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What's Your Favorite Season and Why Does It Matter?

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Lesson Plan

Seasonal Sentiments

Students will be able to identify the unique characteristics of each season and explain how seasons impact the environment and human activities.

Understanding the different seasons helps us appreciate the natural world, understand environmental changes, and make connections to our daily lives and traditions.

Audience

4th Grade Class

Time

60 minutes

Approach

Through discussion, visual aids, and personal reflection, students will explore the four seasons.

Materials

Our Seasons of Significance Slide Deck, My Season, My Story Discussion Guide, and Seasonal Reflections Journal Prompts

Prep

Review Materials

15 minutes

Step 1

Warm-up: What's Your Favorite?

5 minutes

  • Begin by asking students: "What's your favorite season and why?"
    - Have a few students share their answers with the class.
    - Transition to the main lesson by explaining that today they will explore all four seasons and discover why they matter.

Step 2

Introducing the Seasons

15 minutes

  • Present the Seasons of Significance Slide Deck slides 1-5.
    - Go through each season (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter), highlighting key characteristics, weather patterns, and typical activities.
    - Encourage students to share their own experiences or observations related to each season.

Step 3

Seasonal Impact Discussion

15 minutes

  • Use the My Season, My Story Discussion Guide to facilitate a class discussion.
    - Focus on how seasons impact plants, animals, and human life (e.g., clothing, food, holidays).
    - Prompt students to think critically about the environmental importance of each season.

Step 4

Personal Connections: Journaling

15 minutes

  • Distribute the Seasonal Reflections Journal Prompts.
    - Instruct students to choose one or two prompts and write about their personal connections to a particular season.
    - Circulate around the room to provide support and encourage detailed responses.

Step 5

Share and Reflect

10 minutes

  • Invite volunteers to share their journal reflections with the class.
    - Conclude with a brief recap, emphasizing the interconnectedness of seasons and their importance to our world.
    - Ask: "What is one new thing you learned about seasons today?"
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Slide Deck

What's Your Favorite Season and Why Does It Matter?

Let's explore the magic of all four seasons!

Welcome students and introduce the lesson's main question: What is your favorite season and why does it matter? Ask a few students to share their initial thoughts.

Spring: New Beginnings

  • Weather: Warmer temperatures, rain showers
  • Nature: Flowers bloom, trees grow new leaves, baby animals born
  • Activities: Planting, outdoor play, spring cleaning

Introduce Spring. Discuss its key characteristics like budding plants and warmer weather. Ask students what they observe in spring.

Summer: Fun in the Sun!

  • Weather: Hot temperatures, sunny days
  • Nature: Full foliage, fruits and vegetables ripen
  • Activities: Swimming, vacations, picnics, long days

Introduce Summer. Focus on hot weather and common summer activities. Ask students what their favorite summer activities are.

Autumn: Colors & Cozy Times

  • Weather: Cooler temperatures, crisp air
  • Nature: Leaves change color and fall, harvest season
  • Activities: Pumpkin carving, apple picking, preparing for winter

Introduce Autumn (Fall). Talk about changing leaves and cooler temperatures. Ask about fall traditions or holidays.

Winter: Wonderland or Hibernation?

  • Weather: Cold temperatures, snow, ice
  • Nature: Trees bare, some animals hibernate or migrate
  • Activities: Snow sports, staying warm indoors, holidays

Introduce Winter. Discuss cold weather, snow, and indoor activities. Ask what challenges or joys winter brings.

Why Do Seasons Matter?

Each season brings unique changes to our world and affects everything around us!

Transition to discussing the importance of seasons. Emphasize that each season plays a vital role.

Impact on Environment

  • Plants: Grow, flower, lose leaves, rest
  • Animals: Migrate, hibernate, change coats, forage for food
  • Ecosystems: Balance of nature depends on seasonal cycles

Discuss how seasons impact the environment, specifically plants and animals. Ask students for examples.

Impact on Our Lives

  • Activities: Outdoor sports, indoor hobbies, gardening
  • Clothing: Light clothes in summer, warm clothes in winter
  • Holidays & Celebrations: Many traditions are tied to seasons (e.g., harvest festivals, winter holidays)

Discuss how seasons impact human life, including activities, clothing, and celebrations. Ask students to share examples from their own lives.

Appreciating Every Season

Every season has its own special beauty and purpose. Let's appreciate them all!

Conclude by reiterating the beauty and importance of all seasons. Encourage students to continue observing the world around them.

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Discussion

My Season, My Story Discussion Guide

This guide will help us explore how the seasons touch our lives and the world around us.

Part 1: Personal Connections

  1. If you could only experience one season for the rest of your life, which one would it be and why?


  2. Think about a special memory you have that is strongly connected to a particular season. What happened, and what made that season feel so important in your memory?





  3. What kinds of clothes do you wear in each season? How does the weather change what you like to do?

Part 2: Environmental Impact

  1. How do seasons affect plants? What do plants do in spring, summer, autumn, and winter?





  2. How do animals react to the changing seasons? Can you think of examples of animals that migrate or hibernate?





  3. Why is it important for the Earth to have all four seasons? What might happen if we only had one season all year long?










Part 3: Our Community & Culture

  1. What holidays or celebrations happen in different seasons? How do the seasons influence these traditions?


  2. How do the jobs people do change with the seasons (e.g., farming, construction, tourism)?





  3. What are some seasonal foods you enjoy? How do seasons affect what we eat?
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Journal

Seasonal Reflections Journal Prompts

Choose one or two of the prompts below and write a detailed response in your journal. Think about your personal experiences, observations, and feelings about the seasons.

Prompts

  1. Describe your absolute favorite season in detail. What does it look, sound, smell, and feel like? What activities do you love to do during this season? Why does it bring you so much joy?











  2. Imagine you are a tree that experiences all four seasons. Describe your year from the perspective of the tree. How do you change? What do you see and feel in spring, summer, autumn, and winter?











  3. Think about how seasons help our planet. Choose one season and explain its most important role in helping plants, animals, or even the air we breathe. Why is that role so significant?











  4. If you could invent a new fifth season, what would it be called? What would its weather be like, what would nature look like, and what would people do during this new season? Be creative!











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