Learning objective
This lesson is designed for first grade students who have just begun learning about the different season of weather. The following content standards and benchmarks will be addressed in this lesson:
Science Objectives
E.ES.E.2 Weather- Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons.
E.ES.01.21 Compare daily changes in the weather related to temperature (cold, hot, warm, cool); cloud cover (cloudy, partly cloudy, foggy); precipitation (rain, snow, hail, freezing rain); wind (breezy, windy, calm).
E.ES.01.22 Describe and compare weather related to the four seasons in terms of temperature, cloud cover, precipitation, and wind.
Language Arts Objectives
W.GN.01.04 use a teacher-selected topic to write one research question; locate and begin to gather information from teacher-selected resources; organize the information and use the writing process to develop a project.
R.CM.01.04 apply significant knowledge from grade-level science, social studies, and mathematics texts.
S.CN.01.04 present in standard American English if it is their first language.
(Students whose first language is not English will present in their developing version of standard American English.)
Students will be able to better understand the use of computers and other technology to record themselves and edit their work. They will learn more about the four seasons, characteristics of them and how they are different. Students will also develop a basic knowledge of creating and publishing a podcast while refining their skills of researching, gathering information and writing diagonal with that information.
Lesson Description
Students will work in groups of three to complete this lesson. Each group will be assigned one season and they will have to research to answer these specific questions:
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When does this season begin and end?
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What is the usual temperature during this season? (Cold, warm, etc.)
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What is the usual precipitation and weather conditions during this season? (rain, snow, wind, etc.)

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What are some fun activities you get to do in this season? Are there any holidays during this season?
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What do you normally wear during this season? (gloves, shorts, rain jacket, etc.)
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What do animals and plants do during this season? (plants grow, animals hibernate, etc.)
Once students have found the necessary information they will then write one sentence answering each question in the form of either a dialogue or monologue to record as a description of their season. Once they have their pieces written, they will then be able to record the podcast. Students will have a day of instruction of how to create podcast and basic usage of the software for creating. Students will have assistance from older student helpers and me while recording their information if they come across any difficulty in the computer lab.
Purpose
These podcasts that the students are creating will be used to enhance the learning process, by making weather and seasons more entertaining. The students get to research information by themselves and they get to work together to create the description. They get to use their creativity to add in any sound effects or parts of music to enhance their description. They get to hear other students’ creations to help them notice the difference and understand the seasons. Learning through an interactive activity helps students to remember and understand more about what they are learning because they are enjoying what they are doing. Students need to already know how to form sentences, and basic observations of weather from seasons. They need to know the basic functions of a computer, how to access the Internet and how to record a podcast, which they will get a detailed description of before going into this lesson. Students will learn links to use to research their season, and they will learn the ins and outs of Audacity and how to create a podcast.
Assessment
The podcasts that students will make will be assessed for the information they give in their season description. The information must be accurate for them to full credit. The overall quality will be judged but not as highly as the information, because they are first graders just learning how to make a podcast. I will not hold them to the extras of sound effects and music added to their podcasts because I understand that making a podcast may be a difficult task for some first graders, so getting them to be comfortable with making one is the main goal. I will know that their learning objectives were met by watching groups through the construction of their project and their project turn out to see if they understood their season. I will also look at the quality of their grammar and sentence structure. I will know that my students met learning objectives when they have created an accurate podcast with good sentence structure of the dialogue.