Rationale for the Integration of Literacy Strategies
We have incorporated literacy throughout our unit so that every student in engaged with books related to each weather occurrence we have focused on. In many of our lessons, students are reading to discover how to stay safe during severe weather. In addition, students are learning how to distinguish between watches and warnings and what they mean in terms of safety. Overall, our students are grasping the idea that a textbook is not the only source of information. Trade books, personal narratives, and other stories are great literary resources that go beyond textbooks. For each of our weather phenomena, we are creating a classroom library of resources that the students can dive into. Though some are above grade level, they will still serve as beneficial sources of information for the students, even if they cannot read every word. Students will begin to learn how to research and find relevant information.
In addition to reading about weather, students will focus on key vocabulary and descriptive words related to their phenomena. In order to incorporate writing into our lessons, the students will create poems, utilize literary devices, and use the information they learned from books and other sources in their final product, the safety brochure. Through individual assignments, partner work, and whole class discussion and collaboration, the students will be engaged in a variety of activities to keep them excited about weather. The culminating safety brochure will be a great artifact to show each student’s writing abilities. In addition, it will become a great source of information for students and families to read and refer to throughout the seasons.
