Literacy – weather forecasts
Here are some ideas for using weather forecasts in literacy – taken from ‘Teaching with Text: Geography’. Most of these could be done using a detailed weather page from a newspaper.
- Talk about the different ways in which the information is recorded, e.g. tabular form, and the reasons for this (e.g. to minimise space, make it easier to find information).
- Discuss the layout of the text, headings, typesize, etc. Get the children to compare this layout with that of weather reports in other newspapers. What are the main differences and similarities?
- Discuss the use of abbreviations in the text, such as deg C. Ask the children to suggest what the abbreviations might mean.
- Ask the children different questions about the text, e.g. What is the temperature in Cardiff?
- Discuss possible audiences for the general weather forecast and the regional forecasts. How might the language differ for different audiences, e.g. younger readers.
- Select a portion of the text and ask the children to put the information into full sentences, using capital letters, full stops and appropriate punctuation. They might also embellish the text to make it more interesting to the reader, drawing upon their knowledge of how to use adjectives and adverbs within sentences.
- Record a weather forecast from the TV or radio and play it to the class. Ask the children to record the main information given and to reduce this information to note form.
- Ask the children to make up a list of comprehension questions for a partner about the text. Then, working in pairs, get them to swap their questions with their partner and work through each other’s comprehension questions.
- Ask the children to use the information in the text to help them write a script for a TV weather forecast in groups. Tell them they should concentrate on including only appropriate information and keeping the summary concise. They could then perform their forecast to the rest of the class – and have it recorded on video if possible.
- Ask the children to identify the descriptive words in the text and place them into categories, for example adverbs (mainly) and adjectives (cloudy).
- Investigate comparative and superlative adjectives in the text, e.g. wet: wetter, wettest.
- Provide the children with a cloze procedure exercise, where they have to find answers from the text, e.g. Blustery showers will be mainly in the _____.
