View Content #23626

Would you like to try in-class flipping, as described in Jeff Magoto's Topic of the Week article, for yourself? Here is a description of different stations dealing with the weather, for Novice-Mid learners. Stations 1-3 are the flip stations, and Stations 2 and 4-6 are the practice stations. Station 7 is a stand-alone station that can be done at any time in the sequence.

Proficiency Level: Novice Mid

Targeted Modes: Interpretive Listening, Interpersonal Speaking, and Presentational Speaking

Objectives:

• Students will be able to recognize some common weather expressions.
• Students will be able to give information about the weather in different places to each other.
• Students will be able to present information about the weather in a specific location based on symbols on a graphic.

Station 1: Students will begin learning key vocabulary and phrases related to weather forecasts.

Materials needed: Vocabulary sheets, textbook pages and ancillary recordings presenting new vocabulary, or ideally Internet sites where students can hear the words and phrases pronounced. Example resource for Brazilian Portuguese: https://www.rocketlanguages.com/portuguese/learn/weather-in-portuguese

Station 2: Students will look up additional words and phrases that they want to know, and they will work on memorizing key words and phrases. This is really two stations in one: one for basic studying, and one for researching additional words and phrases.

Materials needed: For finding additional expressions: an online dictionary resource such as Dicio or Google Translate for looking up new words and the Weather Terms for My Community worksheet. For basic studying a spaced repetition app such as Anki or Memrise. Low-tech alternatives are paper dictionaries and cards or sheets of paper to create and use study aids.

Station 3: Students will listen to authentic weather forecasts, and they will label a map with descriptions of weather in different regions.

Materials needed: A site with current weather forecasts. In this Brazilian example, students can listen to a short overview for the entire country, and then click on forecasts for specific regions: https://www.climatempo.com.br/videos/playlist/1/previsao-brasil-e-regioes. The Brazilian example uses YouTube videos that can have closed captioning activated, a good and quick alternative to providing transcripts to students. Additionally, a map of the area being studied (here is an example) and weather phrases (raining, hot, sunny, etc.). Depending on your assessment plan, students could either attach post-it labels to re-usable maps that stay at the station, or they could refer to a list of key phrases and write them on individual paper maps that they turn in.

Station 4: In groups of 4-6, students will complete an information gap/mixer activity in which they talk with each other to fill in missing information on weather maps.

Materials needed: Four different information gap worksheets; they are all based on the same map of weather conditions, but each map has different symbols whited out, to be filled in by conversing with the other students. Here is an example for Brazil, taken from this website: https://www.tempo.pt/brasil.htm. Answer key, map legend, worksheet 1, worksheet 2, worksheet 3, worksheet 4.

Station 5: Students will record a forecast for one location, based on a graphic such as this weather map: https://www.tempo.pt/brasil.htm. Use an app such as Voicethread or Vocaroo or you can use LinguaFolio Online.

Station 6:  Students will listen to other students’ forecasts and identify what location the forecast is for. Use the same apps as for Station 5, and have students navigate to and listen to their peers’ recordings.

Station 7: Students will draw flashcards for different weather conditions for shared classroom use. Be as creative as you’d like in your drawings, so that other students can enjoy them. If you finish early, or the station you want is busy, you can always come to this station and create cards or study the ones that other students have created. Materials needed: blank cards, drawing tools

Notes: The most typical sequence would be 1>2>3>4>5>6. However, some students may want to skip straight to 3 if they feel they already know the vocabulary or they want to start with an authentic resource. Students may want to revisit 2 throughout the sequence as they realize there are more words they want to learn, or that they need to study a bit more.