Weather Watchers Series

After muddling this year with the Common Core and our new state curriculum for science and social studies, I decided I needed to purchase some books as I thought about content learning for next year.  Kindergarteners puzzle and amaze me at the same time.  I forget how things I think are simple to understand are not simple to understand when you are a young learner.  For example, as we make daily weather observations on a winter day with snow on the ground, I will hear many students share their thinking that the weather is snowing when there are no snowflakes in the air.  They often report snowing when the ground is covered in snow.

In Ohio, kinders have the topic of Daily and Seasonal Changes under the topic Earth and Space Science with the focus on observing, exploring, describing and comparing weather changes, patterns in the sky and changing seasons.  Exact bullets state - weather changes are long -term and short term and the moon, sun and stars, are visible at the different times of the day or night.  

Weather Watchers is a series brought to us by Heinemann that includes these titles; clouds, rain, snow, sunshine, thunder and lightening, and wind.  The format for each is very similiar and filled with just right information to understand weather concepts.  In the table of contents one can find some consistency between books;  What is weather?  What is sunshine?  Sunshine and the Seasons, and How does sunshine help us?  are a few examples.  I love their explanations for concepts that are challenging.  They clearly define different weather types.  Think about this comparison from in the book - "Sunshine is strong in the summer.  Summer days can be hot.  Sunshine is weak in the winter.  Winter days can be cold."  The photographs are beautifully captured and directly supportive to the text.  I love when the reader learns how the weather helps living things.  Mentioning living things here helps support life science learning.  I had to order the whole series and look forward to using them throughout the year to support our daily weather observations and discussions.