Weather Activities For Any Language

We've been working on weather in first grade. To keep it simple I stuck with only sunny, cloudy, rainy, and snowy. Here are 3 activities we used to learn not only how the weather is here in Kentucky but around the world.  I've provided links to versions in Spanish but really these activities would work in any language!

Spin and Draw:

I love a good spinner. When played with a partner it's great practice for asking and answering questions in the interpersonal mode. Use this one in a page protector, dry erase marker, paperclip and pencil. One partner asks ¿Qué tiempo hace? while the other partner spins and answers. Then they draw whatever they spun in the window.  Then erase, switch, and play again. Since we only get 15 minutes of Spanish in first grade we played this for 3 class periods.

My kiddos playing in pairs. One asks while the other spins, draws, and says the answer out loud.

Get the spinner here!

Weather Forecasters:

I used to play this game way back when I was an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) in Japan. Back then I used the whole world but since I am trying to introduce my students to the Spanish speaking world I stuck with Latin America this time around. 

The game is simple. Students work in pairs or small groups and decide what they think the weather is in different locations in the target language. Then they write their "forecast" in the square. Then the teacher looks up (or has ready in the case of my technology free Japanese classrooms) what the weather really in in that location and students can see if they are correct. My students always get excited when they're right.

To make it even less prep you can take a globe-I have a beach ball version-and pass it around. Have a student decide where they want to look and do it orally. This game is also great for discussing WHY the weather is different in different places. 

Print, put in a page protector, and give to Ss with a dry erase marker. I have this and the spinner back to back in a page protector for a 2 in 1 game. 

Get your free game here!

Weather Trackers:

I found this cute craft on pinterest and my students loved it! The version I found had a brad with an arrow but I've never had luck with brads so I bought 100 clothespins at Target for less than $4.00. Students cut out the circles, glued them to the plates, and then colored the different weather in the first 15 minutes. In the second, they finished up their drawings and then cut out the ¿Qué tiempo hace? and glued it to their clip. Then we practiced using them by playing the game above.

The best part of this craft is that it fits into the Take Action of our Global Competency matrices in Kentucky (an important part of our state Program Review!) because students took them home to teach their family weather words as well as keep track of the weather from day to day. 

What activities do you use to teach weather. Share in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #earlylang!