4 Fun & Engaging Rain & Weather Lesson Plans for First Grade

Hello, April!  Hello, rainy season!

I have loved teaching our first grade weather unit in the spring (I usually do it in winter)!

It’s given us a chance to highlight certain weather lesson plans and activities even more.  Last week, we researched the water cycle.  When I do this unit in the winter, we focus on snow…but this year, we focused on rain!

Rain photo collage: Rain umbrella anchor chart, When it rains printable, when it rains writing prompt

Rain Anchor Chart & Writing

First, we read our PebbleGo article on rain and charted our learning…

Rain anchor chart

Then, we wrote about what we learned about rain in our weather words booklet!

Weather booklet title page

When It Rains Creative Writing

The next day, we brainstormed what it’s like when it rains.  Lucky for us, it **rained** the day before so I was able to give my kiddos a heads up on making some observations on their own after school! 🙂

We brainstormed whole group and then, they added their own descriptions on our “When It Rains…” graphic organizer!

When it rains... graphic organizer

Then, we used our graphic organizer to give us ideas to write about.  The next day we wrote about our rainy day!  They could choose to write about the rainy day we just had or a different rainy day.  Check out this rainy day sob story!!!

When it rains writing prompt and paper

Water Cycle Collaborative Posters

We saved our water cycle posters for testing week to give us a “break” in the afternoon after our hard work.  And I always love how these turned out!  You can read about the details HERE.

hallway display of water cycle collaborative posters

 

up close of group working on their collaborative water cycle poster

 

Finished water cycle group poster

I shared this on Instagram yesterday, but it’s worth repeating…We started our posters before Computer Lab and I told the kids to put their supplies on their poster and we would finish after Computer…I love how this group cleaned up so neatly!  OCD firsties after my own heart! 🙂

materials and supplies for collaborative posters

Cloud in a Jar Weather Science Experiment

We also saved our cloud in a jar weather science experiment for testing week too!  My first graders always love predicting how many drops of water it will take to make their shaving cream cloud “rain.”

cloud in a jar weather science experiment

Where To Find These Weather Lesson Plans for 1st Grade

Grab my best selling Weather Unit in my store for all of these weather lesson plans and activities and much, much more!

Weather lesson plans - pin image