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Teacher printout: English & Spanish

This set of articles about clouds and rain offers articles at different levels to help you differentiate for your students. These readings are free with registration on ReadWorks.

On Epic (an online digital library that offers free membership for teachers), you can find nonfiction illustrated books on rain and floods -- along with fun-to-read fiction, like Daisy Takes a Swim, in which Daisy the cow rescues Farmer Jim from his flooded farm.

These three activities from National Geographic will give your students more experience with reading and understanding maps.

• Exploring Maps and Models of Earth introduces students to the concept of a map as a model and suggests ways to explore using maps and satellite imagery.
• Mapping Storybooks build both map-reading and ELA skills. Using one of three stories, students follow the movements of the story’s characters on a map, then retell the story in their own words, using the map.
• Reading a Resource Map lets your class explore the natural resources of all fifty states.

Can you tell when a flood is coming?

Start this video of a West Virginia creek at the beginning. Ask your students what they notice as they watch. Can they spot the signs that a flash flood is on the way? A dramatic example of how quickly a gentle stream can become a raging river.