Links to book reviews from the AEOE newsletters, other reviews, and an
ever-growing list of books you can use in environmental and outdoor education
(Yes, there
is more than The Lorax out there!) The focus here is mostly on books
you can read to your students out on the trail, use as story-starters, openers
for activities, or closing thoughts. Please tell me what books you use,
so I can include them here! Email me your ideas at
Resources for books | Rationale for using Stories | How to integrate stories into your curriculum | Suggested books | Search for books
Children's
Environmental Literature Bibliography The Children’s Environmental
Literature Bibliography is available for download courtesy of Wisconsin's
Project WILD,
Project Learning Tree and Project WET programs. This popular resource was
initially developed in 1997 and has been revised as a reading list for early
childhood providers and to help teacher's meet the requirements of the No
Child Left Behind legislation (NCLB). The bibliography contains more than
400 books, over 300 of them new additions. For easy teacher reference, the
books are grouped according to topic area and age group.
Visit
Powell's, the "Scenic City of Books" - Legendary independent
bookstore with new, used, rare books online. Search at
bottom of page - purchasing books through
this link to Powell's will give AEOE a
percentage of the sales - they have new, used and rare books at great prices,
and you'll be helping AEOE! Sierra Club Books for Children. Go Wild!
-
Children's Picture Books, Middle Readers, Young Adults - purchasing through
this link to Sierra Club books will give AEOE a percentage of the sales
- they also have many other items in their store, and you'll be helping
AEOE!
Science is our way of explaining the world around us - and so are stories. In a sense, stories are an early form of science - just another way people have tried to explain the world to themselves - stories and legends just do it in a different way. All ways are needed to reach all students, and the scientific ways can sometimes be more accessible if reached through the "back door" of story. Reading a story to students outside on the trail, in the ecosystem, helps to calm and focus them, helps to bring together the various parts of what they've learned, can be used as a "set" to spark their interest, or to start a discussion, or as inspiration for their own writing about what they are learning, or as a wrap-up to bring it all together. Stories are magical - the most active, squirrelly, talkative groups of students will settle right down and listen to a story in a way they won't listen at any other time. Making any part of your lesson into a story is a wonderful technique for this reason. The storyteller Susan Strauss, author of The Passionate Fact: Storytelling in Natural History and Cultural Interpretation says that story is like a net which connects us all, and when you are telling or listening to the story, you are touching that net, and feel that connection through space and time. (Read more about Susan Strauss in the Spring 2000 AEOE newsletter - she was a speaker at the statewide AEOE conference that year.)
Another resource: Storytellers needed for Environmental Education great article!
New! From AEOE "Beyond the Lorax" Workshop at the Spring 2005 Conference: more resources, including sample lesson plans and bibliography
Stories can be a great way to introduce a topic and pique student interest for what they might learn, or to introduce and activity to help them get ready to participate. Stories can also be used as a way to wrap up a lesson, or unit, or week. Or to start a discussion. Or just for a break!
If you worry students won't want to be read aloud to, that they feel like you are "treating them like little kids," here are some good techniques for getting them to accept being read to:
- If you are telling a legend or a myth as an intro to something, tell them that stories were people's way of explaining the world around them - much like science is our way of explaining the world around us today. Stories have truths in them, if you listen well, and in a sense, they are an early form of science!
- Tell them that, yes, these stories are not at their reading level, but if you read a story that was at their level, you would be here all week! However, these stories have excellent illustrations and deal with the topics we are learning very well. We will go into depth, but these stories are a good introduction.
- Get them to play along - I tell the students, "Okay, when I say this next thing, I want you to pretend you are in Kindergarten and say "yayyy!"" Then I say, "It's story time!" in my best Romper Room voice, and the students never fail to say "Yayyyy!!" Especially at the 5th-6th grade level - they never want to be talked down to or treated like little kids, but they actually enjoy pretending to be little kids. Big difference, since pretending implies they are NOT little kids, so it reinforces their maturity, in an odd twist. But it works!
- I have them get comfortable, telling them they can even lie down if they want, but they must be at least sitting. I also let them know my expectations for how they should behave while I am reading. I tell them I am easily distracted, and I'm a much better storyteller with a good audience, so during the story, no talking, hold questions for the end. If there are small disruptions, I pause and look at the student and wait, and they usually immediately know that I mean it and quiet down.
- Depending on the story, I will talk about metaphor before reading it - you can read this story on the surface as a simple children's book, yet underneath there are layers of meaning ("like an onion"!). See if you are mature enough to find the metaphor in this story... then discuss what metaphors, what different meanings, they got out of the story after you are finished. I have discovered new metaphors this way! A story I particularly like doing this with is "In a Nutshell," and it also works well with most Dr. Seuss books.
These are a few of the books I have used on the trail at outdoor science school,
and a few others have used and told me about. This is obviously NOT a definitive
list! Just a few books that I know work in an outdoor/trail lesson setting.
If you have a book you use that is not on here,
and I will include it. Better yet, write up a review of the book and how you use it, so it can go in the AEOE newsletters, too! Hope you find some stories you can use here. Enjoy.
New! From AEOE "Beyond the Lorax" Workshop at the Spring 2005 Conference: more resources, including sample lesson plans and bibliography
Children's Literature for the Trail Bookshelf
Purchase all these books online through AEOE partner, Powells.com. Click here to see these books and more, including an entire page of Byrd Baylor books!
Lifetimes.
Rice, D.L. (1997/ Dawn Publications.
- book review The
Drop in My Drink: The Story of Water on Our Planet Lifetimes.
Rice, D.L. (1997/ Dawn Publications.
- book review Earthsteps,
A Rock’s Journey through Time The Pebble in My Pocket Lifetimes.
Rice, D.L. (1997/ Dawn Publications.
- book review Dear
Children of the Earth : a letter from home, Schim Schimmel, North Word
Press, 1994. ISBN: 1559712252. Review
Children
of the Earth... Remember, Schim Schimmel, North Word Press, 1997. ISBN:
1559716401. Review
Lifetimes.
Rice, D.L. (1997/ Dawn Publications.
- book review Dear
Children of the Earth : a letter from home, Schim Schimmel, North Word
Press, 1994. ISBN: 1559712252. Review
Children
of the Earth... Remember, Schim Schimmel, North Word Press, 1997. ISBN:
1559716401. Review
Acorn Naturalists is the premier provider of teaching materials and books to the environmental education community. Acorn Naturalists has donated many items to AEOE for prizes, awards, and auctions to raise money for scholarships, and they have generously donated space for meetings as well. You can see them at our statewide conferences, where they are our preferred vendor for books and other materials. Acorn Naturalists is an AEOE Institutional Member, and founders/owners Jenny and Marty Rigby were honored with the 2005 Howard Bell Award.
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Check out this Alibris "Storefront" for new ideas: Children's Nature & Ecology Books Try these subject searches: Outdoor Education, Nature Education, Nature Study, Juvenile Nonfiction: Nature, Juvenile Fiction: Nature and the Natural World, California Ecology or try your own. Tip: Once you find a book you like, click on "more like this" to unearth forgotten treasures! Add California, Young Adult, or Juvenile to any of these subject categories to further limit results. See "related subjects" or "subcategories" for more links. Have fun! |