Unit 4: Special Times Throughout the Year Lesson 4: Seasons of the Year and the Weather

Room Environment The language classroom should be rich with literacy, with visuals, words, charts, diagrams, timelines, etc., figuratively dripping from the walls. Ideally, a high proportion of these visuals should be created in front of the students’ eyes for “brain imprinting” and a “vested interest” in the charts, so the beginning of the year or series will have fewer visuals than the end. Standards

World Language Content Standards (California Department of Education)

Standards for Foreign Language Learning (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign

Languages) Content 1.1 Students address discrete elements of daily life, including weather and seasons. Communication 2.1 Students engage in oral, written or signed (ASL) conversations. Communication 3.2 Students interpret written, spoken or signed (ASL) language.

Communication 1.2 Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics. Communication 1.3 Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.

Objectives Students will list four seasons in Chinese. Students will describe today’s weather. Students will describe different types of weather in different seasons. Student Work

Interpersonal Presentational Interpretive

Role Play: Students ask and respond to questions about the dates for different holidays. A: “今天天气如何？” B: “今天天气是______。”

Each student designs a weekly weather calendar and shares it with the class.

Students read a short weather report and interpret the information for a partner.

Domains of Language

Listening Speaking Reading Writing

Listen carefully to the pronunciation of each vocabulary word.

Ask and answer questions about today’s weather.

Read and interpret a weather report written in Chinese.

Write a short sentence describes the day’s weather.

Evidence of Learning - Assessment

Informal or Formal (Underline the appropriate form of assessment)

Students will design a season wheel with the corresponding weather under each category.

Greetings at the Door Always begin with a smile. Every student is greeted by the teacher in the target language and is encouraged to respond in the target language, too. These greetings should be charted and kept near the door, so students can refer to the chart to remember how to respond. The chart should indicate at least two settings: common, casual settings and a more formal setting. The chart stays up or is accessible all year and new ideas are added.

Casual Language Formal Language

春天，夏天，秋天，冬天 春季，夏季，秋季，冬季

Warm Up with Language Through Repetition-Rhythm-Rhyme Repetition of songs, chants, and poems should be a daily routine in the world language classroom. Ideally, the song or chant should be related to the content or cultural aspects being studied, although some that are just for fun will also be useful. Authentic chants, poems, and songs from the home culture of the target language should be used whenever appropriate, although Stage I learners may need to start with simplified chants based on songs or patterns they already know in their home language.

好冷 Introduce Signal Word:

Teacher Modeling of Communication Followed by Student’s Structured Practice

Message Functions/Structures Key Vocabulary/Phrases Strategies for Oral Practice

Identify four seasons 季节 (seasons) 春天，夏天，秋天，冬天 (Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter)

Introduce vocabulary, use pictures that relate to each season.

Identify different type of common weathers

天气 (weather) 晴天 (sunny) 阴天 (gloomy) 多云 (cloudy) 下雨天 (rainy day) 下雪天 (snowy day) 大风 (windy) 太阳 (sun) 很冷 (very cold) 很热 (very warm/hot) 不冷也不热 (not cold or warm) A: 春天的天气如何？ B: 春天的天气不冷也不热。 A: 夏天的天气如何？ B: 夏天的天气很热。

Introduce the common types of weather that typically represents different seasons.

Create, practice and present an oral conversation.

A: “今天天气如何？” B: “今天是______。” A: “星期一天气如何？” B: “星期一是______。”

Turn to a classmate to conduct a conversation.

Teacher Bridges to the Content Connection or Builds Schema for Students (Direct Instruction: Age and Stage-appropriate)

Use pictures to introduce different seasons and weathers. Use the book “Weather Bear” or “Bear Gets Dressed” to introduce what to wear in different kinds of weather. Chinese song (use “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” tune): 天气熊去郊游，乌云飘来犯了愁， 嘀嗒嘀嗒下雨了，天气熊呀着了急， 风婆婆来帮忙，吹走乌云带走雨， 天气熊去郊游，乌云飘来犯了愁， 嘀嗒嘀嗒下雨了，天气熊呀着了急， 太阳公公来帮忙，大家一起去郊游。 Activities: Track changes in the weather over the course of seven days. To begin, a student goes to the front of the room and puts on the weatherman’s mustache. Introduce the Monday Weatherman to the class. Whisper a weather vocabulary word to the student to act out using props or total physical response actions such as catching snowflakes on his or her tongue to represent snow or fanning for a sunny day. The other students guess the weather the Monday Weatherman is depicting. Then a new weatherman acts out Tuesday’s weather. The class repeats this for each day of the week. Cross-curricular: Science & Chinese Caterpillar to Butterfly Have children crawl around like caterpillars. Then let them bend down and roll into tight balls as if in a cocoon. Then have them unfold, stretch, and flutter around as butterflies. The teacher announces “下雨了。” (the rain is coming), and all the children try to find a place to hide. The teacher says, “出太阳了。” (the sun is out now.) All the children return to the group and start again as caterpillars.

Debrief in English

Review the vocabulary. Answer questions that students might have regarding the lesson.

Extend the Learning: School-Home Connection

Students check the weather on the weather channel for the next five days. Each student creates a weather chart with illustrations and weather vocabulary.

End with a Song! “When We Get Together!”

当我们同在一起，在一起，在一起， 当我们同在一起，其快乐无比。 你对著我笑嘻嘻，我对著你笑哈哈。 当我们同在一起，其快乐无比。

Instructional Resources & References

Any appropriate textbook