• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Types of weather). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. What kind of weather would you wear or take a sun hat for? (a sunny, hot day / a rainy day / a snowy, cold day) → a sunny, hot dayPrompt: Does it keep you cool, dry or warm?
2. What do we call water falling from clouds? (fog / rain / wind / sunshine) → rainPrompt: You need an umbrella for it.
3. What would you take on a snowy, cold day? (an umbrella / a woolly hat / shorts / sunglasses) → a woolly hatPrompt: Think about keeping cool, dry or warm.

• Show today's forecast and ask what it means for the class and how forecasters know.
• Share the objective: Severe weather and staying safe. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: What is a drought?
• Step 1: In a drought, there is not enough rain, so water runs short.
• Step 2: So the answer is: a long period with very little rain
• Answer: a long period with very little rain
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. You hear thunder while playing in a field. What should you do? (go indoors as soon as you can / hold up a metal pole / go swimming / stand under a tall tree) → go indoors as soon as you canPrompt: Lightning tends to strike tall objects and open ground.
2. Which kind of severe weather is this: rivers bursting their banks after days of heavy rain? (flood / tornado / blizzard / heatwave) → floodPrompt: Is it about water, wind, snow or heat?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. What is a drought? (a flood / a very windy day / a snowstorm / a long period with very little rain) → a long period with very little rainPrompt: Rivers and reservoirs dry up.
2. Severe weather: which statement is NOT true? (Lightning can strike tall objects such as trees. / In a heatwave you should drink water and stay in the shade. / Weather forecasts help people prepare for storms. / Sheltering under a tree is safe in a thunderstorm.) → Sheltering under a tree is safe in a thunderstorm.Prompt: One sentence is a famous myth about lightning.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-1.