GRAPH 6
What Is the Weather?
Our Weather Graph for __________.
Month
20
19
18
17
16
NUMBER OF DAYS
15
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
3
2
1
SUNNY
PARTLY SUNNY
CLOUDY
WEATHER
10 Write-On/Wipe-Off Graphs © Scholastic Teaching Resources
RAINY
SNOWY
7
GRAPH 6
LESSON PLAN
What Is the Weather?
Whatever the weather, children will enjoy this graph that enables them to
record sunny, cloudy, rainy, and snowy days over the course of an entire
month. It’s also a great way to enliven your daily calendar routine.
Thematic Ties
* Weather
* Calendar Concepts
Skills and Standards
* Observation Skills
* Graphing
* Number Sense
* Predicting
* Sorting and Classifying
* Interpreting Data
* Comparing Sets
* Counting
* Addition
* Word Problems
Reading the Graph
1 Make sure that children understand the purpose of this graph: to
show, at a glance, what the weather was like for an entire month (not
counting weekends). Now, boost math and critical-thinking skills by
posing questions, such as:
*
How many sunny days did we have during the month? How
many partly sunny, cloudy, rainy, and snowy days did we have
during the month?
*
*
*
What type of weather was the most common?
What type of weather was the least common?
What other conclusions can be drawn by looking at the graph?
To help focus learning, “publish” your findings on a piece of paper
and display it beside the graph for all to see.
2 Next, use the graph as a springboard to create a few ageappropriate word problems, such as:
lntroducing the Graph
Start this activity on the first school day of any month. Place Graph
6 on an easel, having children gather around so that everyone can
read it. Tell kids that you are going to create a bar graph that will
show what the weather is like over the course of the whole month
(with the exception of weekends, when the class won’t be around to
*
How many sunny plus partly sunny days were there during the
month?
*
How many cloudy plus rainy days were there during the month?
Is that total greater than or less than the total of sunny and
partly sunny days?
Finally, challenge children to brainstorm original graph-based word
problems to share with classmates.
monitor it). To begin, use the dry-erase marker to jot the current
3 Display the graph on an easel or chalk-ledge for a day, a week, or
month on the line at the top of the chart. Then discuss and define the
longer. Then, wipe clean with a damp tissue for further use.
weather terms that you will be using: sunny, partly sunny, cloudy,
rainy, and snowy. What type of weather do kids like best? Why?
Completing the Graph
Extending Learning
Make it a habit to record the weather for every
month of the school year, jotting your findings
1 Choose a child to act as the daily Weather Monitor. Invite that
in a year-long weather log. Then, when June
student to glance out the window and announce what type of
rolls around, use the log to compare weather
weather he or she sees. Do other students agree with that
patterns across the months. If you like, you
assessment? Why or why not? Discuss. Then, invite that child to
can even hold a Weather Awards Ceremony in
place an X at the bottom of the graph in the category that best
which you award prizes to the sunniest,
describes the day’s weather, such as “Partly Sunny.” TIP: Explain
rainiest, and—if appropriate—snowiest
that although the weather may change throughout the course of the
months of the school year.
Yuma, Arizona, is the
sunniest city in all of
America. It gets about
242 days of sunshine
each year!
day—such as moving from “Partly Sunny” to “Cloudy”—your graph
will still provide a great snapshot of the month’s weather patterns.
2 Each day, choose a new Weather Monitor, inviting that child to
glance out the window and place an X in the category that best
describes the weather. Repeat this activity until you reach the last
Book Break
Weather Words by Gail Gibbons
(Holiday House, 1992)
school day of the month. Along the way, discuss any emerging
weather patterns such as a spate of sunny or rain days. TIP: To
Stretch young learners’ weather vocabularies with this age-perfect
enrich learning, considering reading a Web or newspaper weather
picture book that pairs weather terms with bright, clear illustrations.
forecast for each coming day, then checking the prediction on the
A must-have companion to any weather unit!
actual day. Was the report right or wrong?
10 Write-On/Wipe-Off Graphs © Scholastic Teaching Resources