The weather should be recorded every day, and it is helpful to assign this job to a student. The “weather person” job can rotate daily or weekly. It will be this student’s job to make weather observations such as reading the thermometer and taking note of the weather outside. They are also responsible for recording these observations. At the beginning of the year, this should be done with the whole class so that all students can learn how to do the job. During the second half of the year, students may be able to do this job independently.
An important aspect of weather to record is the daily temperature. Reading a thermometer can be tricky for kindergarten students. One way to address this is by color-coding the thermometer. Choose about 7 different colors to represent temperature zones. For example, 90 degrees and above is colored red. Having a large classroom thermometer poster can link the color zones with numbers as children become more comfortable with large numbers. The thermometer can either be placed outside a classroom window or can be taken outside when the class goes out for recess. To keep a record of the daily temperature, the student can place a colored dot on a monthly class calendar. These should be kept on display so students can notice emerging patterns.
You will need to have a way to keep track of weather recordings. One way to do this is to have a blank calendar that includes the date and has space for students to record the temperature and weather for the day. Students can either place a color-coded dot for the temperature or write the actual temperature. When recording the weather, keep choices simple such as sunny, cloudy, rainy and snowy. Students can glue printed weather symbols to the calendar to keep track of the daily weather. It is helpful to observe the weather at the same time every day as the temperature changes throughout the day. When a month ends, you should post the old calendar on a bulletin board or on the wall so students can note the patterns in the weather all year.
Weather recording provides an excellent opportunity for math integration. One way to do this is to graph the weather for the month and compare each type of weather. Were there more sunny or cloudy days this month? You can also create a tally chart for each type of weather. This allows students an opportunity to practice making tally marks and totaling them up at the end of the month. Kindergarten students have lots of opportunities to practice important math skills as they compare groups and count.