Summary
Students will create a class chart showing what they are wearing. They will also become "season watchers" to help them understand the seasons.
Materials
One per class:
- Butcher paper 2' x 3'
with graph titled What are you Wearing? (pdf)
- Circle of Seasons or any
other book on seasons
For each student:
- 3" x 3" Post-it® note
- File folder
- Scissors
- Clipboard
- Plastic bag
- Glue stick
- Crayons
- Piece of white
construction paper
Additional Resources
- Circle of Seasons, by Gerda Muller; ISBN 0525453946
- Caps, Hats, Socks and Mittens, by Louise Border;
ISBN 0-590-72429-0
- The Season's of Arnold's Apple Tree, by Gail Gibbons;
ISBN 0152712453
- Animal Seasons, by Brian Wildsmith; ISBN 0192721755
- See the Seasons, by Rozanne Lanczak Williams; ISBN 0153148454
Background for Teachers
There are four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall. Changes in
weather occur from day to day and over seasons, affecting Earth, people,
animals, and plants. Each season has different characteristics that makes
it different, helping us identify each season.
Intended Learning Outcomes
1. Demonstrate a positive learning attitude.
5. Understand and use basic concepts and skills.
6. Communicate clearly in oral, artistic, written, and nonverbal form.
Instructional Procedures
Invitation to Learn
Ask the students a few of the following questions:
- What was the weather like yesterday?
- How did you know what to wear today?
- What time of year does it usually snow?
- What time of year do we have falling leaves?
Instructional Procedures
- Explain to the class that they are all going to become season
watchers to help us understand the seasons.
- Read Circle of Seasons.
- Before going outside, discuss what students are wearing today.
- Give each student a Post-it® note to write his/her name on.
- Have each student place his/her name on the graph in the
appropriate place according to what s/he is wearing.
- Discuss the results of the graph.
- Pass out a file folder to every child. Demonstrate how to cut a
window.
- Give each student a clipboard, glue stick, plastic bag, piece of
white construction paper, and crayons.
- Plan a season walk on a day that is typical of the current season.
Invite the children to pick things that are typical of the season and
place the different items in their bags (e.g., fall-colored leaves,
sticks, summer-green leaves, grass, dandelions, etc.).
- After several minutes of collecting, have the students sit in a place
where they can observe either a tree or the mountains. Have
students open up their folders to use as a frame and hold it up to
"frame" the tree or mountain they are observing. Encourage
students to observe how their "picture" looks at this time of year.
- Place the white construction paper under the frame and clip the
frame and paper to the clipboard. Have each student use crayons
to draw the picture s/he is observing. When finished, have
him/her decorate the folder frame with the items s/he collected
and placed in his/her bag. Be sure each artist adds his/her name to
his/her creation.
Extensions
Language Arts
- Have the class work together to create an acrostic poem that goes
with the name of the season. Hang the poem with the framed
season artwork.
Acrostic poem
Write descriptive words or phrases beginning with the
accompanying letter from the name of a season (i.e., spring,
summer, autumn, winter).
For example:
Falling leaves
All over the ground
Leaves of every color
Lovely sight to see
- Take pictures of the same tree or area during different seasons. As
a class, create text to describe the changes in the seasons.
- Make a class book entitled What Happens in (name of season).
Each student writes and fills in the sentence, “In (name of season)
_______________” on a separate piece of construction paper.
Have students illustrate their sentence. Create a cover and bind all
the pages together.
Family Connections
- Encourage students to observe the changes in the seasons in their
backyard. Have them bring signs of the season you are studying
to put on the Discovery Table set up in the classroom. Leaves,
flowers, acorns, blossoms, pumpkins, etc. may all be part of the
table. Include magnifying glasses for closer observations.
- Send the class book What Happens in Seasons home each night
for a different student to read with his/her family.
Assessment Plan
- Artwork is an excellent assessment tool. Date each art piece and
place in the student’s portfolio. Encourage students to add details
and observe changes in the environment carefully. Look for
progress in the student’s ability to draw specific changes as the
seasons change.
Created: 09/10/2004
Updated: 10/17/2022
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