Saturday, January 28, 2017

Cloud and Weather Unit

Want to create an integrated unit
     about clouds and weather?

Find some picture books about clouds and weather to use in guided reading groups.  The following are great choices that teach about the many different kinds of clouds, where they are found in the sky, and the weather associated with them.  They are great books to teach about text features and main idea/supporting details, too!
  • The Cloud Book by Tomie DePaola
  • What Do You See in a Cloud? by Allan Fowler
  • Clouds by Ann Rockwell
Enjoy some cloud activities in science, too!  Make a diagram of the water cycle or create a flip-book of the three main kinds of clouds using cotton balls.  You could even make a cloud in a jar!  Fill a jar of water, top it with shaving cream, and add drops of liquid food coloring. Watch it rain!


Need a fun writing project?  Have the students write a weather report after researching a particular cloud. Students can write about the clouds they see in the sky and the weather that is associated with that cloud. Want an art project to hang with students' weather reports?  Make puffy paint clouds using equal parts shaving cream and glue.  Paint clouds and add raindrops, snowflakes, lightning bolts, and more!


Make sure to record students' presenting their weather forecast! Parents will love to see weather reports from their third grade meteorologists.