Online

• Introduce the book and explore it as a group.
• Elicit pertinent information related to the story: Who is the main character? What is the weather phenomenon? Where is it happening?
• Explain that the goal of this LES is to learn about weather phenomena and how to incorporate one of them in a story. At the end, students will be asked to create a weather news report describing a wacky weather event involving food.
• Share, online or on paper, the Student Booklet for this LES that students will complete as it progresses.
• Use Padlet, Mentimeter or a whiteboard tool to brainstorm vocabulary about food and weather.
• Study the vocabulary with Quizlet.

At home

• Suggest watching the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball.
• Study vocabulary and play games using Quizlet.

Online

• Watch the movie trailer to start the lesson.
• Discuss the different parts of a story: beginning (introduction), problem (conflict), turning point (climax), solution (resolution), end (conclusion).
• Read the story again and ask students to take notes (on paper) about the important parts of the story.
• In teams (breakout groups), students discuss the important parts of the story based on their notes and put them on a timeline in a collaborative document. You could also create a template in PosterMyWall and ask students to join your account so they can start their work from a model.

At home

• Ask students to watch weather reports and write down some expressions they hear.
• Ask students to watch or read an English picture book and identify the parts of the story. Use the Distance Teaching website to find sites with online books Open in a new window.

Online

• Present a silly or regular weather report found online to start a discussion about weather reports.
• Use Mentimeter and its word wall function to brainstorm weather phenomena as a class and discuss the results.

• In small groups, assign a weather phenomenon to explore and ask them to use this Padlet Open in a new window to read about it. They should take notes in their student booklet.

  This could be done as a “Become an expert” activity: students learn about the weather phenomenon and, once ready, they separate and join other groups where they have to describe what they’ve just learned while others take notes in their student booklets. This is an oral interaction activity that is a little more complex but is invaluable.

At home

• Students can continue researching information about natural disasters to gain a better understanding of the topic.
• Students can complete their student booklet with more information.

Online

• In small groups, students watch an interactive video on Edpuzzle Open in a new window and discuss the possible answers.
• Use the text in Activity 5 in the Student Booklet to check their understanding individually. Make sure it was taken from the paper version and do it with an online quiz like Socrative where you can keep track of your students’ answers. You can also share this “demonstration of understanding” text with your students just before they do it on paper if they don’t have access to technology.
• Review what was misunderstood with the whole group.
• Play Kahoot to review the characteristics of the different weather phenomena.
• Students select their choice of phenomena for their own wacky news report.

At home

• Students can read stories of the natural disaster they chose to write about or review the resources in the Padlet.

Online

• Play Quizlet Live as a class to review vocabulary.
• Explain the instructions for the final task as a group and start a collaborative document where students can ask their questions and everyone can refer to it if needed.
• Using their student booklet online or on paper, students follow the writing process to create a wacky news report.

At home

• Students continue working on their text.
• Ask students to create one question related to natural disasters, the weather and food that were discussed during this unit, and share it with you before the next class.
• Include these questions in a Kahoot that students will play at the end of the LES.

Online

• Organize a small group activity to give students a chance to interact with their peers in a game-like situation.
• Continue working on the text following the writing process and answer students’ questions.
• Give feedback on students’ texts.
• For the publishing step, explain and present the tool you want your students to use to create an animation of their text, or give them a choice: Toontastic (on a mobile device), Chatterpix Kids (on a mobile device), Clips (iPhone or iPad) using the Animoji option, My Talking Avatar. If your students know how to code, they can create an animated story in Scratch.
• Students work on their final product and you answer questions.
• Finish the LES with a Kahoot that uses the questions created by students.

At home

• Students produce their final product and get ready to share it.