Text Set Collection: Clouds

How Do I Teach...Cloud Chart

http://howdoiteach.blogspot.com/2009/01/cloud-chart.html

This website offers a step-by-step way to teach about clouds. It gives an actual cloud chart to make with students. This chart shows the different levels of the clouds and what each cloud looks like. This site offers all the tools needed to complete the cloud chart and connections to be made to other areas. It provides books and other resources to use while using the cloud chart.

Age: Grades 3-5

The Following are Ideas for using Little Cloud in the Classroom. 

http://www.eric-carle.com/bb-cloud.html

 This website should be used when reading the book called Little Cloud by Eric Carle. The site gives several examples of activities and lessons that teachers can use with students. The best advantage is that there are tons of comments from teachers actually in the classroom. These teachers have posted activities, ideas, and lessons that relate to the Little Cloud book. This would be a great site to use while reading this book.

Age: Grades K-3

Weather WizKids

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-clouds.htm

This website is great because it answers several of the common questions that any person would have relating to clouds. Questions such as why are clouds white? How do clouds float? How is fog formed? This would be a great resource for definitions and for students to do as homework. Students could see if there question was answered. This site includes information on natural disasters, experiments, forecasting, and anything related to weather.

Age: Grades K-12

Education World: How Do Clouds Form?

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp030.shtml

This website gives specific instructions on an experiment to be conducted inside a classroom. The experiment involves making clouds inside the classroom. It gives national standards to follow and forms of assessment to use on students. This experiment is an excellent hands-on activity that gets the students involved in the learning process.

Age: Grades K-5

Brainpop.com

http://www.brainpop.com/science/weather/clouds/preview.weml

This website is great because it offers a video for almost any topic that is taught on. It provides a little humor while using valuable information. This video discusses the different types of clouds. It also shows animated video of each type of clouds and where it is in the atmosphere. It is very easy to understand for students and they would like the visual aspect of learning with the humor.

Age: Grades K-5

Reading Comprehension: Informational/Weather

http://www.abcteach.com/free/r/rc_clouds_upperelem.pdf

This website is excellent because it has everything a teacher needs to have a lesson plan on teaching clouds. There are definitions, examples, and tons of information that will help the teacher and student. My favorite part is towards the bottom where there is an assessment sheet with an answer key. This would be a valuable tool for teachers to use assessing students.

Age: Grades 3-6

Weather Classroom Activities and Lesson Plans

http://geology.com/teacher/weather.shtml

This site doesn't really get a whole lot of specific examples, but it does provide links to other helpful websites. This website provides at least 10 links to other beneficial websites that could be used in any classroom for teacher weather and clouds. It includes areas such as astronomy, rocks, earthquakes, and erosion. It is a great website for covering the many areas of weather.

Age: Grades K-12

Cloud Shapes

http://www.slideshare.net/cmlewis/teaching-clouds-and-weather-with-music-and-visual-arts

A big advantage to this site is that it provides a seven day schedule to follow when talking about clouds. Each day builds on the day before. It talks about cloud shapes and how they form. Other areas are looking at clouds from the national weather service website. The students complete a project about clouds at the end of the seven days and an assessment rubric is provided. 

Age: Grades 3-8

The Cloud Appreciation Society

http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/category/videos/

This site has every video you can think of concerning clouds! There are angels in the clouds, clouds on the mountains, silver linings, sun clouds, rain clouds, weird shapes in clouds, and anything visually pleasing about clouds. If teachers wanted to show any type of video or picture towards clouds or the interesting and exciting changes that clouds make, then this is the site!

Age: Grades K-12

Science Kids: Weather Videos

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/videos/weather/clouds.html

This websites provides several resources that can be used inside the classroom. There are experiments, games, facts, quizzes, projects, lessons, images, and videos. Each of these can be clicked and leads to another page filled with information about weather and clouds. This website is very helpful and it provides anything a teacher would need when planning a cloud unit.

Age: K-8

Different Types of Clouds

http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=19624

This website does not have a lot of information to use in a classroom, but the video show is amazing! That is the only reason I would use this site for a classroom. There is a two minute video that shows a time lapse in the different types of clouds. It puts clouds into a different perspective and would help students think critically about how clouds are different and we see them every day without thinking about it.

Age: Grades K-5

Name That Cloud

http://www.instructorweb.com/lesson/cloud.asp

This website would be more geared towards a review or assessment activity. The students are given a reading passage called Name That Cloud. Once the students have read the passage, students answer questions and play trivia with their peers over the information that is recalled in reading the passage. It is a great hand-on activity that involves reading and science together.

Age: Grades 4-6

Theme Stations: Clouds

http://www.preschoolexpress.com/theme-station08/clouds-mar08.shtml

I know that this website says it comes from a preschool website, but I think that this site could be useful for any elementary level student. It talks about making cloud puppets, a matching game with clouds, cloud poems, songs, and cloud snacks. All of these activities can be used in a classroom and there are creative and hands on which will help the students understand clouds differently.

Age: Grades K-5 

Cloud in the Classroom

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/lessons/cloud-in-the-classroom/lesson/31/

This website has students create activities that relate to nature and clouds. How do clouds affect the nature we have? How do clouds get their form? Is the water we drink the same as the clouds? It provides challenging questions that make students think on a deeper level. The higher order thinking questions provide teachers with strategies to challenge all levels of learners.

Age: Grades 3-8

Sizing Up the Clouds from Space

http://teachershare.scholastic.com/resources/14056

This site is for middle school students. Students do an activity to replicate how meteorologists predict the amount of precipitation from clouds. This site asks questions such as what proportion of it is likely to be liquid water and ice? How would you forecast the clouds seen? This is an excellent lesson plan that can be used over several days. I like that it provides information, activities, and assessment that can be used in the classroom.

Age: Grades 6-8