Sharing Earth's Resources: Reading Lesson

Suggestions

• This lesson can be used at any time during the year during ELA and social skills sessions.

• This lesson can be used to reinforce sharing skills and the C3 standards of decision-making when there is scarcity.

• This lesson explores justice and SEL concepts of fostering self-awareness through a fun coloring activity on sharing.

• This lesson highlights the climate concepts of sharing Earth’s resources equally and unequally, along with responsible decision-making.

Prerequisites

• Before this lesson, locate a copy of Love Our Earth by Jane Cabrera or a similar book.
  
• Review and select one of two videos in the Investigate section. Students can watch the Environmental Defense Fund video, Kids explain why we need a vital Earth, or the PBS Learning Media video, Take Care of the Earth: Hero Elementary.
  

Differentiation

• Students can use the provided sentence frames in the Teacher Document for class or group discussions. 

• Visual Sentence Boards are provided to support student responses.

• Anchor charts with essential vocabulary are included in the Teacher Document and can enhance academic language.

• The Population Education resource, Go Fish! can be used as an alternative to the Color Together activity. The resource helps students discover what it means to share resources unequally and in a fair way through a series of food-sharing games.

• Optional Activity: Students can take a school-wide field trip to discover who and what shares Earth’s air, land, and water.

• Optional Activity: Playdough math worksheets are included in the Student Document.

• Other resources that may be used to discuss this topic include the following: 

• This is the Planet Where I Live by K.L. Going and Debra Frasier (book)

• Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers (book)
  

• Saving Earth’s Resources (YouTube Video)