Spring is here and it’s time to start all our spring holidays and themes! One of those holidays is Earth Day. Earth Day is an important topic to set aside time in your classroom to teach. This is because of the impact it can have on our Earth in the future. I’ve outlined a few of my favorite Earth Day read-alouds to incorporate into your lesson plans. These Earth Day reading activities will help your students learn all about the spring holiday. Each of the books that I suggested below come with an affiliate link to Amazon for easy shopping! Also, if you have any favorite texts that you think need to be on this list, let me know!
#1- Earth Day Read Aloud
Earth Day Every Day by Lisa Bullard
Things I love about this book: bright and colorful images, text features, chapter set-up, child-friendly suggestions
We begin the first chapter by learning about how our character is an “earthling” who has to clean up her messes. She relates those messes she makes to our earth. She said all earthlings can clean up the mess they make on the earth. It’s a job for everyone! So, she begins to spread the word about Earth Day. There are tips and advice incorporated into the text that make saving the earth more kid-friendly. There are also text features through, such as text boxes off to the side. These text boxes give more information about how the reader can do what the character is doing!
#2- Suggested Read Aloud
What a Waste by Jess French
Things I love about this book: text features, nonfiction, lots for the kids to look at, high-interest text
Growing up, I was also in love with DK nonfiction texts like this one. I know in my classrooms, those are always the books kids want to grab to browse. This text is filled with photographs, illustrations, text features, and more! There are tons of facts about Earth’s atmosphere, waste, pollution, energy, landfills, and more! Kids can learn a lot with this high-interest text.
#3- A Compost Introduction
Compost Stew by Mary McKenna Sikddals
Things I love about this book: kid-friendly approach (A-Z), unique illustrations, interesting topic, diversity
You can teach your students about composting in a kid-friendly way. Many younger students may not even know what composting is yet! So, introducing it in an A-Z style is a perfect way to learn. This book goes through the alphabet and lists things that you can put into a compost pile. Each page shows a different child adding to a compost pile. This shows that all children of the world can do this!
#4- Earth Day Read Aloud
What If Everybody Did That? by Ellen Javernick
Things I love about this book: strong central message, entertaining illustrations
This story goes through several instances where something may not seem like a big deal. However, the point the story makes is that if everyone has that mentality, nothing will ever get fixed. For example, throwing only one soda can out the car window may seem small, but it can add up. Although the story covers a wide range of things that children shouldn’t do, the overall message can be tied back into Earth Day. After the read-aloud, you can has a class activity or discussion that helps lead to different ideas we can stop doing every day to save the earth.
#5- A Classic
Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel
Things I love about this book: superhero, rhyming words,
I don’t know if it’s simply the superhero aspect of the story, but my students were crazy about this story. Michael Recycle shows up to a town filled with lazy townspeople that are littering their town. They’re not taking care of Abberdoo-Rimey! He flies in to tell them they have to start recycling their trash before it takes over their town. As they clean up their town, the book shows small ways that the reader can make a difference in their own town, too. The back couple of pages are also filled with fun facts and actionable tips for kids and families.
#6- Last Suggested Read Aloud
Why Should I Recycle? by Jen Green
Things I love about this book: informative, dialogue, kid-friendly language
This story follows the main character as she learns about how to recycle at school. Her teacher, Mr. Jones, teaches them to recycle after she sees him carrying his recyclables out to the curb one morning. As he’s teaching them about recycling, he goes through many scenarios about ways the students can recycle. It’s a great way for students to absorb information through a fictional story. I also love that the character goes home and teaches their parents about how to recycle!
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Thanks for reading this blog post all about Earth Day reading suggestions. Good luck implementing these read-alouds and reading activities in your classroom!
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Get a Flip Book for Your Classroom
It comes with a reading passage and three follow-up comprehension activities, such as sorting different types of material, answering questions about the passage, and writing what they’ve learned.
