Discovering Rain

Overview

In this first workshop lesson, students build shared knowledge about rain through sound, images, talk, and observation. They orally rehearse an informative sentence before drawing and writing one sentence for a younger class member or family member.

Learning intentions

• WALT write to inform a particular audience about rain.
• WALT share ideas about where rain comes from, what it looks and feels like, and why it is important.
• WALT say a complete sentence before writing it.
• WALT use a capital letter and full stop.

Success criteria

• I can tell one true fact about rain.
• I can draw a picture that matches my sentence.
• I can write one informative sentence.
• I can use a capital letter and a full stop.

Curriculum links

• Communicating and Presenting — verbal reasoning: using an if/then sentence to show what might happen when something else happens.
• Word Recognition — fluency: reading a familiar decodable sentence with phrasing and growing automaticity.
• Composition — sentence structures, grammar, and punctuation: using a capital letter and punctuation to make writing clear.
• Composition — writing to entertain and inform a particular audience: creating a sentence about a shared topic for a younger reader or family member.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Rainy-day hook. Teacher plays a short rain sound and opens the rain sound and mystery image without naming the topic; students close their eyes, listen, and turn to a partner to share what they think they can hear.

2. 4–10 min · Notice and discuss. Teacher shows photographs or illustrations of rain in the rain photographs and discussion prompts and asks, “What do you notice?”, “What does rain look or feel like?”, and “Where does rain come from?” Students use talk partners to describe drops, clouds, wet places, sounds, and colours; teacher records or sketches key ideas.

3. 10–15 min · Build shared knowledge. Teacher explains simply that water gathers in clouds and rain falls from clouds, then introduces the word bank on the rain word-bank slide: rain, cloud, sky, falls, wet, drops, water, grey. Students repeat, read, and act out selected words. Teacher invites an if/then example such as, “If rain falls, then the ground gets wet,” and checks meaning with thumbs up or down.

4. 15–19 min · Co-construct and model. Teacher asks, “What could we tell a younger child or family member about rain?” and jointly rehearses the sentence, “Rain falls from clouds.” Teacher models saying the sentence, counting the words, writing it with a capital letter and full stop, and drawing a matching picture using the shared sentence model. Students read the sentence together, then orally practise it with a partner.

5. 19–27 min · Draw and write. Teacher distributes the Discovering Rain drawing and writing page and reminds students to choose one true fact, draw it, and write one sentence for the intended audience. Students use the word bank and model as needed, sounding out words and rereading their sentence to check that it makes sense.

6. 27–30 min · Share and reflect. Teacher displays the share-and-check slide and prompts students to read their sentence to a partner, checking for a capital letter, matching picture, and full stop. Two or three students share; the class rereads the model sentence with phrasing, and students show a thumbs up if their writing informs someone about rain.

Resources

• the Discovering Rain slide deck
• the Discovering Rain drawing and writing page
• Short rain sound recording
• Rain photographs or child-friendly illustrations
• Whiteboard and marker
• Pencils, crayons, and erasers
• Enlarged sentence model for shared reading

Assessment

• Listen during partner talk for accurate rain vocabulary and ideas about clouds, water, and wetness.
• During writing, check whether each student can compose or record one informative sentence, use a capital letter and full stop, and create a matching drawing.
• Use the partner share as an exit check: students read their sentence and identify their capital letter and full stop.

Differentiation

• Support oral language with gestures, real or pictured examples, the word bank, and the sentence frame: “Rain ______ from ______.” Scribe the child’s dictated sentence where appropriate.
• Provide the model sentence for copying or adapting, enlarged writing lines, and an adult or peer rehearsal before independent writing.
• For students learning English, pre-teach the word bank with photographs, actions, repetition, and home-language discussion where possible.
• Extend confident writers by adding a second factual sentence or an if/then sentence, such as, “If rain falls, then the ground gets wet,” while retaining the capital-letter and full-stop check.