Text Type:
Fact / Informational Text
Reading Level:
T
Word Count:
1,801
Pages:
28
Text Summary
Severe Weather is a factual text that discusses temperature, air pressure, wind, and moisture, which combine to form various kinds of weather patterns. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and blizzards are all forms of extreme weather that are discussed in this book. The book also talks about safety precautions that people can take to minimize the risk of injury during severe weather.
Suggested Lesson Focus
Comprehension/Literary Element Strategies
Discuss cause and effect relationships.
Word Skills
Discuss the shades of meaning between similar words.
Grammar Skills
Locate and identify different sentence types.
Mechanics Skills
Punctuate sentences using commas.
Targeted Vocabulary Words
absorbed, reflected, invisible
Before Reading
Introducing the Book
Hand out the books and have children read the title and the table of contents to make an informed prediction about the content of Severe Weather.
Ask: What aspects of severe weather will you learn about from reading this book?
Build Background
Ask children what they already know about severe weather.
Say and ask: Share with the group what you already know about severe weather. Do you know what causes weather such as thunderstorms and tornadoes?
Have children turn to page 28 read the bold face glossary terms.
Ask: Are there any words that you are unable to pronounce? Which of these words do you already know the meaning of? Which of these words are new to you?
Have children read the definition and discuss any that they are still unclear about.
Book Walk
Ask children to turn to page 6. Read this page to them. Discuss this page in relation to the drawing. Then discuss what absorbed and reflected mean. Ask children to turn to page 8 and discuss the illustration.
Ask: What does this illustration tell you about the sun’s rays?
Have children turn to page 12 and use the table to discuss temperature and moisture.
Ask: What happens to moisture when the temperature drops? What causes hail?
Ask children what precipitation is. Have them read the last sentence to confirm what they say or to find out what precipitation is if they did not know. Ask children to turn to page 14 and read the Do You Know? question.
Ask: Does this information surprise you? Why or why not? How many thunderstorms do you think take place in the United States each year?
Have children turn to page 18 and read the Do You Know? question to see if they were correct. Ask the students to turn to page 20 and discuss what they already know about hurricanes.
Say: Share with the group what you already know about hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones. Use the illustrations to explain the differences among these storms.
Have children return to page 4.
During Reading
Say: This book tells you about the causes of certain weather. As you read, I want you to think about these causes because we will discuss them when you have finished reading. But first I want to you to read to page 13 to find out about the building blocks of weather. Remember to use the illustrations, photos, and diagrams to assist you with your understanding.
When children have all read to the end of page 13, ask them to read page 14
Ask: What weather conditions cause thunderstorms?
Have children read page 15.
Say and ask: Share with the group that they can have hailstones in a thunderstorm. What causes the hail? What causes some hailstones to be larger than others?
Have children read pages 16 and 17 to find out what thunder and lightning is. Have children read the rest of the book independently. Have them mark with a sticky note any word or phrase they did not understand or could not pronounce. You can clarify these later. During this time, you may choose to work with another group. Alternatively, you may wish to work individually with some children to monitor their oral reading and comprehension of parts of the text.
Say: I want you to finish reading the book at your own pace. As you read, I want you to stop at the end of each section and reflect on what causes the particular type of weather. When you have finished reading, we are going to discuss the causes and effects of different weather patterns
Using the Worksheet
Introduce and explain the Worksheet. Have children start work on the Worksheet as they finish reading the text.
After Reading
Comprehending the Text
Draw the group together again to discuss pages 4 through 13.
Say and ask: Share with the group how the sun affects weather. What are the building blocks of weather? Tell the person next to you two facts about temperature. What is air pressure? What causes wind? On page 11 it says, water vapor is an invisible gas. What does invisible mean? How are clouds formed? What kinds of precipitation are there? What weather condition is snow the result of?
Discuss cause and effect.
Ask: What causes tornadoes? What weather conditions result in waterspouts? What are hurricanes? What causes them? What causes blizzards? What are the effects on people of severe weather?
Ask children how stopping at then end of each section and thinking about the causes of the particular weather pattern helped them with their understanding of the text. Discuss Safety
Ask: What should you do if you know that a tornado or hurricane is approaching?
Building Skills
Word Skills
Discuss shades of meaning with children. Write the words calm and peaceful on the board.
Ask: What do these words mean? Do they mean the same thing? What is the difference in the meaning? Who can use these words in a sentence to show the difference in the meaning?
Ask children to use the dictionary or thesaurus to provide other words that mean the same as calm and peaceful. Have children work with a partner to discuss the difference between fierce and violent, hot and warm, cold and freezing. Then have them find more synonyms for the words
Mechanics Skills
Discuss the use of commas with children.
Say: We are going to talk about two instances when it is correct to use commas in a sentence.
Write the sentences, Now not all the earth is heated equally and In time they get so big they fall to the ground on the board. Explain and demonstrate the use of the comma after the first word or phrase. Write the sentence, Put your feet close together crouch down and bend your head. Demonstrate the use of the serial comma. Have the students complete the Worksheet.
Grammar
Discuss sentence types with children.
Say: There are three main types of sentences. One sentence type informs or tells you about something. Another sentence type asks a question, and the third sentence type orders or advises you to do something.
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Expand the Reading
Writing Connection
Writing an acrostic poem
Say: We are now going to talik about what an acrostic poem is. Then I am going to ask you to write one.
Explain to children that an acrostic poem will have a word at the beginning of each line starting with the letters W-E-A-T-H-E-R. Work with the students to cooperatively write a model poem—for example:
Weather
Extremely dry
Angry winds blow
Tornadoes twirl causing
Havoc
Ending suddenly
Rain starts pouring.
Have children work individually or with a friend to write and illustrate another acrostic poem.
Social Studies Connection
Have children use the library and the Internet to further research reported cases of extreme weather in different parts of the world—for example, floods, droughts, blizzards, typhoons. Invite children to discuss the causes and effects of such weather and to say how it affected the people concerned.
Reading Independently
Invite children to reread the book, Severe Weather, independently or with a partner. They could then look for and read other books about extreme weather patterns. Children should also read each other’s acrostic poems.
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