Friday, April 25, 2014

Trade and Grade! "Earth Day Love"

I am so lucky!  I got to trade with two different teachers this month.  I was really excited to be paired with another amazing teacher from,  KTeacherTiff.  She has a wonderful store and blog.  I was really excited to receive her Earth Day Love pack to review.  I love Earth day, but I love using those Earth day materials all year long.  I think it is so important for children to learn that they are integral to the health of this world AND that each one of them can make a difference.
Tiffany's product gives you tons of chances to do just that!  One of my favorite parts of this unit is the 3 R's and Compost sort.  This can be done as a whole group activity, or as part of a center for students who are able to read the cards.  Students need to read each card and decide what type of way they are helping the Earth in each example.  The cards are great and can lead to wonderful discussions.
Students are also able to sort different types of waste.  They are able to classify it by the type of recyclable or compost.  My kids loved doing this.  We scattered the waste around the room and the kids had to go on "litter patrol" to pick up the different types of litter.  They then had to come over to the recycling bins and compost bin to sort the waste.  This got the kids up and moving!
There are also some great sentences to unscramble with an Earth day theme.  I used this as a center, where students were able to build the sentences on the pocket chart and then record and illustrate the sentence on the recording sheet.
Here are two of the examples of the Earth day sentences.  I love how the student was working on labeling the illustrations!
 Another great example of her recording sheets.
I also love the "Earth Day: Write the Room".  Many of these cards are actually phrases that illustrate different ways that you can love the Earth.  Students are able to get up and moving to search for the matching picture and record the words.
 Tiffany provides two different "Write the Room" sheets.  You can either print these front and back, or print the extension worksheet for writing sentences on the back.  I love the extension worksheet for writing sentences.  Students are only focusing on writing two sentences and are challenged to use at least 2 of the words.  A way to differentiate this activity is to have students include more than one of the words in each sentence.
I also love the emergent reader on different things that can be recycled!
Tiffany also provides a writing extension where students can write and illustrate "Ways to Love the Earth".  I thought this was clever, cute, and very useful.  You have to love some of the responses you get when asked this question! 
 The "Super Recycler!" writing extension is also very useful.  Students are able to apply the knowledge that they have gained in a practical way.  They are able to illustrate and write about the specific ways that they can recycle.  Viewing their responses, will help you to assess their understanding of recycling.
My absolute favorite part of this Earth Day pack is the craftivity!  Students are able to color their Earth and then record ways they can "love" the Earth on the hearts.  This allows students to use their creativity and put their own spin on their project.
 This craftivity is also very easy to differentiate.  I was able to write responses for students that were not able to record their own answers.  They were still able to color and cut the craft themselves and to share their own ideas.
Other students were able to write their responses easily.  Each student was able to punch their own holes in the Earth.  I labeled an Earth with one hole on the top and 4 pretty evenly spaced on the bottom.  Students followed the directions to use the hole puncher.
There are also 4 wonderful posters that give a pictorial example and offers an explanation of each word.  They are great to put around the room or in a writing center.  I now have them around my own home to help remind my own kids of the 3 R's and composting.
Thanks for exploring Tiffany's awesome Earth Day Love pack!  I hope you loved it as much as I did. 

Tiffany is providing you with a FREE sample of her Earth Day Love!  Click here to get your freebie!

3 comments:

  1. I'm so excited to see it all in action! You are wonderful! I LOVE how you did the mobiles with the ribbon!

    Tiffany

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