12th November Michael Rosen Day

On  Tuesday 12th  November enjoy a day of poetry, stories and creativity to celebrate 50 years since Michael Rosen's first book.

We all know We're Going on a Bear Hunt , but there are so many other resources to explore. I had fun with Year 2 recently reading and hearing Michael's poetry, but next week I plan to share with other grades too.

I have put out a display of Michael's books in readiness and am hoping many of them will be borrowed. There is something for everyone.

Popular with the preschool and illustrated by Robert Sterling

There's the books about Rover that are illustrated by Neal Layton

There's the picture books illustrated by Bob Graham

The books inspired by nursery rhymes and fairytales illustrated by Nick Sharratt and David Melling

 

Short novels for beginning readers

There's so many really good stand alone picture books:

And of course there's all the poetry anthologies. There's a new one coming in January.

SDG 15 Life on Land

Goal 15 Protect, and restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reduce land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Nature is critical to our survival: nature provides us with our oxygen, regulates our weather patterns, pollinates our crops, produces our food, feed and fibre. But it is under increasing stress. Human activity has altered almost 75 per cent of the earth’s surface, squeezing wildlife and nature into an ever-smaller corner of the planet.

The goal as stated above has so many aspects and is far too much to take in all at once for me, let alone a child under eight, so here I need to be very selective and break it into subheadings, such as deforestation, loss of habitat, extinction and  farming, all of which young children do know about and understand the meaning of.

Here is a list of books to select from.

The Tree by Neal Layton would be a good place to start because it looks at what will happen when a tree is cut down and it provides for debate about whether it was a good act or bad.

Here is the blurb:

A delightful picture book with a wonderful twist which encourages young children to think about the way animals and humans live side by side.  

The tree. Home to a family of birds in their nest, squirrels in their drey and rabbits in their burrow. But what happens to the animals when a man and woman decide to cut it down and use it for their dream house? Can the tree be home to both the animals and the humans? A simple yet fun and distinctive picture book, with a strong environmental message about the importance of respecting animal habitats.

Follow this up with a more factual book either more specifically about deforestation such as Marc Martin's Forest or reforestation such as Sally Nicholls and Carolina Rabei's book Who Makes a Forest?

Here's the blurb:

When a forest is cut down, the consequences are more than anyone could have anticipated. The forest is destroyed due to human greed, but grows again  through human care, giving hope and empowerment.

Teaching notes:

https://lamontbooks.com.au/media/19152/June-2012-A-Forest.pdf

Here's the blurb:

Who makes a forest? A wizard, a giant, an emperor? Come on a walk with Grandpa to discover how a forest is made, and see how a thousand tiny things can come together to change the face of the earth… Poetically written by award-winning Sally Nicholls and beautifully illustrated by Carolina Rabei, this gorgeous book features a non-fiction section about the different types of forests around the world, their importance to our ecosystem and the impact of deforestation on our planet. 

Of course this has only covered one aspect of this goal. You may choose to look at animal extinction or habitat loss. Many of the books on the Pinterest list also look at farming and the degradation of soil that comes with that and the hardship caused by climate.

From the booklet:

Ask • How can we make sure that we look after our land? 

 

• We read...

• This story made me think that we should...

 

SDG 13 Climate Action

 

Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

The rising temperature of the Earth is called “global warming.” If the Earth’s temperature keeps getting hotter, we will feel the effects of it. For example, global warming will melt the Arctic’s sea ice and cause the sea level to rise. If the sea level continues to rise, many islands and countries will struggle to stay above water and people and animals will lose their homes. To avoid this from happening, all of us must do something to help the Earth.

     

Choose a book from here.

A good place to start with young students is to share a book about the shrinking polar icecaps and how the polar bears' habitat is shrinking. They love polar bears (probably because they are majestic and they don't live near them or see them) and there are so many wonderful picture books on this topic. 

However, the students I teach know about the shrinking habitat of polar bears from teachers, parents, documentaries and stunning picture books like Lindsay Moore's Sea Bear, so I would start with Hello, Mr World by Michael Foreman. The students understand what it means to be sick so I think this story where Earth has been personified is an excellent way of introducing what is making our world suffer and talking about it.

Here's the blurb:

A topical picture book about the effects of climate change, ideal for very young children.  Michael Foreman brilliantly shows what climate change is doing to our world and inspires us all to make a difference. Mr World doesn't feel well. He's hot and sweaty and finding it hard to breathe. What will the doctors find when they examine their poor patient? 

This could then be followed up by something more didactic or instructive such as A Climate in Chaos by Neal Layton

Old Enough to Save the Planet  by Anna Taylor, Loll Kirby and Adelina Lirius

or Like the Ocean We Rise  by Nicola Edwards and Sarah Wilkins

From the booklet: (Remember these questions and tasks are designed as post reading for the student who is doing this at home with a parent or in class with a teacher and will only read one book from the list, so the responses need to be very open-ended.)

Ask • Have you heard about how there are now less polar bears? Why is this?

 

• We read...

 

• This story made me wonder what I could do to...