How to Teach Weather
The 4 seasons is a fun topic for English learners because there is so much to talk about.
You can touch on weather and holidays. For some, the seasons here may be very different from their country of origin. For all these reasons, the 4 seasons is a topic you do not want to skip. The activities below will help you get your students excited to learn about them as well.
How to Teach About the 4 Seasons
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1
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
To begin, you will need a large picture of each season. This picture should include the typical weather as well as some symbols for each season. Examples of symbols would be a kite for the spring and falling leaves for autumn. Also on the pictures should be the name and dates of the season. Begin the conversation by asking if anyone knows what season we are in currently. Depending on the class, you may need to teach the term “season” to them. Then use your cards to teach the names of the 4 seasons. Pronounce the names slowly and clearly, and have the students repeat what you say. It will be helpful if you have a calendar showing the whole year where you can point out each season’s start and end date.
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2
Draw to Learn
This activity can be used as a follow-up to the previous one. It can also stand alone for a more advanced class. Review the names and dates of the 4 seasons, along with their weather and symbols. Hand each student a piece of paper with 4 boxes, each one labeled with one of the seasons. Tell them to draw symbols to show what they know about each season in the boxes. When they are done, let volunteers from the class come up and draw their pictures under each season name. Go over their drawings, seeing if any other students in the class remember the English term for some of them. Finally, teach everyone the names of those symbols in English. Drawing is a good way to get some reluctant students involved. This is a fun activity for any age.
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3
Match it Up
Many students enjoy a game format. For this activity, you will need cards with the names of the four seasons printed on them, as well as cards printed with various pictures and symbols of each season. Put the word cards out on the table. Put the picture cards in a bag. Have students take turns pulling a card out of the bag and placing it under the right season name. There may be some discussion involving a picture that could belong to more than one season. That is a great opportunity to have spontaneous conversation. When the students are done, they should “read” over all cards, saying, “We see pumpkins in the fall,” or “We see snowflakes in the winter.” This review will reinforce using complete sentences which is sometimes a challenge for the English language learner.
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4
What to Wear?
An important piece of knowledge for each season is what types of clothing to wear. This is a time when authentic materials would work best. You will need to gather several articles of clothing typical of each season, for example flip flops for the summer or a parka for the winter. You may need to ask others to help you gather these clothes ahead of time. If you have already done a lesson on clothing, hold up the clothes and have them tell you the name of each item. If you have not yet done the clothing topic, you will need to teach these terms as well. After your class is fairly confident with the names of the clothing, have them discuss which type of apparel goes with which season and why. Have them share why they placed the clothing as they did.
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5
Holidays
Teaching about holidays is a fun part of the 4 seasons topic. First, brainstorm a list of what holidays your students are familiar with, and separate the ones that we celebrate here as opposed to the ones only celebrated in their country of origin. Add to the list of holidays celebrated here by discussing any major holidays they may have missed on their list. Next, separate them by season. Discuss the weather for that holiday. Talk about what types of parties and celebrations are typical for each holiday. With the students’ suggestions, put the holidays under the right seasons. When they are done, try listing the dates for each holiday. For those that change every year, put the typical month. Then order them from first holiday of the year to the last. Encourage as much discussion as possible in order to promote oral communication. Have students talk about their favorite holiday and what season it is in.
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6
Tell Me about It
For this activity, you will need a spinner with the four seasons on it and one section that says, “Your Choice.” Pair up the students. Each student has to spin the spinner and record their season. The two students in the pair cannot have the same season. When this is finished, the interview may begin. Using a worksheet that you have designed, your students should interview each other regarding their favorite season, what happens in that season, favorite symbols of the season and so on. When they are all done, they will come up as partners and read about the other person’s interview. This provides more practice in oral communication which is so important to the English learner.
Knowing about the 4 seasons is very important for English language learners.
They need to know about the seasons for everyday conversation. Having the knowledge of the 4 seasons would make them more comfortable when they are in spontaneous conversation. It comes in handy for English language parents as they are involved in their children’s activities throughout the year. It is definitely an important topic for all English language learners that needs to be addressed, and these activities help to make learning fun.
