Weather Watchers is a two-page KWL chart for a kindergarten weather unit under NGSS K-ESS2-1. At the start of the unit, students fill the K column with what they already know about weather and the W column with what they want to know. The L column, for what they learned, waits until the end. Students can draw each entry or tell the teacher what to write, so the chart works before they can spell.
K-ESS2-1
“Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.”
The L column, filled in at the end of the unit, is where students record the weather they observed and any patterns they noticed over the weeks.
Children draw, or tell the teacher what to write, about the weather they already know.
The W column captures their weather questions at the same time as the K column.
The L column waits until the end of the weather unit.
Unit launch
Fill in K and W on day one. Write students' words exactly as they say them, because a line like "why does it thunder" makes a good question to come back to.
Midpoint check
Pull the charts out halfway through the unit and read the W column aloud. Tick off any questions the class has already answered.
Unit close
Finish the L column on the last day. Read it next to the K column so students hear what they know now that they did not know at the start.
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