Skill Building

Lesson Plans for SEVERE WEATHER level T

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.

Weather can be calm and peaceful.
Do you know that it takes about a million cloud droplets to make a raindrop?
Do not use electrical appliances.

Have children search the text for further examples of each sentence type. Have them work with a partner. One reads a sentence, the other says what kind of sentence it is.

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