Teacher's Toolkit: Earth Day Resources for Your Classroom
I always love to see Earth Day pop up on my calendar. Why? Well - it means spring has arrived...which of course means summer is right around the corner. We can alllll get on board with that!
And while the flowers begin to bloom and the weather gets warmer, it's the perfect time to raise awareness on earth's conservation with your students.
I know April is also a big testing month for many grades and it's often tricky to plan for any of the "extras," so I thought I'd share with your 3 resources to make your Earth Day planning easy!
Let’s take a look at some of these resources for Earth Day.
FIGHTING FOR OUR EARTH (ARTICLE)
Often kids don't really know the significance behind Earth Day, so I've always found it helpful to give them some background about how Earth Day was started and how kids can be a part of it!
You can grab this easy-read article below:
In the article students will learn about when and why Earth Day celebrations began in the United States. It also introduces the concept of conservation and how kids can be a part of protecting the Earth. It's the perfect way to launch any mini unit on Earth Day.
EARTH DAY BOOKS FOR READ-ALOUDS
Here are some great read-aloud books to keep on hand during the month of April as you celebrate Earth Day. Click on each book for more details (affiliate links)
Writing About Earth Day
Finally - if you're looking for a ready-to-go mini unit for your writing block this month, try out this Earth Day persuasive writing piece with your students. Students will read four different books (mentioned above) that present concepts of earth's conservation in both fiction and nonfiction texts.
I use these 4 books to help students understand the importance of conserving earth's resources. Then, students use the information provided in each text to form a persuasive writing piece on why it's important to take care of the earth.
The mini-unit comes with lesson plans for the teacher and graphic organizers and writing templates for the students. Check out this writing mini-unit HERE.