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Seasons
This worksheet aims to engage students into talking about
seasons and the problems
extreme weather can cause. Since there is no specific focus on
grammar (except a small task
on modals), it can be perfectly used as a gap filler anywhere.
It includes describing pictures,
understanding weather forecasts, reading and free writing.
Step 1
Show your students the very first picture. Ask them to
describe what they see. Take some time for this; dont be
satisfied with there are four women. They can describe
how the women look, where they are, what they do and
so on.
Show them the second picture. Ask them to describe it
again. They should describe that they see two people
riding a bike on an avenue. Some students might already
realize that, in contrast to the first picture, in this
picture
leaves are on the ground and that it is fall.
Third picture. After having heard another description
from a student, show them all three of the pictures and
ask them about the difference between them. They should
say that the situations take place in different seasons
(depending on the level, they might not know the word
seasons yet; however, the words summer and
winter should at least be known). Talk a little more
about seasons with them. What does the world look like in
winter? What happens in
summer? Introduce useful vocabulary to talk about the topic.
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Step 2
Coming up is a little task. The students should read different
weather forecasts and match
them with the correct season. The vocabulary in the forecasts is
on a very high level.
However, it is not about the students understanding every word
of the forecasts, but finding
the important information to successfully complete the task.
Solutions are the following:
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Step 3
The next four pictures can be shown to the students all at once.
Ask them to describe what
they see now. They should get to the fact that sometimes,
weather can cause extreme
situations, like forest fires, floods, tons of snow or dangerous
storms. Talk a little more about
extreme weather.
Step 4
The reading part can be designed freely. Either the students
read the text on their own or
some of them read it out loud. The task referring to it should
be completed quickly.
The task about giving advices should be done by the students on
their own. Before, you
could quickly revise modals.
The weather story task can be used as homework.
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Task Match the weather forecasts with the correct season! (Texts
taken and adapted from www.worldweatheronline.com )
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What is happening in these pictures?
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Task Surviving Hurricane Carla (by Carol Park)
I was 10 years old in September of 1961 when a storm began to
form out in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm grew into a Category 5
hurricane. They named it Carla. We lived in a Houston neighborhood
with small homes and ditches running alongside the streets. In
those days, people did not evacuate to flee storms; they stayed at
home. My parents decided to throw a hurricane party for the adults
and while they were inside playing cards, the kids were outside
running wild. It was scary playing outdoors while the clouds grew
dark and swirly. I remember it looked like night, in the middle of
the afternoon. It began to rain. The wind began to howl and
something in the air made us feel wild and free. We waded in the
ditches trying to catch crawfish but when the lightning began to
strike dangerously close to the crackle of thunder, my mother
called us in. We were completely wet. Despite the edge of fear in
the air, it was exciting and we all were happy. I was hypnotized by
what the storm was doing outside. I remember watching out of our
window. The wind caused the trees and bushes to bend over in funny
ways Id never seen before. The power lines
were swinging around. The ditches flooded, then the roads, and
then the yards. After some time, everything became still and
silent. Even the birds were quiet. The winds calmed, the clouds
parted and the sun appeared. The eye of the hurricane was over
Houston! We ran outside and I looked up to see blue sky. After
about an hour, the clouds darkened and the wind and rain returned.
We went back inside and watched the second half of the storm. We
went to bed with the rain beating on the roof and the wind howling.
The next morning we awoke to a different world. The sun was shining
and the birds were chirping. Tree limbs were down everywhere and
the roads and gardens had become a giant lake. Hurricane Carla had
left her mark on the landscape and our lives. The best part was
that everyone was safe and the kids got a bonus 3 days off from
school! (found on and adapted from
http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/story_hurricane.html, August
2014)
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Task Is the sentence correct or false?
correct false
Carol lived on a farm.
When the storm came up, everybody had to leave their houses.
Before the storm, the children played outside.
The storm came in three parts.
The storm changed the city a lot.
The children had to go to school the next day.
Task Write advices for very bad weather. Use the modals could,
might and should.
What to do when there is too much rain?
1
2
3
What to do if the sun is too hot?
1
2
3
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What to do if it is too cold outside?
1
2
3
What to do if a storm comes up?
1
2
3
Task Write your own weather story. Have you ever been in a big
storm? Or did you ever experience a big heat? If not, invent a
story.
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