Eden C. Stein
CBC Kids News. 2019. “Climate Change from Kid's Perspective.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K86Hvdb--m8&t=39s. A short video used to explain global climate change to students.
Dickinson, Emily. 2013. “Experiment to me.” Wikisource. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Experiment_to_me. This classic poem is accessible for children to bring into awareness the many levels of observation and interpretations of literature and nation.
Erdrich, Louise. 1999. The Birchbark House. New York: Hyperion Books for Children. This historical fiction novel tells the story of a young girl growing up with a tribe of Chippewa and focuses on her close observation of nature and relationship with animals.
Erdrich, Louise. 2006. The Game of Silence. New York.: HarperCollins. This text continues the story of Omakayas which was begun in the previous listing.
Erdrich, Louise. 2018. Makoons. New York: HarperCollins. This final book of the same series tells the story of Omakayas’ young son who experienced one of the final large scale buffalo hunts in western North America.
Fendler, Donn, and Joseph Egan. 1992. Lost on a Mountain in Maine. Edited by Joseph Egan. New York: HarperCollins. This short nonfiction book tells the story of Donn Fendler who was lost on Mount Katahdin for a week when he was eleven years old.
Frost, Robert, and Henry Holt. 1923. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert….” Poetry Foundation. Accessed March 27, 2022. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening
This classic poem frequently taught to middle school students helps them think about being outdoors during the winter in a new way.
Frost, Robert, Rudyard Kipling, and Emily Dickinson. 2012. National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs that Squeak, Soar, and Roar! Edited by J. P. Lewis. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic. Students can look through this anthology for mentor texts of poems about nature.
“Gluskabe Changes Maple Syrup - An Abenaki Legend.” n.d. FirstPeople.us. Accessed March 27, 2022. https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/GluskabeChangesMapleSyrup-Abenaki.html. The is a northeastern tribe’s version of the maple syrup legend.
“Introduction to Climate Change.” 2016. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX7WyyMIqAs. Another short video which allows students to learn some basic information about global climate change.
Henry, April. 2021. Playing with Fire. New York: Henry Holt and Company (BYR). This novel for teens tells the story of a group of people who are lost in the woods during a very dangerous forest fire.
“Japan's 72 Microseasons | Nippon.com.” 2015. nippon.com. https://www.nippon.com/en/features/h00124/. A short article about the way ancient Japanese people had names for various natural periods that occur throughout the year.
Jimenez, Stephanie, and Milada Vigerova. 2019. “Wildness is Everywhere by Stephanie Jimenez.” Common Lit. https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/wildness-is-everywhere. A poem used to help students learn to appreciate nature who may not have experience with it.
Lentini, Anthony, and Mick Garratt. 1971. “Autumntime by Anthony Lentini.” Common Lit. https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/autumntime. This is a futuristic science fiction story about a world without trees.
Merriam, Eve. 2015. “Willow and Ginkgo.” Poetry.com. https://www.poetry.com/poem/44101/willow-and-ginkgo. A poem accessible for students comparing the two trees using several different forms of figurative language.
Powell, Consie. 2005. Leave Only Ripples: A Canoe Country Sketchbook. Ely, Minnesota: Raven Productions, Incorporated. This is a journal of the authors’ family canoe trip in Northern Minnesota and is illustrative for teaching students how to nature journal.
Prasad, Chandra. 2018. Damselfly: A Novel. New York: Scholastic Press. A modern take on Lord of the Flies, a diverse group of students are stranded on a deserted island with nothing but their own wits to help them survive.
Prosek, James. 2009. The Day My Mother Left. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. This is the story of a nine year old boy who has been abandoned by his mother and finds some solace through spending time outdoors and drawing birds.
Rhodes, Jewell P. 2021. Paradise on Fire. New York: Little, Brown. A novel about a girl from the Bronx who is sent to a wilderness camp and then finds herself stranded with a group of friends in the middle of a forest fire.
Shusterman, Neal, and Jarrod Shusterman. 2018. Dry. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. The is a dystopian novel about a community in California that has run out of water and is cut off from other communities.
Sidman, Joyce. 2010. Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. An anthology of poems about animals and the outdoors.
Van Draanen, Wendelin. 2017. Wild Bird. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. This is realistic fiction about a high school student who has befriended people who are using alcohol and drugs and using her. She is sent to a wilderness camp where she has to learn to survive in nature as well as come to terms with her anger.
Wordsworth, William. 1815. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth.” Poetry Foundation. Accessed March 27, 2022. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45521/i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud. This classic poem about daffodils is a great introduction to the glories of springtime flowers, spending time in nature, and personification.
