Growing Together: Open Forum

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  • 1.  Seeking books/activities for "natural resources" curriculum

    Posted 02-13-2023 09:39:00 AM

    Hi all,

    Looking for Grade 1-level picture books and/or related activities for a unit on natural resources/conservation. Specifically, I'm seeking to foster a more gifts/gratitude-centered orientation toward the natural world (i.e. seeing nature not as a collection of inanimate objects that we humans get to use, but as a community of beings that offer us so much and that we have a responsibility to care for in return). Has anyone come across a book or activity that speaks to this? I love the stories in Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults, but having a physical picture book could be very helpful.

    Thank you!



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    Emily Stehr
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  • 2.  RE: Seeking books/activities for "natural resources" curriculum

    Posted 02-13-2023 11:18:00 AM

    These are a few books centering natural resources/conservation that I've really enjoyed reading:

    Spring After Spring: How Rachel Carson Inspired the Environmental Movement by Stephanie Roth Sisson

    Our Planet! There's No Place Like Earth by Stacy McAnulty

    Around the House That Jack Built by Roz Abisch

    A Planet Like Ours by Frank Murphy & Charnaeie Gordon

    The Rescuer of Tiny Creatures by Curtis Manley

    Not sure on the grade levels. Hope this helps!



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    Ellie McLellan
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  • 3.  RE: Seeking books/activities for "natural resources" curriculum

    Posted 02-13-2023 11:18:00 AM

    Emily,  The Junior Master Gardener Program and the American Horticultural Society honor engaging, inspiring works of plant, garden and ecology-themed children's literature through the Growing Good Kids - Excellence in Children's Literature Awards Program.  We have a complete list of the annual award winners with a synopsis of each book at the link below from 2005-present.  These are selected by a national review committee of educators, librarians, gardeners, and parents.  https://jmgkids.us/bookawards/ - Hope that this is helpful to you. There are some amazing award winning books and all have an engaging story line.



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    Lisa Whittlesey
    Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service - International Junior Master Gardener Program
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  • 4.  RE: Seeking books/activities for "natural resources" curriculum

    Posted 02-13-2023 11:27:00 AM
    Hi Emily.

    Have you checked out the Books in Bloom section of KidsGardening.org?
    --
    Michelle Zupan
    Curator 
    Hickory Hill & the Tom Watson Birthplace
    502 Hickory Hill Drive
    Thomson, GA  30824
    706-595-7777
    FAX: 706-595-7177

    Visit us at www.hickory-hill.org or on Facebook.
    Follow us on Twitter: HHEducation

    Historic homes of the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc








  • 5.  RE: Seeking books/activities for "natural resources" curriculum

    Posted 02-13-2023 11:30:00 AM
    Check out "The First Blade of Sweetgrass" (Greenlaw & Frey). We use that book in our 1st grade garden curriculum.

    --
    Jennifer Reese
    (she/her)

    Science & Garden Coordinator
    Amherst & Pelham Public Schools | 170 Chestnut Street | Amherst, MA 01002
    413-362-1897  |  reesej@arps.org
    ---
    Have a question or seeking a resource? Check out:





  • 6.  RE: Seeking books/activities for "natural resources" curriculum

    Posted 02-14-2023 10:58:00 AM

    Hi Emily! I used to work at a Natural History Museum and we talked with students about natural processes and earth history a lot. I always gravitated toward books that inspired awe for these things rather than treating them as inanimate. Here is a list of some I love! I hope it's helpful:

    Water Dance by Thomas Locker

    Water Is Water by Miranda Paul

    A Planet Like Ours  by Frank Murphy

    Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Ether Series by Simone Akasha Nofel

    Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner

    Be a Tree! by Maria Gianferrari 



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    Noel Nicholas
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  • 7.  RE: Seeking books/activities for "natural resources" curriculum

    Posted 02-14-2023 11:39:00 AM

    I don't know any titles off of the top of my head, but you might check out the Growing Good Kids Book Awards list and see if anything there works?  https://jmgkids.us/bookawards/



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    Franke Smith
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  • 8.  RE: Seeking books/activities for "natural resources" curriculum

    Posted 02-14-2023 12:12:00 PM

    I like the book The Tree Farmer 

    I would also recommend searching the National Agriculture in the Classroom Ag Literacy Curriculum Matrix for books/lessons/activities/resources. You can search by keyword and grade level. 



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    Kelsey Fortin
    Maine Agriculture in the Classroom
    Augusta ME
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  • 9.  RE: Seeking books/activities for "natural resources" curriculum

    Posted 02-16-2023 05:19:00 PM

    Our library puts together a wonderful list each year of books involving nature that also considers important criteria such as reflecting diversity and grounded in real science  https://www.epl.org/booklist/the-blueberry-award-winner-and-honors/



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    Laura Nusekabel
    Chicago IL
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