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=Weather= SPED K (self contained room) thematic unit

Centers last from 9:30-11:10. Students must work in Math, Language Arts/Reading and Science (when there is a planned activity),and then they can choose from Free Reading, Social or return to Math, Language Arts. Social Center will be set up for dramatic play: pretend microphone, white board area and markers, dress up clothes (adult looking), pretend video camera, weather out look charts, map of the United States, papers, weather books. Duration: 1 week for weather reading, social studies and math group activities; graphing weather during calendar continues for the remainder of year; weather science center set up for one month exploration; as seasons change revisit weather unit to discuss new season

Science: E.2.A.3: Students know weather changes from day to day and seasonally; E.2.A.4 students know weather can be described by measurable quantities such as temperature, wind, and precipitation. Social Studies:G8.K.1 Students will recognize weather changes with the seasons and how people adapt to those changes. Math:5.K.1Students will collect, organize and record date using objects and pictures; Represent data in a variety of ways in response to questions posed by teacher. Reading: 4.K.1 with assistance listen to and identify from graphs, charts; 3.K.8 with assistance listen to and make predictions based on evidence; 3.K.9 with assistance make connections to self, other text, and or the world; 1.K.2 recognize, read, write upper and lower case letter of the alphabet; 1.K.5 identify high frequency words

Day 1:Items needed:Teddy Bear with clothes bulletin board set; graph for calendar book, //Maisy's Wonderful Weather// Book by Lucy Cousins; science center items from school kit (keep set up for month); poster paper/markers; print out 7 day weather outlook last week and for this week; sentence strips Calendar/Math: During calendar time pick a student to be the weather person student will use microphone and tell us what the weather is for the day- this student will dress the weather bear in the appropriate clothes for the day; class will discuss if they think the bear is dressed correctly; why? why not? Teacher will lead discussion on why it is important to know what the weather is going to be; can we see patterns in the weather? we will look at 7 day outlook for last week and this week. Were the reporters correct for last week? What patterns do we see? Introduce weather graph for calendar books. Teacher will demonstrate how to mark graph to show daily weather; students will copy onto their papers. We will add the expected high temperature for the day in the correct box.

Reading/Language Arts: K-W-L about weather on white board. Teacher will read //Maisy's Wonderful Weather Book// by Lucy Cousins; Class will make predictions about the story/ during reading teacher will check with students if we need to change predictions/ at the end of the story class will discuss the story and our predictions;class will use sentence strips and pictures "What is the weather like?"," It is hot.", "It is cold." "It is raining.", "It is snowing." what are some words we use when we think of the weather (sunny, windy...)?make a list of words on a cloud poster

Science: class will go whole group to the science center to explore the different objects that are new:review science center rules; what is the thermometer for? what do you think the rain catcher container can tell us? do we get lots of rain here? how many seasons do we have? why?

Social Studies: How do we know what the weather is going to be for the day? What kind of job tells us what the weather will be? class will list ways we adapt for the weather. Create large poster and allow children to write or suggest ideas to show how we adapt for weather. Hang poster up for reference or to make changes if needed

Day 2: Items needed: Teddy Bear bulletin board set, calendar books, //Rain// by Robert Kalan, umbrella pointer sticks for each student, Rain books for students to make, blue paper, cotton balls, glue; add pictures clouds from

Speech teacher will work with class for 45 minutes on weather related words to meet her speech goals.

Calendar/Math: Pick a weather student and have them give a weather report and dress bear/class discuss if they think the bear is dressed correctly for the day. Teacher will demonstrate and students will copy weather graph for the day. How many days have we used the graph? Has the weather changed? What words can we use to describe the weather and the graph?

Reading/Language Arts: Teacher will read //Rain// by Robert Kalan class predictions about what will happen before during and after rainstorm. Talk about clouds...what do they look like? how many types of clouds do you think there are? Do you know any names for clouds?

Science: Students will explore science center; they can read the books, draw, color or write about the weather; answer the science question "What are 4 different types of clouds?" (answers in sci center) Students will have sample and supplies to make 4 types of cloud pictures. Teacher will talk about cirrus (wispy) clouds, cumulus (fair weather or fairy tale clouds), nimbus (thunder clouds), stratus (blanket clouds) Teacher will show how to fold blue paper into 4 sections (half and half other way) and to draw the lines separating section so you have 4 equal quadrants; each student will be given 12 cotton balls and one container of glue (not glue stick), class will discuss how cirrus clouds look label one square cirrus, one cotton ball is gently torn into wispy pieces and glued into this section..remind students to use small dots of glue; nimbus clouds are talked about (why do you think they are dark?, why are they called thunder clouds?) label next square nimbus take 4 cotton balls and make black markings on them and put small amount of glue puddle in square and place the cotton balls in place, mush them down a bit; label next section cumulus, why do you think they are called "fairy tale" clouds, why are they called fair weather clouds? place a small puddle of glue on paper and add 4 or 5 cotton balls, remind students not to mush down; label last section stratus discuss why they think these are called "blanket clouds" place glue that is spread out on last section, show students how to unravel the cotton balls to make them look like blankets and glue in place. Display pictures on bulletin board "4 Types of Clouds"

Day 3: Items needed: Teddy Bear bulletin board set, calendar books, My Weather Book for each student, umbrella pointers for each student, The Four Seasons word wheel for each student, yellow construction paper, paper plates

Calendar/Math: Pick weather student and have them dress teddy bear. Before student dresses the bear have students make predictions on how the bear will be dressed, were predictions right? why did you suggest that outfit? Teacher will demonstrate how to mark the weather graph. How many days have we used the graph? Has the weather changed? How has it changed? What do you think the weather will be like tomorrow?

Reading/Language Arts: Class will begin working on //My Weather Book//, whole group reading students will use pointers with umbrella to point to each word; students will highlight with yellow sight words**: I, is;** students will circle **weather words** in blue. Students will color book, fill in the blanks (green group sentence, yellow group weather word, red group first letter of weather word) and read to self and pair share reading with buddy; read to teacher

Science: science center free exploring activities, make a sunshine hand, have students color paper plate yellow, trace hands on yellow construction paper at least 8 times (can use friends hands also), cut out hands and glue wrist side to paper plate...fingers reaching out; hang up projects

Social Studies: What are the four seasons? Brainstorm things we do when seasons change (teacher will list) students will put together word wheel The Four Seasons

Day 4: Items needed: TB bulletin board set, Rain sight word book for each student, stapler, umbrella pointer for each student, duct tape in color of the month, clothes catalogs, picture of each student and teacher

Speech teacher will work with class 45 minutes on weather related words to meet her speech goals.

Calendar/Math: same as above; Can we graph this another way besides the graph we are using? (students have been exposed to graphing), do a tally mark total of weather on the smart board, Can you think of a way to tell me about the data we collected? (there have been sunny days, windy days, etc__)__

Reading /Language Arts: introduce new sight word **T-h-e,** use music to spell sight word (Heidi Songs), students will fill out __//Rain//__ book with the word "the", students will color book, staple book together and use tape in color of the month for the book binding, read to self, share with a friend and read to the teacher

Social Studies: How would you dress for the weather or season? why? would I wear winter boots in the summer in Las Vegas? Why not? Should I fly a kite if there is no wind? Why not? Students will pick a favorite season or type of weather and will cut out pictures of appropriate clothes for the season/weather. They will create a person from the clothes and add a picture of themselves for the face. Student will write about the picture (green: 1 sentence or more, yellow: a word or two and red: a letter for the first word of their description teacher will write sentences for those who can't)

Day 5: Items needed: TB bulletin board set, bubbles, fan (unless windy day),paper, popsicle sticks or light weight twigs, ribbon, streamers, string, Oh Say Can You Say What the Weather Is Today?

Calendar/Math: same as above; students will write a number sentence to tell about the data they have collected so far for the month (example We have had _ sunny days and snowy days. We have graphed for days total)

Reading/Language Arts: Read //Oh Say Can You Say What the Weather Is Today?// make predictions, do you know what this word means?, look for rhyming words

Science: talk about the wind...what does it feel like when it blows gentle? How does it feel when it blows hard? Can you see the wind? How do you know it is there? Demonstrate wind movement with bubbles students will each get small container of bubbles and class will blow bubbles outside to see if there is wind...is it strong? is there a breeze? a fan can be used if needing to create wind, use construction paper and tissue paper to create diamond shape kites, add ribbon and string; fly outside if there is some wind.

Social Studies: Whole group assessment: what are different types of weather? How can we plan for the weather? Can I see the different types of weather? Can I see the wind? Explain how I can see the wind.

Students will be assessed daily based on IEP goals and their personal ability to work on the assignment. Students will know how to graph the weather to continue this activity for the remainder of the year. They will also use tally marks to show sunny or cloudy days. Students will describe different types of weather and tell why we need to know the weather. If possible weather person from local news will come and talk to children about Las Vegas weather. For **Science**: **emergent/developing** the student will observe daily weather; **approaches level** the student will identify changes in daily weather and will identify and list (orally tell) seasonal weather changes; **meets level** the student will record weather changes (such as temperature, wind direction and speed and precipitation daily and will compare weather changes seasonally; **exceeds level** the student will describe and contrast patterns in the weather, data recorded over time. For **Social Studies** all students will to teh best of their ability show that weather changes for each season and how people adapt the those changes. For **Reading** the students grades are based on attempting the standard "**with assistance**".(3.K.8/9) **Emergent/Developing** the student can't make a prediction and has limited ability to make connections from text to self, other text or the world. **Approaches** level the student has limited ability to make predictions, limited ability to make connections from text to self and/or other text and/or the world. **Meets** level the student has limited ability to make predictions based on evidence, ability to mkae connections from text to self and limited ability to make connections from text to other text and/or the world. **Exceeds** level the student can make predictions based on evidence, ability to make connections from text to self, othr text and/or the world. **Reading** (4.K.1) **Emergent/Developing** the student will have limited abilityto gain information from illustrations, graphs, charts and titles. **Approaches** level the student will have limited ability to gain information from illustrations, graphs and charts, inability to gain infromation from titles, limited ability to determine the purpose of text features. **Meets** level the student will have limited ability to gain information from illustrations, graphs, charts and titles; ability to determine purpose of text features. **Exceeds** level the student will have the ability to gain information from illustrations, graphs, charts and titles and the ability to determine the purpose of text features. **Math** this is an continuing unit of graphing. Students will be graded on participation until the end of the unit. They will then be graded on their ability to collect, organize and record data using objects and pictures and their ability to represent data in a variety of ways in response to questions posed by teachers. Our class is based on a language rich environment. The majority of the students have limited English speaking skills or they have limited verbal skills. PECS will be in place for students with limited verbal skills: they will have access to PECS for all weather words we are going to use.

Worksheets used can be found on worksheet wikispace page.

Links to helpful wikispaces and wiki-teacher sites: [|mi-k2science.wikispaces.com/file/view/1-**Unit**3_7-31.doc]

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http://educ667.wikispaces.com/Weather+Unit

[|intelessentialsparticipantcourse.wikispaces.com/.../Scott's+Unit+Plan+for+Intel.doc]

[|edsocial.wikispaces.com/file/view/A+GRADE+TWO+SCIENCE+UNIT.doc]

http://snowline.wikispaces.com/First+Grade+Science+Weather

Resources:

Darling-Hammond L., Barron, B., Pearson, P.D., Shoenfelf, A.H., Stage, E.K., Zimmerman, T.D. Tilson, J.L. (2008). //Powerful learning: What we know about teaching for understanding.// San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Hunter, D.A. (2009). //A practical guide to critical thinking: Deciding what to do and believe.// Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Darling-Hammond,

L, Barron, B, Pearson, P.D., Shoenfeld, A.H., Stage, E.K., Zimmerman, T.D.,

Tilson, J.l. (2008). Powerful Learning: What we know about teaching for

understanding.

San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass arling-Hammond, L, Barron, B, Pearson, P.D., Shoenfeld, A.H., Stage, E.K., Zimmerman, T.D., Tilson, J.l. (2008). Powerful Learning: What we know about teaching for understanding. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

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