Four seasons

Introduction:

Certain activities may or may not be appropriate depending on where you are working and how extreme the seasonal variations in the weather and way of life are. If you are in a place that doesn’t have big seasonal changes students may still be interested in the topic but the lesson may need to be adapted.  

Topic: 

Times of the year – changes in the weather and personal preferences

Learning outcomes: 

• Brainstorm and review vocabulary related to weather and the seasons
• Speculate about other’s preferences
• Discuss and agree on a plan for a summer party

Age group/ Level: 

Aged 9-12 and 13-17 (CEFR B1)  

Time: 

65 minutes + extension activities  

Materials: 

• Lesson plan
• Reading text - 1 per student
• Mingle - Cut in half. One half per student
• Card and coloured pencils for extension 2

Brainstorming  (10 minutes)

• Draw 4 columns on the board. Write a different season at the top of each column.
• Brainstorm words associated with spring as a whole group and write them on the board. (e.g. blossom, lambs, etc.) Ask learners to copy the table into their notebooks.
• Put learners into groups. Tell groups you are going to set a timer for 1 minute and they should write down as many words as they can associated with summer in their tables. Do a countdown to build interest, 3, 2, 1., Go!
• Check which group has the most words
• Elicit the words and write them on the board. Ask learners to add any new words to the table in their notebooks.
• Follow the same sequence with Autumn and Winter.

Tip: If you can, bring in a picture of a photo to represent each season. You can elicit the seasons from the pictures then stick them on the board on the columns to inspire the students.

What’s your favourite season? (15 minutes)

• Put students into groups of six. If possible, let them group themselves with friends. 
• Ask them to write the names of their group members in the first column of the table. 
• Then ask them how well they think they know their classmates. Do they know what their favourite food / type of music / sports are? Do they know what their favourite season is? 
•  Ask them to guess their group members favourite season and give a reason why. Then they ask them and find out if they were right or not.
•  To demonstrate the activity, have a few guesses yourself. E.g. “I think Pablo’s favourite season is winter because he loves skiing. Am I right? Pablo – what’s your favourite season? …
•  When students have finished, ask groups to feedback

Vocabulary review (10 minutes)

• This word game is played in pairs facing each other. It’s a word association game. 
• Demonstrate this activity with two strong learners
• Students all start with the same word (in this case use the seasons then weather words) as the starting word 
•  The person in the pair who’s going first says a word they associate with the starting word. Then the partner says one they associate with their partners’ word.   Eg.

1. Teacher – “Summer”
2. Student A – “Beach”
3. Student B – “the sea”
4. Student A – “swimming”
5. Student B – “football” etc. etc.

• It goes on like this until one of the pair either repeat a word, or can’t think of anything to say. The winner of each round could get a point.

Pre-reading (15 minutes)

• Dictate the following questions:

1. Is your way of life very different in the summer and the winter?
2. Do you eat different foods depending on the season?
3. When is the best seasons for tourists to visit your country? Why?

• Nominate learners to read out their questions to check they’ve copied them accurately
• Ask learners to answer the questions in pairs or small groups
• Get whole class feedback

Reading (15 minutes)

• This reading is about how the way of life in Britain changes as the summer comes. You could give students some examples from your own experiences of how the British way of life changes to a certain extent when the sun shines!
• Ask the students to read the text and answer the questions. 
• Learners compare their answers with a partner. Then get whole class feedback.
  Answers

1. Do British people eat differently in the summer to the winter? (Yes, they eat more fruit)
2.  According to the text, do they do different activities? (Yes, they spend more time outdoors and have barbecues)
3. If you were going to visit the UK and could go at any time of the year, when would you choose to go? Why? (learners’ ideas – not given in text)
4. Do you think the changes in the seasons affects people’s moods? How? ? (learners’ ideas – not given in text)

Extension 1 – collaborative work (30 minutes)

Note: If you are using this activity at the end of term and there’s a chance you could organise a real end of term party for your class. You could do this task and actually have the party you plan. If not viable it’s still a good way to get students to talk – an imaginary party is better than nothing! 

 

• Put students in groups. Tell them ‘You and your classmates are going to organise a party to celebrate the arrival of summer. You will need to discuss your ideas and then explain your ideas to the rest of the class.’
• Write on the board: What; When; Who; How
• Either elicit or prompt the following questions:

1. Where will you have the party?
2. What day and time?
3. What music will you have?
4. What entertainment will you have?
5. What food will you eat?
6. What drinks will you have?
7. How will you invite the guests?
8. Who will serve the food?

• Groups answer the questions to make a party plan 

Extension 2 – Acrostic poster (30 minutes)

Note: This is a creative task probably better suited to younger students with a reasonable level of English. You’ll need card or paper and coloured pencils for making posters.

• Divide the class into four groups and give each group one of the seasons to work with.
• Divide each group into pairs or threes.
• Give each group card or paper and ask them to write their season vertically. Write winter on the board as an example. E.g.

W

I

N

T

E

R

• Explain that this is called an acrostic
• Elicit a word or expression associated with winter that starts with W. E.g Windy, White snow, etc; Words that begin with S associated with Spring and Summer. E.g. sunny, seaside; Words beginning with A associated with Autumn. E.g. apples, acorn
•  Tell learners to write the appropriate next to the first letter of their season.
• Explain that in their group they must find a word for each letter of their season. For example:

1.  Windy days
2.  Icy hailstones
3. Night falls early
4. Temperature’s low
5.  Everyone’s sad
6. Remembering summer

• The first letters could also appear in the middle of words to make it easier. Students should work together to produce the acrostics then display it on a poster with images of the season as the background.
•  These would make a nice wall display for the class or the corridor. For younger students it can be really motivating for them to see their work on show.

Useful links and resources

• Information about acrostic poems: https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/acrostic-poems
•  Activities based around the seasons: https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/category/topics/seasons