We began our discussion of weather with something concrete and meaningful- our clothing. We talked about the different types of clothes we wear with the change of seasons from Winter to Spring. While at times we might wear t-shirts, most often we have light shirts, rain boots and rain jackets. Our question of the day focused on the different types of clothes we wore each day so we could discuss the influence of weather on our choices.
Next, we looked up at the sky at the clouds. I showed the children different examples of clouds and we labeled them cirrus, cumulus and nimbus. We then read a book titled Little Cloud by Eric Carle and discussed how sometimes when we look up at clouds they might remind us of something else. The children then took white paint, put it on blue construction paper and folded the paper in half. Upon opening the paper, the children described what their paint or "cloud" looked like.
Next, I introduced the water cycle. We talked about where water can be found (oceans, lakes, rivers, streams). Then I read a book describing how clouds are formed from tiny droplets of water. The book went on to explain that when clouds get too heavy with water they rain, snow, sleet or hail and this water goes back into the oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams. The children conducted an experiment in which a jar was filled halfway with water and then shaving cream was sprayed on top. The water represented the sky while the shaving cream was a cloud. The children then used droppers to add colored water to the cloud until it became so heavy that it rained into the jar.
Throughout the week we also practiced writing uppercase letters, breaking words into parts, counting with 1:1 correspondence using ten frames, and beginning story problems.
Art Center:
Students snipped and glued small pieces of paper to make rainbows.
The children also made wind socks to fly in the wind outdoors following our reading of The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins.
Sensory Table
At the sensory table students investigated with different materials to make rain such as sponges, watering cans, containers with holes, pipettess, turkey basters, and strainers.
Playdoh
The children used playdoh to create using selected items in rainbow colors.
Literacy Center
Students practiced writing letters on a chalkboard.
Math Center
One of our games to practice number recognition and counting was Weather Stew. The children took a recipe card and added the correct number of ingredients (rain drops, suns, clouds, lightening) to their bowl and then stirred the stew.
Dramatic Play
In the dramatic play area students pretended to conduct a weather forecast. Roles included camera person, meteorologist and newscasters. The newscasters introduced the meteorologist who then reported the seven day forecast. Newscasters also suggested types of clothing for the weather and sometimes dressed in the attire suitable for the forecasted weather.
