What Will the Weather Be? {Close Reading Lesson Aligned to Common Core}

Learning Objective: The goal of this three day lesson is to give students the opportunity to use the reading and writing strategies they’ve acquired to tackle a complex text about predicting weather. By reading and rereading the passage closely and focusing their reading through a series of questions and discussion about the text, students will identify the key details about a meteorologist and the tools they use to predict the weather.

Text Selection: This informational text from Lynda DeWitt has a Lexile of 500, which is at the in the lower range of the 2-3 grade band and is, therefore, sufficiently complex for a 1st grade read aloud. It also directly relates to the science standards begin taught this 9-weeks.

Outline of Lesson Plan: This lesson can be delivered in three days of instruction and reflection on the part of students and their teacher. Reasons for extending the discussion of What Will the Weather Be? to more than 3 whole group lessons include taking more time to unpack the complex scientific understandings by taking more time to look closely at academic vocabulary, or even working at greater length with the writing prompt for opportunities to revise and edit student writing.

Learning Goals:
RI.1.1 Students will be able to answer questions about key details in a text.
RI.1.3 Students will be able to describe the connection between two pieces of information in a text. (warm fronts/cold fronts)
RI.1.5 Students will know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text.
RI.1.6 Students will distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text.
RI.1.7 Students will use illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.
SL.1.1 Students will participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about the text or topic.
L.1.6 Students will be able to use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using frequently occurring conjunctions to signal simple relationships (ex. “because”).
W.1.2 Students will write informative/explanatory tests in which they name a topic, supple some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
W.1.8 With guidance and support from adults, students will gather information from provided sources to answer a question.