemometers, rain gauges. Use popcorn to represent the water cycle (one child clasps both hands together while another adds popcorn one at a time (evaporation)..eventually when there is too much to hold the popcorn falls out of the child s hands(rain) Make a chart of the weather (math and science). Literacy Centers: Use stamps that have pictures of objects that have the same sound as the letters in weather. Write a sentence a day about what the weather is like during daily news. Write a sentence and draw a picture about an activity that a person may do during a certain season. event and draw a picture. 7,8,1,2,3 Observation: Listen for weather talk; matching the weather to their forecast, discussing events that match the weather (use an umbrella today). K,l,o,p,q 2,a,g,h,I,j 3, 12, i j,o,p,q,e,f,g 2,3,5,d,o,p,q A,1,9 Have students write a thank you letter to speaker. Journals: were their observations accurate. Observation, were their guesses accurate? Do their tools look accurate? Do they understand what each one is used to measure. Observation: Are they using terms such as evaporation and rain? Look for accurate stamps sounds that match the word weather. Observation: Look for accurate descriptions of the weather. Look for children to accurately identify
Math center: It s raining cats and dogs. (give them a double sided cut out of a cat on one side and a dog on another and then have the students drop it 10 times and graph the results) an activity that occurs during a specific season 13 Observe to see that the children understand the concept of graphing information. Field trip to Betty Brinn s Children s Museum where we will set up our own weather station and record a broadcast. Whole class cognitive, language, social. Dramatic Play weather station. Sensory engagement, small group, environmental cues, affective, language, social. Meteorologist Guest Speaker Cognitive, social Read Aloud Shared Reading Shared Writing Whole group; scaffolding, guided practice, invitations, telling, explaining and informing, modeling; questions, Cognitive, language, social Daily weather journal Whole group: guided practice; Affective, Cognitive Science Centers: Popcorn water cycle center; small group sensory engagement. Aesthetic, cognitive, physical, social Make a cloud experiment; small groups; sensory engagement; cognitive, affective, social. Science and Art Center: Making our own weather tools. http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/weathertools.html Small group; Sensory engagement; Aesthetic, affective, cognitive, physical, social Science and Math Centers: Graph the weather for the month Whole group; guided practice, scaffolding, sensory engagement; Affective, cognitive, physical It s raining cats and dogs graph. Small group; guided practice; Cognitive, physical. Literacy Centers: Weather Stamps activity Aesthetic, affective, physical Write about the weather and draw picture Aesthetic, physical. Songs/Finger plays Sensory Engagement, Language, physical What s the weather 5 Little Weathermen Did M T W Th F X X
you ever see a Cloud? When I look into the sky Umbrellas Rainbows The Weather is a funny thing How to Collect Data In order to assess the students prior knowledge, I would ask questions prior to my reading, and then use this information to build off of how challenging to make my lessons. During center times the students will be completing several weather related worksheets. Weather related art projects- lesson plan #2, lesson plan #3 Weather related graphing- graphing will take place on a daily basis. I will have them graph the temperature, and the weather throughout the week. Additional graphing that may take place depending on the students understanding is having the students create weather measuring instruments and use them, such as a rain gauge, and a wind vane. They will then graph the amount of rain and the direction of the wind. Throughout the unit, I will be observing each student and creating notes that will clue me in as to their level of understanding and learning. Lesson plan #1 Domain Language, Cognitive, Affective, Aesthetic, Social) Lesson plan #1 Domain Language, Cognitive, Affective, Aesthetic, Social) Activity Name Seasons Objectives (observable behaviors) *Children identify the four seasons. *Children will identify 1 characteristic to each season (during the summer it is hot, during the winter it is cold). Content (facts, vocabulary, concepts) 4 seasons Spring Summer Winter Fall I will start by asking the students if they have ever heard the word season, inviting them to share what they know about the seasons and their characteristics. If no one has heard the word season in the form that I am discussing, then I will tell them that a season is something that divides the year. I will then tell them that there are 4 seasons, spring, summer, fall and winter. I will take a piece of paper and draw four categories labeled spring, summer, fall and winter. After I have introduced these concepts into the conversation, I will again ask them to tell me what they know about the 4 seasons that I just stated. With this, I am hoping to hear that during the summer they are out of school, and that during the winter is when Santa Clause comes, and with this I will write down the characteristics and ideas that the children are discussing in the group. If I am unable to get all of the characteristics I am looking for, I will guide them by asking them questions like what are some activities that you do during the summer? Swimming? So if you are able to swim that must mean that the weather is cold outside (sarcasms)? Once we have identified characteristics of each season, I will get a calendar out (one that uses characteristics of the seasons in each month), and we will go through and guess which months go into which seasons. Next, we will learn
a song about the seasons. I will sing a line of the song and have the students repeat after me. We will go through the song 3 times (to the tune of "This Old Man") Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall There are seasons, four in all. Weather changes, sun and rain and snow, Leaves fall down and flowers grow. Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall There are seasons, four in all. Look outside and you will see Just what season it will be! Materials Big piece of paper, season friendly calendar. Instructional Strategies (Strategies may include but are not limited to: Sensory Engagement, Scaffolding, Guided Practice, Invitations, Behavior Reflections, Paraphrase, Reflections, Modeling, Effective Praise, Telling, Explaining, Do-It Signals, Challenges. Questions (questions that represent varied levels of Blooms Taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. When you teach the lesson you will also ask follow-up questions to children s initial responses, e.g. why, why do you think so, how do you know, what was your clue ) Can someone name one of the four seasons? (Knowledge) Can someone identify one event or description of one of the seasons? (Comprehension) Who knows which season this month might be in? (Application) What are some characteristics that you see in the picture of this month that clue you into which season the month falls under? (Analysis) Who can look out of the window and tell me which season they think we are in right now? (Evaluate) Student Assessment I will assess the students understanding by observing the students ability to identify characteristics of certain seasons and also which months belong in which season. Lesson plan #2 Domain Language, Motor, Cognitive, Affective. Activity Name More seasons Objectives (observable behaviors) *Children will identify the seasons. *Children will identify characteristics of each season (such as what type of clothes we wear during winter). Children will arrange 4 pictures in order of seasons based on the characteristics of each picture. *Children will draw themselves into the pictures taking place in events that might happen during that particular season (ex: during summer they can draw a picture of themselves in a swimming pool). Content (facts, vocabulary, concepts) We will start by repeating the song that we learned yesterday about the seasons. Next, I will ask the students to raise their hands and tell the seasons that we learned yesterday and the characteristics of the seasons. I will then tell them that we are going to read a book about the seasons to learn even more about them I will then read them Caps, hats, socks and mittens; a book about the four seasons, by Louise Borden. Next, I will ask them to identify anything new that we learned about any season from reading the book and we will add this to our list from the prior day. I will then have the students stand up and act out activities that take place in a certain season. For example, I will describe being up on an extremely tall hill covered with white cold snow. I will then have them act out an event that they visualize with my description (expecting to see them perform activities such as sledding, building a snow man, making snow angels..etc.. I will then explain that we are going to create a book of seasons. I will then show them my
book, and explain what they will have to, for example, I provide a sheet of paper that says, During the winter I like to On this picture it has characteristics of the season (ex: sunny with blooming leaves and flowers or leaves falling off the trees) where they will fill in an activity that they like to do and this will be repeated for each season. They are to then draw a picture of themselves performing the chosen seasonal activity (ex: swimming or trick or treating). Materials needed: Caps, Hats socks and mittens; a book about the four seasons, by Louise Borden, yesterday s brainstorm paper with characteristics of seasons, worksheets with pictures of characteristics of four seasons on it, pencils, stapler, colored pencils or crayons. Instructional Strategies: Sensory Engagement, Task Analysis, Scaffolding, Guided Practice, Invitations, Behavior Reflections, Paraphrase, Modeling, Effective Praise, Telling, Explaining, Do-It Signals. Questions: What are the names of the four seasons that we learned yesterday? (Knowledge) What are some things that happen during that specific season? (Comprehension) What do you see yourself doing next after I describe to you what you are seeing? How do you feel? (Application) What are some characteristics that you notice in the picture that might clue you into which season this picture is showing? (Analysis) What are some events that you can see yourself doing during this season? What do you do during the summer or the winter? (Synthesis) Student Assessment I will observe the students during class conversation to assess their understanding of the four seasons. I will also be assessing the students based on their ability to dramatize an even that they might participate in based on my description of the season, and their art work of writing down an even that they would like to do during a season, and an appropriate, matching picture of them participating in the event. Lesson plan #3 Domain (Language, Motor, Cognitive, Aesthetic) Activity Name Clouds and rain Objectives (observable behaviors) *Children will identify the four seasons. * Children will predict what a cloud is made of * children will observe the clouds outside. * Children will describe the different shapes and sizes of clouds* children will predict weather based on how clouds look. *Children will create a picture of clouds (either dark or white), and a picture of themselves dressed appropriately for the weather in their picture (if it is raining, wearing a rain jacket). Content (facts, vocabulary, concepts) *4 seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) and descriptions of them. *Atmosphere- Mixture of gases surrounding the earth *Clouds- A visible body of water and/or ice particles that float in the atmosphere above sea level. *Clouds help us predict what the weather is going to be like. *Clouds affect the weather. Materials: Dry erase board or big piece of paper for brainstorming clouds as a group. Construction paper, Cotton balls, crayons, pencils, markers. Instructional Strategies: Sensory Engagement, Scaffolding, Guided Practice, Invitations, Behavior Reflections, Paraphrase, Reflections, Modeling, Effective Praise, Telling, Explaining, Do-It Signals, Challenges. Time Needed: Intro: I will start by teaching the students a song about clouds: Sung to: "Twinkle twinkle" When I look into the sky I can see the clouds go by They don't ever make a sound Letting wind push them around Some go fast and some go slow I wonder where the clouds all go
Next, I will ask them what they think the song means when it asks where the clouds all go? I would like to hear that sometimes the clouds are big and other days the sky has little clouds. I will then tell them that in order to understand where they go we need to understand what clouds are made of. I will then ask the students to guess what they think a cloud is. Depending upon their answers, I will tell them that clouds are the white puffy things up in the sky that looks like cotton balls. I will then ask them to guess what they think clouds are made up of. Upon some brainstorming, I will tell them that clouds are made up of water and ice. 5 minutes Observation of Clouds: We will then step outside and observe the clouds. I will ask the children to describe the clouds for me. I would like to hear the size, shape and color. Depending upon what the clouds look like, I will ask the students if they have ever seen the clouds any colors other than white.. I will then ask them what they think the different colors of the clouds might mean..5 minutes Reading: I will then go on to reading the book Down Comes the Rain, by Franklyn M. Branley, stopping to discuss certain concepts in the book, such as a brief discussion about the cycle of water, and the concept of evaporation. 10 minutes Discussion: We will then review what we learned from the book in comparison to our discussion prior to the reading. 5 minutes Activity: I will then provide an explanation of the activity we are going to do. They will then make a picture, making clouds out of cotton balls, and their selves dressed appropriately for the chosen weather. 15 minutes Closure: I will then close by asking student to re identify what clouds are, such as what they are made of, and characteristics that clouds can have, and in addition, an explanation of some things that we can use clouds for. 2 minutes Questions *what do you think clouds might be made of? (Knowledge) *Who can explain to the class what they think a cloud is? (Synthesis) *Who can identify some characteristics of a cloud for me? (Analysis) *Are clouds always there? *What do you think a cloud might be made of? (Application) *Are there times when a cloud looks different other than white and puffy? (Comprehension) *Have you ever seen clouds that are darker colored? *How can we make these cotton balls look more realistically like clouds? (Synthesis) *What are some things that we learned today? (Evaluation) Student Assessment I am assessing the students knowledge through their ability to answer the questions during discussion, and also through their drawings of clouds and themselves dressed appropriately for their created weather picture. I will particularly be looking for their ability to understand and identify that we can predict the weather based on how the clouds look (dark clouds and rain) and their ability to identify reasons why we may want to be able to predict the weather (to be able to dress appropriately in a rain jacket). Lesson plan #4 Domain Language, motor, Cognitive, Affective, Aesthetic, Social Activity Name Water cycle Objectives (observable behaviors) * Children will identify what occurs during the water cycle (rain, evaporation, cloud formation). *Children will demonstrate the water cycle using packing popcorn. *Children will recite rain finger play. Content: Evaporation- when the sun comes out and dries up all the rain causing it to lift up to the sky. Cloud: Formation of water and ice particles in the atmosphere. Water cycle: Evaporation, cloud formation, rain I will start by reviewing some of the information that we learned yesterday. I will ask the
students to discuss what a cloud is made of. Upon them telling me water, I will ask them to discuss how the water got up in the sky to form that cloud. I f they become confused with this, I will remind them that it is a certain cycle that takes place, reminding them that after it rains, the sun causes the water to dry up and I will ask them to tell me what word we used to represent the rain drying up, hoping to hear one of them figure out evaporation. If they don t I will remind them of the word, and tell them that it is ok if they don t remember because we will be studying it even more today. We will review the drawing that we drew in yesterday s discussion about rain. Next, I will explain that they are going to work in groups using packing popcorn to demonstrate the water cycle. I will tell them that each piece of popcorn represents a rain particle and we will hold them in our hands to represent the cloud forming. Next, I will ask them to predict what might happen when we get several rain particles in our hands, and I am hoping to hear responses such as it will start to fall out when to many rain particles fill up our hand. I will then tell them to split up into their groups and find out for sure if our prediction is accurate. I will be walking around from group to group observing the students. I will chime in when I see that the popcorn starts to overflow in a child s hands, and ask them what they think the falling popcorn represents. With this I am hoping to hear the connection to rain, and if I don t I will go through the process with the group until I fell they understand the process. Lastly, I will bring the class back together and ask them to share with the class what occurred during their activity and what they learned. I will then ask them what they should wear when it rains outside, and will close by teaching them a short finger play. I put on my raincoat. (Pretend to put on coat.) I put on my hat. (Put on hat.) I put up my umbrella (fingertips touching overhead) Just like that! Materials Yesterday s illustration of water cycle, packing popcorn. Instructional Strategies: Sensory Engagement, Environmental Cues, Task Analysis, Scaffolding, Guided Practice, Invitations, Behavior Reflections, Paraphrase, Modeling, Effective Praise, Telling, Explaining, Do-It Signals, Label strategies you will use. Questions: Who remembers what a cloud is made of? (Knowledge) What forms the water on the ground or where does the water come from? How does the water get up in the sky to form a cloud? (Comprehension) Can you show me while telling me all the steps that are occurring? (Application) Why do you think that the cloud can t hold the rain sometimes? (Analysis) What did you learn about the water process today that you think would be important to write in your journal? (Synthesis) Student Assessment I will assess the students by observing their group time experiment and their ability to accurately explain what occurs during the water cycle. I will also take a look at their journal writings to see what they felt they learned this day in comparison with yesterday s lesson. Lesson plan #5 Domain Language, Cognitive, Affective, Aesthetic, Social Activity Name Rainbows Objectives (observable behaviors) *Children will recite the colors in the rainbow. *Children will examine the formation of a rainbow. Content Reflection:
I will start by holding up the handheld mirror, showing the children themselves. I will ask them to identify what they see. I will ask them to tell me a word that means to look into something and see you (hoping to hear reflection). If they are unfamiliar with this word I will introduce it to them. Next, I will remind them of what we have been discussing the past week about weather, allowing them to identify some things we have previously learned. I will then tell them a riddle and ask them to solve it. I am very colorful, but shy, so I only come out sometimes after it rains. What am I? I hope to hear the children identify a rainbow. If this is not detailed enough, I will go into further detail by identifying the colors and saying that sometimes people say if you find where I meet land, you may find a pot of gold! Next, we will identify some colors in the rainbows. I will hand a picture of a rainbow up and point to each color as we sing a song. Sung to: "Hush, Little Baby" Rainbow purple, rainbow blue Rainbow green and yellow, too Rainbow orange, rainbow red Rainbow smiling overhead. Come and count the colors with me How many colors can you see? One, two, three, down to green, Four, five, six can be seen Rainbow purple, rainbow blue, Rainbow green and yellow, too. Rainbow orange, rainbow red, Rainbow smiling overhead. Next, we will brainstorm what we think causes a rainbow to happen. I will point out that in my riddle, I said that I was shy and only comes out in the rain. I will then ask them if maybe they think that I am caused from the rain, and will allow them to make some guess as to what they think happens. Next, I will explain to them that a rainbow occurs when sunlight shines on raindrops. In order for this to occur you must have the sun behind you, and the rain in front of you. Sunlight looks white but is made up of several different colors, and when the sun enters a raindrop it divides into different color. The raindrop acts as a mirror to these colors, and forms a rainbow. I will then divide the students into different groups, and have them perform an experiment and make a rainbow of their own. I will direct them step by step through the experiments. We will then regroup and discuss what we learned through our discussions and experiment. I will close by having the students sing the rainbow song one more time. Materials: handheld mirror, glass of water half full, white piece of paper, window with sunlight. Instructional Strategies (Strategies may include but are not limited to: Sensory Engagement, Environmental Cues, Task Analysis, Scaffolding, Guided Practice, Invitations, Behavior Reflections, Paraphrase, Reflections, Modeling, Effective Praise, Telling, Explaining, Do-It Signals, Challenges. Label strategies you will use. Include time estimates for future reference) Questions What are the colors of a rainbow? (Knowledge) Who can tell me how a rainbow is formed? (Comprehension) Who can draw for me using the colors we learned in our song, what a rainbow looks like? (Application) Student Assessment I will assess the students on their ability to identify the colors and formation of a rainbow. Dear Families, Classroom 209 has made great progress with our unit on the solar system, We are sad to see the unit come to a close, but the good news is that we are starting a new unit in which we will discuss some concepts about weather! Some of the concepts that we will cover are as follows; Seasons Temperature Clouds Water cycle
Wind We will be holding also be participating in some extra special events; Meteorologist Mr. Wilson from channel WKTO will be coming to our room as a guest speaker to teach us about his work. taking a field trip to Betty Brinn s Children s Museum We love for our room 209 families to be involved, so feel free to volunteer if you would like to participate in any of these activities. Asking your students questions about this topic would help them to better comprehend this information, especially if they are able to use it meaningfully in their life. Some suggestions that I have for you to make the weather meaningful to your K-5 student is to: Allow them to help you pick out their morning clothes based on their observation of the outdoors. Ask them to predict the temperature, and reinforce this by calling time and temp or listening to the radio. Point out to them if you see an interesting cloud, if it is raining, snowing or windy and ask them if they know why. These are small but meaningful concepts that will make your child feel proud of what they have learned and will allow them to better analyze and comprehend the information being learned when they are trying to teach you about it. If you have any questions, recommendations, or concerns about our unit please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Miss Jolen Kindergarten Milwaukee Public Schools 414-382-9999 TomlinJM@MPS.org Weather Theme The weather is an in depth subject matter that should be thoroughly studied throughout the path of education. Being that it is as complex as it is, I think that it is important to start with the basics in kindergarten, so that as they grow, their thinking can grow to a full understanding and appreciation of the subject matter. At this age level I felt that in order to be developmentally appropriate for my students, the main focuses of the unit are that the students understand the different seasons since each child is affected by the seasons on a routine basis, the water cycle and clouds, so they are able to use process skills of science, observe and predict, and then use this information meaningfully by identifying different types of clothes that they may need to wear based on the season and/or the weather. Since these aspects are what directly affects each student on a daily basis it allows the information to be meaningful to each student, and allows them to directly connect it to their life, thus providing the students with a beginning sense of autonomy. It satisfies several of the academic standards. English/ Language art standards are being satisfied when I provide my students with several opportunities to use reading, writing, speaking, and technology opportunities, when I am using books and literature to explain certain concepts of the weather, asking them to write about their experiences with the weather, and introducing several tools used to measure the different types of weather. Mathematics standards are also being satisfied when I ask the students to graph and/or measure certain aspects of weather. In
addition, I am creating other mathematic opportunities for the students to use, such as adding the clouds. I am asking the students to use several different process skills in science, particularly observing, predicting and measuring certain aspects of the weather. In addition, I am using scientific inquiry to guide the students in their learning, by allowing them to take on experimental tasks of figuring certain aspects of the weather out through observation. This takes place in my popcorn lesson, where the students use packing popcorn to represent water, and have one student clasp their hands together to see how many pieces of popcorn they can hold (cloud), and when they cannot hold any more, they drop the pieces (rain). I am satisfying some social studies standards when we discuss the different type of weather that different regions get. Particularly when we discuss different types of storms, and I introduce the students to hurricanes, which typically only happen in places where oceans are nearby. In addition, they will learn that the southern states in the United States are closer to the equator, thus creating an atmosphere that is warm year around. Some teaching standards that I feel I am satisfying in this lesson are as follows; o Teachers know the subjects they are teaching. The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the disciplines she or he teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for pupils. o Teachers know how children grow. The teacher understands how children with broad ranges of ability learn and provides instruction that supports their intellectual, social, and personal development. o Teachers understand that children learn differently. The teacher understands how pupils differ in their approaches to learning and the barriers that impede learning and can adapt instruction to meet the diverse needs of pupils, including those with disabilities and exceptionalities. o Teachers know how to teach. The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies, including the use of technology, to encourage children's development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills. o Teachers are able to plan different kinds of lessons. The teacher organizes and plans systematic instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, pupils, the community, and curriculum goals. o Teachers know how to test for student progress. The teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the pupil. In this unit, I felt that I started it out very basic by incorporating the seasons in it. The seasons are something that they are subjected to on a daily basis during calendar, but may not have the in depth understanding from calendar that the weather lesson will reinforce. Next, I move on to the water cycle, because I feel that this is the next big step in understanding the weather, which is then reinforced by a lesson on clouds. This lesson requires the students to observe the clouds outside, which allows them to use the information that they have been learning the past few days, and connect it to how it affects them. Next, we are taking the information a step up by asking the students to use some tools that can help be able to dress appropriately based on the use of these tools, such as the thermometer. In addition, it is requiring them to keep track of the weather and the temperature, thus recording what the weather was like and how it affected them that day. I feel that this unit is a very well done introduction to weather, and allows the students to be challenged but not so much that it is hard to understand. This information will be great to build off of next year in first grade, when the students are able to better understand information that is just a little more complex. In addition, I feel that my different strategies used throughout the unit allows a great amount of room for diverse learners, because I am providing the students with hands on learning, as well as learning through art, such as dramatic play, and art projects. It also introduces different weather around the world which keys the students in on the fact that not everything is the same in every place. In addition, it provides an appreciation of the different types of employment that help us to predict the weather, such as a
meteorologist, or the weather station jobs. Weather is significant to understand at any age level. This provides my kindergarteners with a beginning grasp on some concepts about weather, and allows them to apply this information to their everyday lives, which is exciting for them to be able to dress themselves based on the seasons or the weather, and builds their self-confidence as a student and their ability to learn.