Unit 6 — Weather, Seasons and Numbers Calendar, Dates, Birthdates
Description
Students develop vocabulary for weather, seasons, numbers, calendar systems, and dates, recognizing differences in climate and calendar conventions across the world. The unit integrates weather expressions, number recognition and counting, month and day names, and birthday celebrations. Students understand how seasons differ in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and how different cultures mark time.
Essential Questions
- How do seasons and climate differ in different parts of the world?
- How does the calendar differ throughout the world?
- How do we describe the weather and seasons?
- How do you count and identify numbers in Spanish?
- How do you say your birth date?
- How do we write dates?
Learning Objectives
- Describe weather conditions using Spanish vocabulary
- Name the four seasons and associate with weather patterns
- Count and identify numbers in Spanish
- Name months and days of the week
- Express birthdates and important dates in Spanish
- Understand climate differences in Spanish-speaking countries
- Recognize cultural differences in calendar systems and holiday celebrations
Supplemental Resources
- Calendar templates for creation and labeling
- Poster board for seasonal weather displays
- Printed images of seasons and weather conditions
- Chart paper for number and date practice
Interpersonal Mode
Interpretive Mode
Presentational Mode
Students develop language conventions, reading comprehension, and writing skills through world language instruction. Students compose dialogues, write descriptions of classroom objects and family members, and create written responses to comprehension questions about Spanish texts.
Students practice counting, number identification, shape recognition, and size comparisons in Spanish. Students learn to identify numbers, describe shapes and colors, and perform counting activities in the target language.
Students explore cultural differences, family structures, and communities around the world. Students learn about Spanish-speaking countries, cultural traditions, seasonal and climate differences across regions, and develop understanding of diverse family structures and practices.
Students observe and describe weather patterns, seasons, and climate conditions in Spanish-speaking countries. Students learn about environmental characteristics and how climate affects daily life in different regions.
Formative Assessments
- Verbal description of weather and seasons
- Number identification and counting activities
- Dialogue practice about weather and dates
- Calendar creation and labeling activities
- Identification of seasonal vocabulary in authentic materials
Summative Assessment
Create a calendar with family birthdays and major holidays labeled. Create a poster showing the four seasons with weather descriptions for each. Read a paragraph about various holidays and birthdays, then answer comprehension questions.
Benchmark Assessment
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Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through pointing to pictures or manipulatives to identify weather and seasons, or through verbal responses to teacher questions rather than written responses. Visual supports such as labeled weather and season cards, number charts, and calendar visuals may be provided to scaffold learning.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students benefit from visual supports such as picture-symbol cards pairing Spanish weather and season vocabulary with images, as well as number charts with both numerals and Spanish words to support recognition and counting tasks. Oral or gesture-based responses (e.g., pointing to a season picture, repeating a number sequence) should be accepted as valid demonstrations of understanding in place of written output. For calendar and poster tasks, students may dictate labels or use pre-printed vocabulary strips to reduce handwriting demands while still engaging with the content. Directions for multi-step tasks such as calendar creation should be broken into small, numbered steps with visual models of the expected end product provided in advance.
Section 504
Students should be seated where they can clearly see displayed weather charts, calendar visuals, and seasonal materials during whole-group instruction. Extended time should be provided for calendar labeling and poster completion tasks, and a low-distraction setting may support engagement during verbal dialogue practice about dates and weather. Visual timers can help students manage transitions between the calendar, counting, and weather components of lessons.
ELL / MLL
Instruction should be heavily supported with realia, photographs, and visual weather and season cards that make Spanish vocabulary concrete and accessible, especially given that students are acquiring both English and Spanish simultaneously. Simplified, repetitive sentence frames for expressing weather conditions, dates, and birthdays (such as 'Hoy es… Hace…') give students a predictable linguistic scaffold for participation. When discussing climate differences across Spanish-speaking countries or hemisphere variations, connecting examples to students' own home countries or family experiences can deepen comprehension and personal relevance. Home language support should be welcomed when students need to clarify meaning or demonstrate understanding.
At Risk (RTI)
Students who need additional entry points should begin with a focused set of high-frequency weather words and numbers before expanding to months, days, and seasonal vocabulary, allowing them to build confidence through repeated, successful use of core terms. Connecting calendar concepts to personally meaningful events — such as a student's own birthday month — provides motivating and familiar anchors for new vocabulary. Hands-on activities such as matching weather picture cards to seasons or placing number cards in sequence offer low-barrier ways to demonstrate knowledge without relying on written language. Frequent check-ins and positive reinforcement during counting and verbal weather description practice help sustain engagement and build momentum.
Gifted & Talented
Students who have quickly internalized core weather, season, and number vocabulary can be challenged to compare how climate and seasons are experienced differently across multiple Spanish-speaking countries in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, using that knowledge to explain why the same month might mean different things in different places. Extending into authentic Spanish-language materials — such as simple weather forecasts or holiday descriptions from different cultural contexts — encourages deeper engagement with real-world language use. Students can also explore how different Spanish-speaking cultures mark time through unique holidays or calendar traditions, moving beyond vocabulary recall toward cultural analysis and comparison. Encouraging them to explain these differences to peers in Spanish supports both language production and higher-order thinking.