The weather topic doesn't need a lesson of its own. It needs the first minute of every lesson. You open with How is the weather today? The children look out of the window and answer It is sunny! Do that every lesson for a month and the whole class will own the topic without ever feeling taught. That is the power of a routine, and few other topics can borrow it, because the weather really does change every day.
The Words, With a Gesture for Each
- sunny: fingers spread out around your head like rays of sun
- rainy: all ten fingers fluttering downwards like falling rain
- cloudy: cup both hands into a round puff and float it across the sky
- windy: sway your whole body as though the wind were pushing you
- hot and cold: fan your face, then hug yourself and shiver. Thai children reach for these two more than any others, for obvious reasons.
- stormy: clap for the thunder. Save this one for Grade 3.
Where to Take It Next: Clothes and Activities
Once the weather words are solid, this topic makes a lovely bridge to others: It is rainy. I need an umbrella. Or It is hot. I want ice cream. That frame leads naturally into clothes and food. Have children pair a weather card with a card for the thing they would need, and you get connected thinking instead of isolated words.
The worksheets to reach for here are drawing today's weather with a sentence underneath, and matching weather pictures to words. Children can do both alone at home and show a parent the result.