The Wumps lived happily on their small world until the Pollutians claimed it for their own. They build skyscrapers, factories, and highways, sending the Wumps into hiding. Will their world ever be the same?
While it's important to teach elementary students the importance of protecting the Earth, pollution and other environmental issues can be very frightening to them. By setting the story on a fictitious planet not unlike our own, Peet makes the story accessible and less threatening for even students in preschool and kindergarten. A hopeful, yet realistic, ending is important, as it should leave students wanting to help protect the Earth without feeling a sense of hopelessness. However, teachers should take care to make sure that students (especially those in the upper elementary grades) understand that environmental problems do not simply go away over time. This book can be used to set the stage for a unit or project on environmental issues.
Most of us take water for granted – after all, it's always waiting for us with the turn of a faucet. Or is it? Children around the world tell us about their lives and give us a dramatically different view of water's abundance and value.
Water isn't a topic that we often include in environmental or Earth Day units, especially in the elementary grades. However, it is an extremely important issue and will become more so in the future. Climate change is already causing mountain glaciers to melt, threatening the freshwater supply of millions of people. Desertification, or the process of land deterioration, is a related problem. Teachers could use the vignettes in this book to introduce upper elementary students (grades 3 and up) to the concept of water conservation. Students could track their families’ use of water over a day or week-long period and then develop a plan to reduce water consumption. In addition, the book provides a wealth of up-to-date cultural information about children around the world, making it a wonderful bridge between social studies, science, and literacy.
How are trout (and bears and people) made of trees? This book leads students through a stream's food web to demonstrate the connections between all living things.
This book is one of the most engaging ways to teach food webs that I've ever seen. Instead of presenting an academic definition and examples, it begins with the engaging statement "Trout are made of trees," which should immediately spark student questions! The collage-style illustrations and simple, short text make this book appropriate for students in the primary grades (K-2), although older students might enjoy it as well. This book would be a wonderful prelude to a field trip to a stream to observe the plants and animals depicted and discussed. Teachers can maximize student understanding by pausing after each two-page spread to discuss and clarify. Urban students may have more difficulty with this text, as it assumes some knowledge of a stream environment. In this case, a field trip to a similar environment or even video clips would be helpful to build the requisite prior knowledge for comprehension. Ultimately, helping students realize that all living creatures are connected in food webs will help encourage environmentally-responsible behavior.
Agatha loves to tell children about where the silk, wool, and linen in her shop come from. After all, everything comes from something! But when six geese show up at her door after she purchases a new feather bed, she must take her own lesson to heart.
This fun book combines many elements of excellent children's literature: an imaginative and entertaining subject, plays on words, repetition, and rich illustrations. Students in grades K-4 will enjoy the story but also learn about the sources of many everyday items, thanks to the text as well as the illustrations. Teachers can extend the lesson by asking students to identify the materials used to create other everyday objects found in the classroom or at home. It is an entertaining way to introduce the concepts of renewable and nonrenewable natural resources as well as the 3Rs – reduce, reuse, and recycle.
How can you make compost – a dark and crumbly, rich and sweet treat for Mother Earth? Learn how in this colorful rhyming alphabet book!
Composting is another underrepresented topic in the standard Earth Day activities, yet it is a great example of an easy way to recycle and reuse. Any class involved in a gardening or plant project would benefit from reading this book, but its value doesn't end there. Rather, this book would be useful throughout the elementary grades for a variety of other reasons. Primary students, especially kindergarteners and first graders, will benefit from the rhyming text and use of the alphabet book format – two research-based ways to develop students' phonemic awareness. Older students can focus on the underlying science concept of decomposers and their role in food webs. Students of all ages will enjoy the colorful collages that illustrate the book in the style of Ezra Jack Keats's Jennie's Hat. Teachers might even choose to have students create their own environmental-inspired alphabet book complete with collage illustrations – another form of recycling in and of itself.
Posts
I like the review of Compost Stew--and all the other books too, but think you should acknowledge the illustrators as well as the authors when listing the books.
ReplyDelete