Big Book Lesson
Lesson Title: Weather is Everywhere!
Learning Target:
Students will be able to identify and describe various types of weather.
Students will be able to answer true/false and yes/no questions about key details from the text.
Students will be able to identify basic features of print.
Content Standards:
Content Curriculum Focal Points
According to the National
Council of Teachers of
English/International Reading
Association (NCTE/IRA)
3. Students apply a wide range of
strategies to comprehend,
interpret, evaluate, and appreciate
texts. They draw on their prior
experience, their interactions with
other readers and writers, their
knowledge of word meaning and
of other texts, their word
identification strategies, and their
understanding of textual features.
11. Students participate as
knowledgeable, reflective,
creative, and critical members of
a variety of literacy communities.
12. Students use spoken, written,
and visual language to
accomplish their own purposes
(e.g., for learning, enjoyment,
persuasion, and the exchange of
information).
Grade: Kindergarten
Common Core State Interdisciplinary Connections
Standards (CCSS)
K.ESS.1: Weather changes Although the big book is a book that
are long-term and can be best used in reading or
short-term. language arts, this book is also an
CCSS.ELA- informational text and can be used
LITERACY.SL.K.2 in science as well to learn about
Confirm understanding of a weather.
text read aloud or information
presented orally or through
other media by asking and
answering questions about
key details and requesting
clarification if something is
not understood.
RI.K.5 Identify the front
cover, back cover, and title
page of a book.
RI.K.7 With prompting and
support, describe the
relationship between
illustrations and the text in
which they appear.
CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.RF.K.1
Demonstrate understanding
of the organization and basic
features of print.
Academic Language:
Sun, degrees, energy, temperature, cirrus clouds, stratus clouds, moisture, fog, cumulus clouds,
thunderstorm, hail, lightning, thunder, safety, hurricanes, rain, wind, miles per hour, eye of the storm,
evacuate, earthquakes, tectonic plates, aftershock, tsunami, tornado, snow, temperature, snowflake,
blizzard

Students’ Needs:
Students need to have prior knowledge of types of weather and parts of a book. This knowledge will be
activated by asking questions like, “What kinds of weather do you know of?” and discussing. Students
will also complete a sketch to stretch (STS) activity in which they will connect their prior knowledge
with the new knowledge learned from the big book.

Universal Design for Learning:

English Language Learners Attention Deficit

(ELL) Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD) and Hearing
Impairment

For ELL students, the big ADHD: For students with

book will be ready loud to
the students by the teacher.
They can also receive a
copy of the text translated
into their native language.
The illustrations in the book
also do a great job at
showing what each page is
about.
ADHD, the big book does
have interactive elements to
it for them to touch, and
they will be sitting and
standing during the after
reading activity. They can
also be allowed to have a
sensory item like a stress
ball to use during the
reading of the book.

Hearing Impairment: For

students with a hearing
impairment, they can be sat
at the front of the carpet
near the book and the
teacher. They can also be
provided an audio recording
of the book to listen to later
as needed.

Materials:
Student Needs: pencil, colored pencils, markers, crayons
Teacher Needs: big book, pointer, true/false and yes/no questions, sketch to stretch (STS) worksheet,
colored pencils, markers, crayons

Language Function:
At the beginning of the lesson, students will think critically about what types of weather they know.
They will then share their responses and explain them to the class. They will analyze parts of a book,
and synthesize information while it is being read. Key vocabulary will also be discussed during the
reading of the book and will show their learning by answering the true/false and yes/no questions.
Finally, students will describe what they have learned by completing the STS activity.
Lesson Plan

Before: (Approx. 15 min)

discuss what types of weather they know, identify parts of the book (pointer)/book walk
• Ask students if they know any different types of weather. Discuss this question as a class.
• Using the plastic pointer finger, have students come up and identify various parts of the book
including the title, headings, illustrations, covers, text, and bold text.
• Take a book walk as a class and look at what is going to be on each page. This can be done while
students are identifying the parts of the book.
• Make sure all students are sitting quietly with their legs crossed and their hands in their laps ready to
listen to the book.
During: (Approx. 20 min)
• Read the big book aloud to students letting them interact and touch it when applicable. Be sure that
students return to their seats after they touch it.
• Be sure to discuss the key terms in bold while reading the book. Ask questions like, “What do you
think this word means?” “Does anyone know what kind of weather this is?”
• After reading the big book, ask students the list of true/false and yes/no questions. Ask one, give the
students some time to think, and ask them to stand up when their answer is called. For example, if a
student thinks the answer to a question is true, they would stand up after the teacher says, “If you
think the answer is true, stand up.”
• Once the activity is finished, have students go back to their seats and get out their pencil and either
colored pencils, crayons, or markers.

After: (Approx. 20 min)

• Pass out the sketch to stretch (STS) activity sheet to students.
• Have students draw in the box a picture of what they learned from the big book. Ensure students that
there is no right or wrong answer but that their drawing should represent something that they learned
after reading the book and completing the true/false yes/no activity. Drawings can include something
they learned about a part of a book, something in the text, something from an image, or even
something from the follow up activity. Give students 15 min to sketch.
• When students have finished sketching, have them write a sentence on the lines explaining their
picture and what they learned after rereading the big book. Provide help as needed.
• When students have finished their STS sheet, have them turn it in to the bin, go back to their seats,
and read their self selected book until their classmates are finished.
Assessment:
Type of assessment Description of Modifications Evaluation Criteria
assessment

Informal The teacher will For students with The teacher will use a checklist to keep
observe students ADHD, the track of students throughout the lesson.
informally to be sure teacher may let The checklist will have every student’s
that students are on- them take a break name on it and room for anecdotal
task, listening as needed during notes.
appropriately, and the lesson and
understanding the make a note of it
material presented in during the
the book. observations.

Formal The teacher will The teacher will use a rubric to grade
collect and use the students’ STS. The assignment will
students’ STS as a be out of 10 points. Five points will be
grade to show given for an appropriate student
student’s drawing and another five points will be
understanding of the given for a sentence written that is in
book. topic.

Resources:

Author unknown. (2017). Sun. Retrieved from http://www.planetsforkids.org/star-sun.html

This website was used to write the page of the big book on the sun. It is a great resource and can be used
supplementally for early finishers or for students that want to learn more about the sun.

Smith, M. (2018). Types of clouds for kids. Retrieved from https://sciencing.com/types-clouds-kids-

8294039.html
This website was used to write the page of the big book on the types of clouds. It is a great resource and
can be used supplementally for early finishers or for students that want to learn more about clouds.

Author unknown. (2015). Weather wiz kids. Retrieved from http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-

thunderstorms.htm
This website was used to write most of the pages in the big book. It is a great resource with pages for all
types of weather. It includes facts, safety tips, and more for each types of weather. It can be used as a
supplemental resource for early finishers and gifted students.

Vacca, R.T., Vacca, J.L., & Mraz, M. (2014). Content Area Reading. Upper Saddle River, NJ:Pearson.
This is a textbook that has information on the STS activity that students will complete. There is also
plenty of other strategies and activities covered in this book that would be great to use in the classroom.
True/False and Yes/No Questions
1. True or False: The sun provides energy to the earth so living things can grow.
2. True or False: Cumulus clouds are thin and wispy.
3. True or False: A tsunami is a small ocean wave.
4. True or False: Hail is rain that becomes frozen and falls to the ground as balls of ice.
5. True or False: When there is a tornado, you want to go to a room in the basement with no windows.
6. Yes or No: Do all clouds look the same?
7. Yes or No: When there is an earthquake, do things on the earth shake?
8. Yes or No: Do hurricanes form over the ocean?
9. Yes or No: During a blizzard, should you go outside?
10. Yes or No: Is lightning an electric flash of light that happens during a thunderstorm?

True/False and Yes/No Questions Answers

1. True
2. False
3. False
4. True
5. True
6. No
7. Yes
8. Yes
9. No
10. Yes