Great Books for Earth Day

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE Earth Day! As soon as the calendar turned April (hello April Fools' Day) I started thinking about Earth Day. When I was in the library the other day, I found another Earth Day gem (check out number 2 on the list below) so I've put it together with some of my other favorites to create this list for all things Earth Day.

1) The EARTH Book by Todd Parr

2) 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World by Melanie Walsh

3) The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

4) The Earth and I by Frank Asch

5) Why Should I Recycle by Jen Green

6) Why Should I Save Water by Jen Green

7) I Can Save the Earth! by Alison Inches

8) The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle by Alison Inches

9) The Three R's: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle by Nuria Roca

10) It's Earth Day! by Mercer Mayer

11) The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

12) Curious George Plants a Tree - H.A. Rey

13) Earth Day - Hooray! by Stuart J. Murphy

14) Don't Throw That Away! by Lara Bergen

15) We are Extremely Very Good Recyclers by Lauren Child (not pictured in the image above)

**All links via Amazon**

Putting Out Fires and Saving the Earth

I cannot believe it is almost Friday . . . and the weather hit the mid-20's today (~80 degrees F for any interested Americans)! It was so gorgeous, until the kids all came in sweating and complaining after recess. Oh well, I enjoyed the weather!

Anyway, I'm just stopping in today to talk about a few videos I found recently. The first is for the kindies (or anyone studying community). Another teacher mentioned that Youtube has quite a few episodes of Richard Scarry's Busytown, including some about firefighters. If you are studying community and have a few minutes to spare, you might want to show your kiddos The Busiest Firefighters Ever. I liked it, because it shows that firefighters help in other ways in addition to putting out fires.

This next video is kind of late (it would have been perfect for Earth Day), but I love reading this book year round, so the video could work at any time too. This original version of The Lorax is about 25 minutes long and has a look that is similar to the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

I found this was the perfect length to show the kids one day while they ate recess and lunch, so as not to use up class time.

Now I think I better go soak up some sun, before the weather turns back into the rainy drizzle I'm accustomed to!

TpT 3 Million Teachers Strong Sale 2.0

Well I'm back again, and frankly I'm surprised. I am so exhausted so I'm not sure how the rest of the week will play out!

Today I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' to once again, talk about the amazing upcoming sale at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Yesterday I blogged about some of my favourite units, and today I'm going to talk about some units that may be helpful in the upcoming months.

First up, St. Patrick's Day is less than a month away. What are your plans? For my school district, St. Patrick's day actually falls on Spring Break, so any celebration will, most likely, be a short one. If you're looking for something, you could try my St. Patrick's Day Pot o' Gold Unit:

or some word problems:

or maybe you just want to pick up a freebie:

You know as soon as St. Patrick's Day is over, Easter will be right around the corner. Here are a few Easter-themed units:

or maybe you just need some extra spring-themed math practice:

And finally, one of my favourite holidays to celebrate in the classroom - Earth Day!

Head on over to Blog Hoppin' to see what other stores are participating in this amazing sale!

Have a great (rest of the) week!

Earth Day Again & a Song . . . or 2

Well before Earth Day comes on Monday I wanted to share a few more things. Is it bad that I've been thinking of Earth Day things non-stop but didn't realize until today that Earth Day was Monday? I guess I was so busy that I didn't realize it was coming up so fast.

Are you looking for a cute song for Earth Day? I just heard about Jack Johnson's 3 R's Songs - an absolutely perfect fit for Earth Day. Jack Johnson has been one of my favorite artists for the past couple of years so I have no idea how I completely missed this song.

How about Lights Out Canada? If you live in Canada will you be participating by having an electricity-free day at school? It may be tough will all our computers and SMART Boards, but it's definitely do-able. If you live outside Canada, do you have any similar initiatives going on, I would love to hear about them.

Finally, another Canadian-wide thing. Have you heard of Music Monday? If you haven't you should check it out {HERE}.  On Monday, May 6th, schools across Canada will participate in singing "ISS - Is Somebody Singing" with Commander Hadfield at the International Space Station - so cool! If you haven't heard of this, check out the video below of  Commander Hadfield recording with the Barenaked Ladies. Students love the magic guitar pick and spinning guitar!

Have great plans for Monday, leave a comment, I would love to hear them!

Go Green . . . in the Classroom

**Image clipart provided by KPM Doodles & Clip Art by Carrie Teaching First**

Earth Day has been on my mind now that's it's April, but really Earth Day is on my mind all year long. I think it is so important to keep a "green" attitude throughout the year, not only at home, but in the classroom too. "Green" behaviours are necessary (I feel) to teach to our future generations.

So, some tips (even though I am NO expert):

1. Recycle - Hopefully all classes and schools encourage this. It is great to move beyond just the recycling of paper and show students that there are more things (plastics, cans, etc.) that can & should be recycled.


2. Reuse - As much as you can in the classroom (I know many teachers are thrifty by nature anyways) reuse stuff. There are a ton of different art projects that can be made by reusing everyday household items.

How cute are these recycled garden pictures from Laugh, Create, Paint!?

3. Reduce - Use less in the classroom. This could mean so many things - use less paper, use electricity, etc. However you can do it in the classroom - use less!

4. Turn it Off - Whenever you can, turn off electricity. This is great for classrooms with lots of classroom windows as you may not need to have all the lights on all the time.

5. Compost - Of course this depends on the facilities available to each class/school but if possible, encouraging composting in the classroom and teaching students what can be composted sets a great example.

What are some of your tips, I would love to hear them!

Earth Day & a Freebie

Well it's been awhile and I cannot believe it is already APRIL. This month sure snuck up on me . . . as did March, and February too. This year sure seems to be zooming by! I thought I would stop in today to show what I spent ALL DAY on today. Mind you, I've been working on updating this unit for awhile but today I finally sat down and finished it.

One of my favourite days in April (well really of all year) is Earth Day. I think it's really important to encourage conservation in the classroom throughout the year, but I'm glad we have a day to really focus on it. I updated the Earth Day unit that I created last year and I think I'm pretty happy with it!

The first part of the unit uses activities and printables for three of my favorite Earth Day books. I've also included independent printables and activities that don't require any additional books or resources. Click on any of the pictures or {HERE} to check it out. I hope to be back soon with some Earth Day ideas.


I also spent today updating an old freebie, my Telling Time Unit so I thought it would be appropriate to link up with Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies. 

Click {HERE} or the picture to access the freebie. Hope you enjoy!

Hope everyone has a good week!