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Lesson Plans
Oh my gosh, it's so hard to find lesson plans for Earth Day. I can find activities and crafts until the cows come home, but actual lesson plans are difficult to come by. I've listed just a few that I found that you may be able to use.- Earth Day Theme Preschool Lesson Plans -Earth Day Activities from ECEducation101 :: PreK - early elementary :: English only
- Proyecto: El Día de La Tierra / Earth Day Project by La Vida Escolar :: 7th - 12th :: Spanish only
Since I couldn't find what I really wanted, I decided to also list some lesson plan ideas that you can use at home or in the classroom:
- "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" lesson plan: Teach students the importance of reducing waste and recycling by creating a bilingual poster and participating in a recycling scavenger hunt.
- "Planting Seeds for the Future" lesson plan: Introduce students to the concept of sustainability by having them plant their own seeds and care for them. Students can also create a bilingual book about the plant life cycle.
- "Exploring Our Environment" lesson plan: Take students on a bilingual nature walk and encourage them to observe the environment. Students can create a bilingual field guide of the plants and animals they see.
- "The Water Cycle" lesson plan: Teach students about the water cycle and the importance of water conservation. Students can create a bilingual diagram or infographic of the water cycle and participate in a water conservation challenge.
- "Environmental Art" lesson plan: Encourage students to express their love for the Earth through art. Students can create bilingual artwork using recycled materials and learn about famous environmental artists in both English and Spanish.
Additional Resources from Spanish Teachers
- Mundo de Pepita has this collection of Fun Earth Day Activities for Spanish Class!
- Spanish Playground published this set of resources of Earth Day Activities in Spanish
- You may also enjoy this post of Earth Day Resources for Elementary Spanish from Fun for Spanish Teachers.
Crafts & Printables
Checkout my roundup of 12+ Earth Day Crafts & Printables for Kids. You can do them in ANY language!
Earth-Loving Websites
- Nature Lab is The Nature Conservancy's youth curriculum platform with content in both English and Spanish.
- EarthDay.org is the official website for the holiday and you have the option to choose from 10 languages in which to read it.
- Canopy in the Clouds/dosel en las nubes is a fabulous site that allows students to explore a tropical montane cloud forest at their own pace.
- Reciclando en la escuela is a fabulous site, written completely in Spanish, with some of the most imaginative ideas for recycling materials into educational tools/toys/activities. This is an old site but the content is still good!
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Books
Latino authors and illustrators have created beautiful children's books about our connection to nature. Be sure to check out my list of 5 Latino Children's Books to Celebrate Earth Day.
• Earth Day: An Alphabet Book by Gary Kowalski in English only
• The Earth and I by Frank Asch in English only
• Talking with Mother Earth/Hablando con madre tierra: Poems/Poemas by Jorge Argueta and Lucia Angela Perez in English & Spanish
• When Jaguars Ate the Moon: And Other Stories About Animals and Plants of the Americas by Maria Cristina Brusca in English only
• El Gran Capoquero: Un Cuento de la Selva Amazonica in Spanish or The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest in English by Lynne Cherry
• Imagina un mundo mejor by Yanitzia Canetti Spanish only.