Free curriculum materials

[Sarah Shealy]

Hi all,

 

I am a children's book publicist (and a mom) and I work with several authors who write environmental books for children. I also work with a classrrom teacher with her PhD in curriculum and instruction to create curriculum guides for these books that live as free downloadables on the authors' websites. Here are links for a guide for Anne Rockwell's book What's So Bad About Gasoline? Fossil Fuels and What They Do (http://www.annerockwell.com/teachers) and Chavela and the Magic Bubble by Monica Brown, a book about the rainforests of Mexico and harvesting chicle to make chewing gum (http://www.monicabrown.net/teachers/). My question is this: Is it helpful to post information and links like these in this forum? Do you want to know about new environmentally themed children's books that might be good for use in your classrooms?

 

Thanks for any and all feedback!

 

Sarah

[Janice Swaisgood]

I LOVE IT everyone! What a nice forum for sharing ideas. I wanted to be sure everyone is aware of a great FREE resource on the national site. Check out:

It may be geared a bit for families, but there are many book reviews as well, including appropriate ages (ranging from infant/toddler through young adult, I might add!) Great resource for teachers as well as families!

Keep up the good work, everyone!

Janice

[James Ryan]

Hey Janice, the address is blank in my message - any chance you could type it again?
many thanks,
james

[Krissy Hopkins]

Check out Bay Backpack as well. Bay Backpack is an online resource for teachers and environmental educators to engage students in hands-on learning about the Chesapeake Bay and its local waterways. Bay Backpack also houses resources on forests, agriculture, development and many other environmental topics.

Bay Backpack provides educators with the necessary resources to give their students a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE), which are extensive projects that allow students to gain a deep understanding of environmental issues in the Chesapeake Bay and its local streams and rivers.

To learn more about Bay Backpack, visit www.baybackpack.com. Interested educators can also follow Bay Backpack on Twitter @baybackpack to receive additional education-related news and resources.

[Juliet Robertson]

Hello Sarah

Yes - please!

I have a various of listmania on Amazon UK which may be of interest and use. I'm slowly building up themes, e.g. Rock books, Forest school stories, etc.

I welcome suggestions for books to add to these lists - contact me via this site, my blog or my website. I'd also say that any authors - please come forward and tell me too.

I also review books on Amazon UK and occasionally for authors and publishers. Sadly we don't have the same choice as Amazon.com. I always like visiting North America and hanging out in a good bookshop :)

Best wishes
Juliet

[Amy Butler]

Sarah,

I would love to ask the teacher you work with about writing curriculum. I am currently working on curriculum with another teacher based on 4 years of bringing public school students outside into the woods for a whole day once a week. There are now four teachers doing this in their school and I am working in another public school training teachers there.

And yes,
i want to know about all these books! If they have curriculum with them,...even better! Do you have any with a math theme integrated into them?

- Amy Butler

[Sarah Shealy]

Hi Amy,

The guide for WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT GASOLINE? has an activity where the kids compare the cost of a gallon of gasoline with the costs of other liquids. The link for that guide is here: http://www.annerockwell.com/teachers . The guide for CHAVELA AND THE MAGIC BUBBLE has some graphing activities: http://www.monicabrown.net/teachers/Chavela-Discussion-Guide.pdf. The teacher who writes these for us did her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies, so she is very tuned into that aspect when she works on these -- even on the guides we do for non-environmental books!

Sarah

Amy Butler said:

Sarah,

I would love to ask the teacher you work with about writing curriculum. I am currently working on curriculum with another teacher based on 4 years of bringing public school students outside into the woods for a whole day once a week. There are now four teachers doing this in their school and I am working in another public school training teachers there.

And yes,
i want to know about all these books! If they have curriculum with them,...even better! Do you have any with a math theme integrated into them?

- Amy Butler

[Janice Swaisgood]

Ooops! Sorry about that! Not sure what happened, but I'm going to just say that I forgot to paste in the link. =)
Here it is:
http://www.childrenandnature.org/resources/familyactivities/

Enjoy!
Janice

James Ryan said:

Hey Janice, the address is blank in my message - any chance you could type it again?
many thanks,
james

[Amanda Stone Norton]

I agree with the other responses. This information will be very useful in identifying new resources for teachers and school administrators.

[Natures Friend]

Pat, Could you share with me how you run your nature club at school. This was something I was thinking of doing in the past, but had not started anything. I would love to get some insite from you. Faye

Patricia Rowe Gilkerson said:

Yes, I think it's very helpful. I'm a preschool teacher with a Nature Club for all the preschool, pre-K and Kg groups at our center and am always looking for any good books that are out there. I have 30 minute sessions and will be looking for ideas for next year, too.
Pat

[John Thielbahr]

Pat,
Let me add my request to Faye's for more information on your Nature Club for your preschool. I think it would be valuable for all who are trying to get kids reconnected to nature. Feel free to post whatever additional information you can provide on this site. Many thanks. jt

Patricia Rowe Gilkerson said:

Yes, I think it's very helpful. I'm a preschool teacher with a Nature Club for all the preschool, pre-K and Kg groups at our center and am always looking for any good books that are out there. I have 30 minute sessions and will be looking for ideas for next year, too.
Pat