Earth Day is officially
tomorrow, April 22nd, and we’ve been celebrating all week. J
Read alouds, experiments, craftivities…!
Here’s what we’ve been up to!
Here’s what we’ve been up to!
(free ideas, favorite books and resources)
Favorite Freebies
This is one of my all-time favorite
activities to do! It’s fun, pretty simple, and the kids LOVE it!
Take pictures of students
pretending to hold up the world (they always love picking a pose!). Then I
print them at school, you could of course get them developed instead for more
color.
To create the world, grab some
coffee filters from the Dollar Store. Have students use blue and green washable
markers to color in their world. Then use a spray bottle (Dollar Store) and
dampen each coffee filter. The colors will blead and blend. Let them dry while
students write about how they’re going to make the world a better place. I use
the free paper provided by Mrs. Thompson’s Treasures, and you can grab that here.
Combine them all onto a piece of construction paper and voila! You’re done!
This idea was first posted by
Proud to Primary. You can check out her amazing blog post here.
Earth Day Science Experiment - Can You Undo Water Pollution?
This fantastic
hands-on experiment (best done outside) teaches kids how difficult it is to
clean polluted water.
Start with clean
buckets of fresh water. Have students take turns adding in trash (we do this in
the afternoon after snack so there’s plenty to pick from). Add in some
vegetable oil to represent toxic oil spills. Have a number of “clean up tools”
available as well. Forks, tongs, etc.
Outside I set up 5
stations so each student has a chance to add garbage and a chance to clean up.
Read more about this experiment from Cindy at Along the Way here.
Are you a big fan of treats? I am! These adorable Earth Day dirt cups
are the perfect way to end a fun day of learning! We had parent volunteers make
and bring these in. The kids loved them. Check out Mothering with Creativity's
recipe here.
Favorite Books
No great unit is complete with read alouds!
The Lorax and the Giving Tree
are traditional go-to books this time of year, but by the time my kiddos get to
4th grade they know the books backwards and forwards. These are some
other great finds that I love to read. (Click the title to go to a YouTube read aloud.)
3. Miss Rumphius 4. Mama Miti
I couldn't find a read aloud video of Mama Miti but check your school or local libraries, it's a wonderful read with beautiful illustrations. I got my copy from B&N with the teacher discount.
Favorite Activities
After using the mentor
texts above I give students a non-fiction reading passage on Earth Day. In
pairs they'll create these hands-on Earth Day Flap Books to show off their
learning. We hang them in the hallway and invite younger grades up to share
what we've learned. You can grab it here.
Lastly, students choose which Earth Day project they want to decorate our room with - Earth Day Cubes or Earth Day Writing Craftivities! You can find the cubes here and the globe writing here.
Happy teaching!
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