To teach children about alphabet letters, the weather in March, Spatial concepts, opposites and St. Patrick's Day.

Materials:

• Books pertaining to opposites, alphabet letters and the weather
• glue
• construction paper
• glitter of different colors
• calendar
• thermometer
• tissue paper in different colors

Plan:

Length of Unit: 6 lessons

• Lesson 1: Spring Weather, The Wind Blew
• Lesson 2: Raindrops
• Lesson 3: In Like a Lion out like a Lamb?
• Lesson 4: Let's Talk about Opposites!
• Lesson 5: Introduce Letters
• Lesson 6: Rain: What do we need, what do we wear?

All of you are going to learn today that spring weather can be very unpredictable. Does anyone know what unpredictable means? (It means we do not know what the weather will be like from day to day or even hour to hour.) Sometimes in the Spring it rains and sometimes it gets really warm. Other times it gets windy and cold!

1. Let's talk about what happens when the wind blows.
2. Can you see the wind?
3. How do you know it is windy?
4. What all does the wind blow sometimes?
5. Let's read a book:The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins

1. What did the wind blow in the book?
2. Has that ever happened to you?
3. Have you ever lost something because it blew away in the wind?
4. Does the wind sometimes scare you?
5. Sometimes wind can do damage to things. What might wind damage or destroy?
6. Tell a story about anything that happened to you when it was very windy. For example, When it was very windy at my house, a window broke. Sometimes trees will fall down and telephone lines will break.

Editor's Note: Also, it might be appropriate to discuss how to stay safe when it is very windy outside... For instance: Stay indoors.

5 Little children one March day Went for a walk just this way. The wind blew so hard and strong As they walked down the street. It turned them round and round And almost blew them off their feet!

Sing this with the children. If possible, write it out on poster board and have it laminated.

Discussion:

Find a copy of the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" (click here to download the MIDI version) and play it for your children in your class. They have probably never heard it before.

Discuss with the children about what the sky is like before it rains. Is it sunny? Cloudy? Dark sometimes?

Discuss the fact that if it rains and the sun is shining, many times you can see a rainbow. Ask the children if they have ever seen a rainbow. Ask if they have ever seen a double or triple rainbow. If you have ever seen a double or triple rainbow describe the experience to the children.

Talk to the children about songs that talk about the rain. For instance:

It's Raining It's Pouring, The old man is snoring. He bumped his head, and he went to bed, and he couldn't get up in the morning.

Rain Rain go away. Come Again another day. Little Johnny wants to play.

In that song where the name Johnny is, the teacher can change the name to each of the children's name in her class.

March comes in with many windy and raining days and at the end of March, it seems to get cool and nice weather outside.

Explain why people use the saying in like a lion out like a lamb.

Explain why people use the saying in like a lion out like a lamb.