The weather can be used as a plot device to set the mood of a location. In Gothic literature, for example, dark and stormy weather is often used to create suspense.
In literature, the weather plays a variety of roles. There are many examples where extreme weather is a story’s central conflict. Harsh winters, blazing hot summers, and heavy storms open up opportunities to explore different kinds of problems characters may encounter in a story.
One of the best examples in children’s literature that uses weather as the central conflict is the extremely popular book, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. This book is a great choice for storytime if you want to introduce kindergarten or first graders to how an entire story can be centered around weather.
Of course, the weather does not always have to be extreme to be used in a story. Weather also affects the everyday lives of people – in this case, the characters of a story. The weather can dictate what kind of activities the characters are involved in, what type of food they eat, and the clothes they wear.
It can just be an ordinary sunny day or rainy evening; what’s important is that it’s present. If a story lacks the mention of the weather, it makes it difficult for the reader to imagine the scene.
3 Weather Themed Writing Prompts for Elementary School Students That Improve Descriptive Writing
Writing prompts should be interesting enough to inspire students and stimulate new ideas. With that being said, instead of giving simple weather-related prompts like “describe your favorite season,” try to provide your students with questions and scenarios that will challenge their imagination and allow them to be as creative as possible.
Recognizing your students’ natural ability to describe things is the first step toward becoming effective descriptive writers. For these prompts we suggest having students expand their vocabulary and find words that can replace simple adjectives in their writing, you can do this by having students create a word bank before writing their prompts.
Creating a Word Bank of Descriptive Words
To create a word bank, have your students do a word association exercise. Use an ordinary rainy day as an example then have them make a list of words that come to mind. Ask them what colors, activities, and emotions they associate with a rainy day.
Now switch things up and replace an ordinary rain shower with a winter storm or a sunny day. Ask your students to make a similar list of word associations and have them compare the two lists. This allows them to see that a difference in the weather can drastically change the perspective of the scene. The word lists they have created can now be used to describe the weather with more detail.
After your students have created their word bank, have them practice and apply their word list in their writing. Using writing prompts allows young writers to get their creative juices flowing and can potentially lead to the creation of an awesome class book.
Writing Prompt #1
Describe your favorite type of weather, is it snowy and cold, sunny and warm, or cloudy and rainy? How would you feel if this type of weather happened every day?
PROJECT IDEA
This writing prompt is an opportunity for vocabulary expansion and a great introduction to descriptive writing. Have students edit their work and add more descriptive terms as they revise. You can then put their work into a classbook and discuss the similarities and differences between the students’ favorite choices and how they describe those choices after the book is published.
Writing Prompt #2
Describe a day where there is no weather. How does it feel? What does the sky look like? Is it bright or dark outside? What kind of clothes would people wear on a day like this?
PROJECT IDEA
Have students choose a partner and compare their thoughts on what a day would be like without weather. Sharing their writing with a partner allows students to see this situation from a different angle and revisit what they wrote with fresh ideas in mind. Students can then revise their work based on what they discussed with their partner and contribute to the classbook.
Writing Prompt #3
What would happen if the sun was a different color? What would the sky and the surroundings look like? Would the temperature change? What would certain objects like trees and fire trucks look like with the change of color?
PROJECT IDEA
This prompt is perfect for honing your students’ descriptive writing skills. They will have to paint a picture with words so that their classmates can envision what they believe the world would look like if the sun was a different color. After their writing is completed, have them create an illustration depicting what they think the world would look like if the sun was a different color.
How Students Describe the Weather
Young students, even those who are just learning how to write, are pretty proficient at narrating stories and describing things, including the weather. We often hear them say that they think clouds look like certain animals or raindrops and thunder are playing a song on the rooftop.
Because of this natural ability, young students are good at describing the weather and applying it to creative writing, if they are given the proper tools. Young writers are able to come up with creative and straightforward weather descriptions by using grade-appropriate vocabulary words. Many students can describe what they see, hear, and feel and allow their imagination to put a creative spin in their writing without going overboard with descriptive words.
We rarely, consciously think of weather since it is ever-present and can seem difficult to describe and write about precisely for its mundanity. When people bring up the topic of weather, there’s usually not much to elaborate on but in truth, weather affects everything; our mood, our health, and our daily activities, and it can be an interesting subject matter for creative writing.
Writing Prompts and Resources for the Authors of Tomorrow
As with any skill, practice makes perfect, and writing prompts serve as fun exercises to hone and develop the skills of your young writers.
Studentreasures provides free writing prompts for elementary students and other resources to help you teach the authors of tomorrow. We have a comprehensive selection of exercises for any grade level.
The Power of Publishing
For over 20 years, Studentreasures Publishing has been providing teachers and schools with free, hands-on writing resources, activities, and free book publishing kits. We have been able to motivate and inspire millions of students to turn their ideas into published works that they will cherish for years to come.
We believe that publishing serves as a well-deserved reward to students for giving their best effort in creating their compositions. Through publishing, children feel confident about their work and develop a love for writing as a creative outlet.