Welcome, everyone, to a bright and cheerful lesson! Today, we are going to sing about something we talk about every single day. We are going to explore a "weather song". Singing about the sun, rain, and wind is a wonderful way to learn new words and talk about our world. Let's warm up our voices and discover the language of the skies together.
What is the rhyme? A "weather song" is a children's song designed to teach common weather vocabulary and concepts. There are many popular versions, such as "How's the Weather?" or "The Sun Comes Up!". These songs are usually simple, repetitive, and full of actions. They often follow a question-and-answer format. For example, the song asks, "How's the weather?" and children look outside or at a picture and sing the answer: "It's sunny!" The melody is catchy and the structure is predictable, making it easy and fun for young learners to join in and build confidence.
The lyrics of nursery rhymes Let's look at the lyrics for a common and simple weather song. The pattern is easy to remember.
How's the weather? How's the weather? How's the weather today? Is it sunny? Is it rainy? Is it cloudy? Is it snowy? How's the weather today?
Then, after asking the question, we sing the answer based on observation: Look outside! It's sunny today! Sunny, sunny, sunny today!
Other verses replace "sunny" with "rainy," "cloudy," "windy," or "snowy." Some songs add fun sound effects, like "pitter-patter" for rain or "whoosh" for wind.
Vocabulary learning This song is a perfect way to learn core weather vocabulary. The main nouns and adjectives are clear and useful.
The key question phrase is "How's the weather?". We learn the word weather itself.
We learn the main descriptive adjectives: sunny, rainy, cloudy, snowy, windy. These describe the conditions.
We also learn associated nouns: sun, rain, cloud, snow, wind. The song often pairs the adjective and noun ("It's rainy" / "I see rain").
Additional useful verbs and phrases include: look outside, today. The repetitive nature makes these words stick.
Phonics points The song offers great practice for vowel sounds and clear articulation.
The /aʊ/ diphthong in "How's" and "cloudy" is a common sound to master.
The /s/ sound is prominent in "sunny," "snowy," and "today's."
Contrasting long and short vowels is natural here: the long /uː/ in "blue sky" vs. the short /ʌ/ in "sunny."
Words like "pitter-patter" (for rain) are excellent for teaching rhythm, repetition, and consonant sounds like /p/ and /t/. Enunciating each weather word clearly in the song helps with pronunciation.
Grammar patterns This simple song introduces important, everyday grammar structures.
It practices the contraction "How is" → "How's", which is very common in spoken English.
The core sentence structure is "It is..." or the contraction "It's..." for describing impersonal subjects like weather. "It's sunny." This is a fundamental English grammar rule.
It models the question and answer format. The song asks a "How" question, and provides a full sentence as an answer.
For more advanced verses, it can introduce the present continuous tense: "The wind is blowing." or "The rain is falling."
Learning activities We can extend the weather theme into fun, interactive learning.
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Daily Weather Reporter: Each day, a "weather reporter" looks out the window and uses the song to report the weather to the class. "Today, it is cloudy!" They can even point to a picture on a weather chart. This builds public speaking skills.
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Weather Charades: Write weather types on cards. A child acts out the weather (e.g., spinning for "windy," fingers wiggling down for "rainy"). Others guess by saying, "It's windy!" This connects vocabulary to physical movement.
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Dress for the Weather Game: Have a box of clothing items (sunglasses, raincoat, boots, scarf, hat). Hold up a weather card (e.g., "snowy"). Children choose what to wear and say, "For snowy weather, I wear a scarf and boots."
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Weather Art Collage: While singing about different types of weather, create a class collage. Use cotton balls for clouds, blue cellophane for rain, yellow paper for sun, and white glitter for snow. Label each section.
Printable materials Printable resources can reinforce the daily practice of weather vocabulary.
Create a "Weekly Weather Wheel". The wheel has a movable arrow and sections for sunny, rainy, cloudy, etc. Each day, a child turns the arrow to match the weather and says the sentence.
Design weather flashcards with a clear picture and the word. On the back, include a simple sentence: "SUNNY. The sun is bright. It is sunny today."
A "My Weather Journal" printable is excellent. For each day of the week, children can draw the weather and complete the sentence: "On Monday, it was ______."
Provide a lyrics sheet with matching pictures, where children can draw a line from the word "rainy" to a picture of an umbrella.
Educational games Structured games make weather vocabulary practice exciting.
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"Weather Match" Memory Game: Create pairs of cards: one with a weather word and one with a corresponding picture. Place them face down. Children flip two cards at a time, trying to find a match while saying the word aloud.
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"What's the Weather?" Board Game: Create a simple path game. Squares have instructions like, "It's sunny! Move ahead 2 spaces." or "Oh no! It's rainy! Lose a turn." This combines language with play.
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Musical Weather Mats: Place mats on the floor with different weather pictures. Play music. When the music stops, call out a weather type. "Find cloudy!" Everyone must find and stand on the correct mat. This practices listening and word recognition.
A good "weather song" does more than just teach words for sun and rain. It creates a daily routine for using English. It builds the habit of observation and description. Start each day by singing it and looking out the window. Soon, children will naturally use words like "sunny" or "windy" to describe their world. Keep singing, observing, and talking about the wonderful weather all around us