I love talking about the weather. It is the single most easy way to initiate a conversation with a stranger or acquaintance if you need to break the silence. Great for elevator rides, spontaneous waiting time and warm repartee.
This particular discussion lesson goes from general to scientific to silly. The objective is to elicit the vocabulary around a familiar topic and add a level of complexity with either the science behind weather or weather-related expressions. I just couldn’t choose, so I put both.
Pre discussion
- What are the different types of weather or climate you can name?
- What affects the weather?
- Do you use the weather forecast to plan activities?
- What activities do you do in spring, summer, fall and winter?
- What are the seasons like in your country?
Option 1: The Video: The Science of Weather
- Divide the video into 2 or 3 segments and do a Tell Back of the main themes and words
- How do meteorologists sort through information, identify trends, and make predictions?
- Why do they often get it wrong?
- Why is it important to predict the weather?
Option 2: Weather idioms
For this, I made a handout and some flashcards. They are on Teachers Pay Teachers TPT. Click to go see.

