Language Arts Lesson: Heat Waves
Lesson Plan
1 hourGradesKEnglish Language Arts, Health
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Written by Martha Friend, Sustainable Jersey for Schools
About this lesson
Students learn the importance of preparing for extreme heat with the help of an informational text and write a letter to share their new knowledge with a community member.
Inquire: Students connect patterns of extreme heat to their lives and their behaviors.
Investigate: Students learn about how to prepare for extreme heat while looking for word patterns in the American Red Cross book, Prepare with Pedro: Extreme Heat.
Inspire: Students write to a community member who works outside, explaining preparations for extreme heat using one-syllable words.
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Suggestions
- This lesson can be used anytime throughout the year but especially in the fall to connect to students’ past summer experiences with heat.
- This lesson can be taught in conjunction with a unit on weather and how climate change is bringing more extreme weather to New Jersey.
- This lesson provides the opportunity to explore diverse life experiences around family structures as two main characters in the text live with a foster family.
- This lesson provides an opportunity to highlight social justice issues around equity as the text discusses that not all families/schools/communities have air conditioning in their homes or safe tap water to drink. The text could also be a vehicle to discuss the issues with purchasing bottled water versus using refillable water bottles (should the water be safe to drink).
- Before teaching the lesson, send home the Letter to Caregivers found in Climate Anxiety: SEL Resources for Teachers. The letter outlines the conversations and activities students will participate in. Note: The letter template should be altered to note that you are having conversations about heat and extreme weather.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 2 of 3 in our Kindergarten Stay Cool ELA Unit.
- Students should have a basic understanding of syllables.
- Teacher will need a copy (print or digital) of the American Red Cross book, Prepare with Pedro: Extreme Heat.
- The book mentions the main characters living with a foster family. The teacher should have a brief discussion (pre-reading or stop after “foster family” on page 1) with students about the definition of a foster family and acknowledge that not all families look alike, but are filled with love and care.
- Not all families have access to clean water, air conditioning, or other resources discussed in the text to stay safe from extreme heat. Discuss with your students places in their community where families could visit to keep cool during a heat wave. These places can include the YMCA, public library, local mall, etc.
Differentiation
- Students can be partnered heterogeneously to support students with varied abilities during the written tasks.
- The writing templates allow for writing or drawing.
- To enrich students, the teacher could allow students to assist in reading the text aloud, classify more words from the text according to the number of syllables, or write longer letters instead of postcards to community members with outdoor jobs.
- The text, Prepare with Pedro: Extreme Heat, is also available in Spanish. There are multiple additional Prepare with Pedro texts and resources addressing other extreme weather emergencies. If you would like to order your own copies, visit the FEMA website.
- If students are interested in discussing foster families, the teacher can read A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O’Leary to highlight all types of families.
From the scientist review
This lesson underscores the implications of how animals and people are affected by excessive heat and offers strategies for adaptation. Students will also write a postcard to communicate coping strategies for outdoor activities during the summer season. After reviewing the lesson, we found that it passed our scientific credibility process.
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About the teacher writers
Martha Friend
Martha Friend holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with a minor in Marine Ecology from Rider University. She has 32 years of experience teaching elementary education, including 17 years as a K–5 STEAM Lab teacher and earlier experience as a fifth-grade teacher.
Sustainable Jersey for Schools
Sustainable Jersey is a network and movement of municipalities, schools and school districts working collectively to bring about a sustainable New Jersey. Acting with state agencies, non-profit organizations, foundations, academia and industry, Sustainable Jersey researches best practices for what communities could and should do to contribute to a sustainable future.
