Earth Day!

Not all teachers celebrate Earth Day which really is a shame. After spending Earth Day with Haley Alvarado's kindergarten and watching how excited the children were, I was asking why we couldn't incorporate Earth Day into our curriculum every year, so that every child had an opportunity to learn how to protect our Earth!

Haley's kiddos came dressed in recyclable materials. They were so excited to show off their designs! Their creativity was staggering! From recycling fairies to superheroes, the children certainly got the message. They started the morning with a book about recycling that would be just part of a larger collection of books on the topic that would be read during the day. Then it was outside for a
recycling relay. Haley dumped a large pile of "clean" trash (is there any such thing?) and the children formed two teams. The first person in each line found something in the pile that was recyclable, ran to put it in the recycling bin after explaining to an adult what it was made of and then back to the next person in line. The kids learned so much including looking for the recycling sign!

Back inside, the children wrote letters to Mother Earth. There assignment was to let Mother Earth know what they were going to do to make a difference. Some of the children took this very seriously and came in this morning telling us what they were going to be doing at home to help the Earth... and isn't that what this is all about? Jack's letter is a great example of what the children wrote.

April 22, 2010

Dear Earth,

I am going to be a

planet protector. I will

recycle and reuse things

and stop cutting trees.

I will plant more trees

and flowers and won't

throw stuff away

when it will be in

there for 800 years.

From,

Jack

In the afternoon the children painted their balloon-shaped Earths as they chatted about all the ways they were going to protect their precious Earth. Their conversation was amazing. They were even mad that other people who didn'tunderstand and weren't doing more. They pledged to become planet protectors. It was obvious that they understood what the day was all about and what their teacher was so passionately trying to teach them! A seed was planted today. May it be watered and fertilized for many years to come.