Christine A. Elmore
How can the teacher of young children help them to understand the crucial role each person must come to play in repairing the health of our natural environment? Fostering such thinking at an early age will help children to become responsible inhabitants of the earth. This kind of education begins with an exploration of mankind's relationship to Nature. Later it can lead to a study of what actions are to be taken to work for the earth's renewal by conserving ecosystem processes and biodiversity. Most children are natural lovers of animals. They
devour
books on animals and how they live. We might consider this interest as a seed which can be nurtured. A lover of animals can grow into a responsible environmentalist.
This curriculum unit will begin with my students learning about the fascinating life and work of Jane Goodall, a tireless advocate of chimpanzees. I have chosen this renowned naturalist because I find her life's work to be particularly inspiring. I also think that her life, her love of animals from a very early age, her patient techniques of studying chimpanzees in the wild, and her groundbreaking discoveries about them will effectively engage the children's interest and, so, serve as a stimulating topic for them to read and to write about. They will learn about how this lover of animals became a great scientist. Her philosophy is really quite simple: As we learn to care about all species, we better appreciate the interconnection between all living beings.
Our focus in third grade is on literacy, helping students develop and strengthen their reading skills as well as their writing skills. My focus in this unit is on reading and writing informational texts. Indeed, this genre of nonfiction presents its own unique set of challenges which students must learn to master. We as teachers must provide them with the strategies that will help them to 'unlock' the knowledge found in such texts. This unit will be interdisciplinary in scope, incorporating reading, writing, science, poetry and art, and will, I believe, provide topics of high interest that will motivate even the most reluctant reader and writer.
