Dressing for the Season

Summary

For each change of season, students will observe the weather and then dress a cut-out doll appropriately for a field trip outside.

Materials

• 1 paper cut-out doll per student (see attachment below)
• Cut-out clothing for the following weather conditions: hot day, rainy day, cool day, very cold day, and snowy day (see attachments below)
• Scissors
• Crayons

Background for Teachers

Students may not have noticed the trends of weather typical of a season. To help establish background information about the current season, discuss things such as signs of the season, the class daily weather chart, and recurring symbols for weather they have recorded.

Student Prior Knowledge

Review the names of the seasons. Clarify names such as fall and autumn that have the same meaning. ESL students may benefit from reviewing the names of seasonal clothing.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Observe, sort, and classify objects.
• Learn proper care of the body.
• Develop problem solving skills.
• Make connections from content areas to application in real life.

Instructional Procedures

1. Each season take students for a walk outside and observe the weather conditions.

2. Return to the classroom. Instruct students to cut out and color the appropriate clothing for their dolls to wear outside. (see attachments below)

3. After the students have colored and dressed their cut-out dolls, have a class discussion about the reasons for choosing that clothing. Ask them to identify what they observed that made them decide to select that clothing. Discuss their observations. Elaborate on the influence of the weather on clothing choice.

4. Make a picture graph using the cut-out dolls each time this activity is conducted. This graph illustrates the clothing worn for various weather conditions.

Strategies for Diverse Learners

Be sensitive to cultural differences. Some children will select clothing that you do not think would be appropriate. This could be due to inaccurate observations or varying backgrounds. Ask them to explain their choices. If their observations are accurate and the reasons for their decisions understandable, accept their answers. If a student is just beginning to acquire English, invite him/her to point to specific articles of clothing. (The receptive vocabulary is often larger than a child's expressive vocabulary.)

Extensions

1. Invite a child each day to record "today's" weather on a weather calendar. Discuss weather patterns of each season. Compare the current weather calendar with the calendar from a different season.

2. Demonstrate writing a weather poem for the class, then invite each child to create their own weather poem. An adult prompts each child to respond to the Weather Poem Format and writes the words dicated by the child. Mount the child's poem on the back side of a sheet of construction paper, and place his/her illustration on the front side.

Weather Poem Format
Title (kind of weather)
Describe what the weather looks and feels like, as well as and the kind of clothing worn.
Describe a favorite activity for this kind of weather. For example:

Sunny Day
No clouds.
The sun is hot.
The road is hot.
I am hot.
I sweat.
My bare feet run fast on the hot road.
I put on my swimsuit.
I run through the sprinklers.
I lay down on a towel on the hot driveway.
The hot feels good.

Assessment Plan

Students should appropriately dress cut-out dolls for the weather. Students should be able to articulate and defend their observations and choices.

Bibliography

This lesson was originally created by Brandon Thacker.