Exploring Climate Change
by Elizabeth Kannangara, Craig Stewart, and Sophie Olberg
A Text Anthology for Junior Learners
The following reading list is curated to tackle a tough issue: climate change. Jerome C. Harste says, in The Art of Learning to be Critically Literate (2014) that children need to be given the opportunity to explore making meaning using a variety of sign systems to promote multiple literacies. In other words, when students are afforded the chance to explore a topic using the dynamic tools of the Arts in tandem with the Language arts curriculum, they have a deeper, more connected, understanding of the text. Included with the anthology are some resources rich in links to the visual arts, dance, music, drama, and SCIENCE strands of the Ontario elementary curriculum intended for grades 3-5. We hope you will find these helpful in discussing our changing environment with your young learners!
Title: Judy Moody Saves the World by Megan McDonald illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
Judy Moody sets out to protect the environment, and hilarity ensues as she strives to change her family’s lifestyle choices. Judy Moody finds more success in organizing a fundraiser to support the Children’s Rain Forest in Costa Rica, and along the way she inspires her grade 3 class.
Title: The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk by Jan Thornhill
Planting the Trees of Kenya by Claire A. Nivola
Title: Polar Heart (poem) by Simon Barraclough
thumbnail: McCarthy, Doris' Iceberg Fantasy #40 (1989)
Classroom Resources
Title: Judy Moody Saves the World
Author: Megan McDonald
Illustrator: Peter H. Reynolds
Genre: Elementary environmental awareness (Grades 2-5)
Keywords: Rain-forest destruction, Climate change, lifestyle choices, conservation
Summary: Judy Moody sets out to protect the environment, and hilarity ensues as she strives to change her family’s lifestyle choices. Judy Moody finds more success in organizing a fundraiser to support the Children’s Rain Forest in Costa Rica, and along the way she inspires her grade 3 class.
Why it is appropriate for the junior learner: A great read-aloud choice. Leadership is demonstrated as Judy Moody succeeds in motivating her class. Environmental awareness (i.e. Climate Change) is a particularly relevant topic in the news, and students of this age-range are starting to take own initiatives to make a difference.
Classroom Suggestions:
1) The text could be used to initiate the creation of a school Climate-Change project, such as establishing a recycling or composting program in the school or organizing fundraisers to support conservation initiatives.
2) The theme of ‘Leadership’ could be used to motivate and engage students in their own leadership roles within the classroom, such as promoting paperless lunches or discussions on environmental citizenship.
Arts Curriculum:
Dance –Watch this 8-minute performance from a Climate Change Conference (2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVlmV9byPJQ (starting at minute 3 to minute 11). How might the dance relate to environmental awareness? What do the people in grey outfits represent? What story is being told? Create a possible storyline for the dance performance in a team of 4 people, then present that storyline to the class. Reflect on how the storylines might be similar, and how different cultural contexts influence the underlying message of the dance.
Music -There are many Canadian musicians that have demonstrated their support for green energy. Some examples include The Sheepdogs, Tara MacLean, Anne Murray, Billy Talent, Blue Rodeo, Dave Carroll, Dave Gunning, k-os and The Tragically Hip. Listen to their music (ex. YouTube) and find a song that might relate to their passion for saving energy in their homes, tours, concerts or companies. Create a summary of your findings and share it with a partner in the class. Reflect on how you might use some of their environmental practices to reduce carbon emission footprints in other cultural contexts.
Visual Arts –Teach children how to make crafts with household throwaways. Includes craft projects that relate to the Judy Moody novel. Have students present their final products to the class and reflect on how these art creations could be used in other cultural contexts. Recommended resource to support crafting: All New Crafts for Earth Day, by Kathy Ross.
Drama –Wolfville Farmer’s Market recently launched the towns largest solar installation (https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/wolfville-farmers-market-launches-towns-largest-solar-installation-694358391.html). Pretend you are Judy Moody, and you want to pitch a similar solar installation idea to your class. Act out the possible scenario, expressing the pros/cons of the initiative, and express how it could positively impact not only the environment but the culture of the town. This activity relates to the creation and presentation skills through drama and requires a component of reflecting on the overall content, as it pertains to cultural contexts.
Language Arts Curriculum:
Oral – Create a speech to share with Justin Trudeau, explaining why all schools should by required to have a composting system. Be persuasive in your explanations and reflect on how your school has played to your strengths and what areas of improvement you are working on.
Writing - Create a mind-map of words the can be used to describe your favourite character from the novel, then share with a partner and have them create an introductory passage about this person. Revise the final copies as a team and prepare the formal introductions to be shared in a newspaper article in a section called ‘Interesting People’.
Reading – Read, Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun, 22 Super-charged Science Projects for Kids, by Michael J. Caduto. Suggest possibly activities and experiments from this book, that Judy Moody could utilize in her class to help understand global warming. Discuss with the class possible areas of improvement in the classroom energy-saving processes and reflect on where your strengths are.
Media Literacy -In the novel Judy Moody likes to motivate classmates through new projects. Write a blog post pretending to be Judy Moody, where you are promoting your new ideas. Demonstrate how to summarize these initiatives by condensing the message to a 140-character Tweet to be released via Twitter. Have a friend read the blog post and tweets – and revise and edit before releasing it to the public online.
Cross-Curricular Links:
Physical Education & Health Curriculum –go outside for a nature walk to explore the surroundings and pick-up any garbage along the way (exercise and increasing awareness and appreciation of the environment).
Science Curriculum –Debate how your class could create a smaller power footprint by using solar and wind power. What young activists in the media might help to guide these science initiatives? What does Canada do differently to other countries, when it comes to environmental conservation efforts?
Title: The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk
Author and Illustrator: Jan Thornhill
Genre: Elementary environmental awareness (Grades 3 to 5)
Keywords: Great Auk, conservation, climate change, Atlantic Ocean, extinction
Summary
The book tells the story of the Great Auk bird, its extinction, and its impact on conservation after extinction. The book details the bird’s history and how humans including Vikings, Inuit, Beothuk, and European settlers, hunted them for food, their skin and eggs which lead to their extinction. This event also leads to the birth of the conservation movement in 1869 which has saved countless species from extinction.
Why it is appropriate for the junior learner:
The story explains the process of species extinction and contributing factors. The book also indirectly discusses environmental awareness and the human impact on ecosystems and biodiversity.
Classroom suggestions:
1) Language Arts Activity: Students will use what they have learned from the book to examine other species that are currently endangered or extinct. They will research and read other texts (e.g., novels, poems, picture books, etc.) on biodiversity. They will demonstrate their knowledge by composing a fictional story on a species they create, its habitat, and what leads to its extinction. This activity will expand student’s vocabularies as they engage in non-fiction literature, but also allows the students to express their creativity in developing their own story.
2) Arts Activity: Using ideas from the text, students will demonstrate their understanding of the story by designing and creating a set of four pictures that summarize the lifespan of the Great Auk. They may use a variety of materials (e.g., construction paper, markers, coloured pencils and markers, etc.) to identify the issues and the themes from the story.
Curriculum Connections:
1) For the reading strand, this activity will address all four overall expectations. Students will demonstrate an understanding of a variety of texts, recognize a variety of text forms, use knowledge of words, including new vocabulary, to read fluently, and reflect on their readings. For the writing strand, students will address all four overall expectations by gathering and organizing ideas, drafting their writing, editing and reflecting on their writing, and by developing their communication skills. This activity may also address the media literacy overall expectation one and two depending on the type of text the students select.
2) This activity will address all overall expectations of the Visual Arts strand. Students will create and present their own work in response to the reading and explore forms and cultural contexts. They will have the opportunity to express themselves by using different text, colour, shape/form to illustrate their interpretation of the Great Auk’s life.
Cross-curricular Links:
Science Activity – This text provides an opportunity for students to learn about other species and biodiversity. What modern-day species are related to the Great Auk? Why have these species survived? Students can also compare the Great Auk’s extinction to that of other species. What were the main causes? What role did humans play? What could humans have done differently?
Title: Planting the Trees of Kenya – the Story of Wangari Maathai
Author and Illustrator: Claire A. Nivola
Genre: Elementary environmental awareness (Grades 3 to 5)
Keywords: Fig trees, sacred, conservation, Kenya, erosion,
Summary
The book tells the story of Wangari Maathai’s struggle to reforest Kenya. We are introduced to Wangari as a child, fascinated by the beauty of her natural surroundings, and follow her through a period of disillusionment to her present-day environmental victory.
Why it is appropriate for the junior learner:
The story explains the impact that commercial farming can have on the environment and the power that a single person can have to affect meaningful change on the planet. The book is beautifully illustrated and talks about social justice, a strong focus at this age.
Classroom suggestions:
1) Language Arts Activity: Students will reflect on the spirit of a grassroots organization from the text and identify opportunities for betterment in their own school or home communities. As a class, research organizations that are involved in the aforementioned areas of importance and write individual letters to aid organizations in the hopes of pursuing a possible joint project.
2) Arts Activity: Students will identify three moments that are representative of the story and represent them as a triptych (A set of three associated artistic, literary, or musical works intended to be appreciated together).
Curriculum Connections:
1) For the writing strand, this activity will address all four overall expectations. Students will write for an intended purpose/audience, draft and revise their letter before sending it off, edit and proofread their work, and reflect on and identify their strengths as writers. For the reading strand, this activity will also cover all four overall expectations. Students will demonstrate that they have read and understood the text, recognized a variety of text forms (book and letter), read fluently, and reflected on their areas of improvement.
2) This activity will address all overall expectations of the Visual Arts strand. Students will create and present their own work in response to the reading and explore forms and cultural contexts. They will have the opportunity to express themselves by using different text, colour, shape/form to illustrate their interpretation of Wangari Maathai’s work.
Cross-curricular Links:
Science and Math Activity – Maathai’s life’s work has been to counter the detrimental effects that humans have had on the Earth. Go to http://www.footprintcalculator.org/ and calculate your own personal footprint. Once you have your results, don’t despair! Brainstorm 3 ways you can better your score and be ready to share them with the class.
Title: Polar Heart (poem)
Author: Simon Barraclough
thumbnail: McCarthy, Doris' Iceberg Fantasy #40 (1989)
Genre: Elementary environmental awareness (Grades 2-5)
Keywords: global warming, melting icebergs, Climate change, solstice
Summary: This poem imagines ice sheets breaking off, demonstrating that north and south pole environments are struggling from climate change, most likely linking to the condition of global warming.
Why it is appropriate for the junior learner: A short, yet impactful poem about melting ice caps. The voice of the poem can be through many different perspectives, including a polar bear. Global warming is a particularly relevant topic in the news, and students of this age-range often demonstrate empathy for animal life, so the melting of an ice caps (loss of a polar bear’s home), can help stir thoughtful discussions.
Classroom Suggestions:
1) This poem can help to develop empathy amongst students as they start to see how climate change can lead to the deterioration of one’s home and quality of life.
2) The theme of ‘Leadership’ could be used to motivate and engage students in their own leadership roles within the classroom, such as promoting practices that decrease global-warming.
Arts Curriculum:
Dance –In the poem the author refers to “pas de deux”. How does this relate to dance? Create a “pas de deux”, and in that dance Reflect on how the poem makes you feel. Are your emotions impacted by cultural contexts? (For example, ice caps are melting in the Arctic – is there a specific type of music that might be listened to in that culture that could be paired with your dance?).
Music - Watch this 6-minute video by Bill Nye, called “What If All The Ice Melted on Earth?”. Based on the answers provided in the video, create a song that demonstrates how the key changes would impact the polar bears living on the ice caps. Create a possible storyline around how the polar bears are impacted and Reflect on how the storyline is impacted by cultural contexts (for example, the video mentions various countries impacted by climate change – select one of those countries and have the cultural influence the song you create).
Visual Arts –visit the Museum of Nature and research how polar bears and other animals are impacted by climate change. Share your findings by creating a piece of artwork that will be presented in class. Reflect on the messages shared in everyone’s art and discuss how cultural contexts might have influenced how that art was created.
Drama –Have students watch “Climate Change – The Polar Bear’s Story”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zI4MG9qrHc Pretend you are the polar bear and act out a scene if your arctic space were not destroyed by climate change. Express the benefits towards the Arctic if your home were not impacted by increasing temperatures. This activity relates to the creation and presentation skills through drama and requires a component of reflecting on the overall content, as it pertains to cultural contexts.
Language Arts Curriculum:
Oral – Create your own Haiku poem about global-warming (Haiku poems are typically about nature and are of Japanese origin). Share your poem with a partner and reflect on possible strengths in the poem, and what might be areas of improvement. Revise the poem and then share the final copy of your poem by reading out loud to the class or present it to a small group or share with one individual.
Writing - Create a 1-page letter you would like to write to the author of the Polar Heart poem, then share with a partner and have them edit the letter for grammar, spelling and sentence structure. Make sure your letter has the formal requirements of a letter, such as salutation, date, etc. Also, be sure to ask some thoughtful questions to the author about the poem’s content and meaning. Revise the final copies as a team and if you are interested in formally sending the letter to the poem’s author let the teacher know.
Reading –Read, this online interview with the poem’s author (Simon Barraclough): http://polyolbion.blogspot.com/2011/12/interview-with-simon-barraclough.html
In the interview, Simon mentions that he wrote a poem called ‘Sol’, which was written from the point of view of the Sun. Suggest how a writer might take on the perspective of something like the sun – as the sun has no formal voice. Discuss with the class possible ways that the sun might have a perspective. Re-read the Polar Heart poem – from which perspective is the poem?
Media Literacy -In the poem, there is one line that states “We know, we’ve tried.” Create a video to be shared on YouTube, stating that “We know, you’ve tried to save the environment…but have you tried these 3 solutions?”. You will create and share the 3 solutions in your video to help to combat climate change. Demonstrate how to summarize these initiatives by condensing the message to ensure that your audience watches the entire video and try to offer solutions that are unique. Have a classmate review the video and give feedback – then revise and edit before releasing it to the class YouTube channel, online.
Science Curriculum –On your visit to the Nature Museum gather a list of other animals and geography impacted by climate change. Share your findings with the class. Discuss what science projects could be developed to help improve conservation efforts.
References
Harste (2014). The art of learning to be critically literate. Language Arts, 92, 90-102.
McCarthy, Doris' Iceberg Fantasy #40 (1989)
Nivola, Claire A. (2008). Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai. New York, NY: Frances Foster Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Ontario Ministry of Education (2006). Language Curriculum, K-8.
Ontario Ministry of Education (2009) The Arts Curriculum, K-8.
Ontario Ministry of Education (2010). Integrated Learning in the Classroom. Capacity Building Series.
Ontario Ministry of Education (2006). Foundations of Literacy Instruction for the Junior Learner,
Volume One.
Pastro, H. (2005). The elements of art. In K. Grauer & R. Irwin (Eds.) Starting with ... (2nd Ed.), (pp.51-60). Toronto, ON: CSEA.
Thornhill, Jan. (2016). The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk. Toronto, Ontario: Groundwood Books, House of Anansi Press.