Green School Badge

I can reduce, reuse and recycle

Objectives: Based on Maryland Environmental Literacy
Standards and differentiated for our Pre-Kindergarten to 2nd
grade learners
Standard 5- Humans and Natural Resources
Topic A- Human Impact on Natural Processes
The student will analyze the effects of human activities on the earths
natural processes, and analyze the effects of human activities that
deliberately or inadvertently alter the equilibrium of natural
processes.
Topic B- Human Impact on Natural Resources
The student will analyze, from local and global levels, the relationship
between human activities and the earth’s resources.
http://marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Documents/Environmental/MDEnvironmentalLitStandards.pdf

1. Choose a book or video based on Green School Badge objective.

• Adapt the activity to meet the needs of your students.

2. Choose a follow-up activity.

• Adapt the activity as needed to follow your students’ interests.
• Activity can be completed as a whole group, small group or
individually.

3. Provide evidence of activity completion to Green Committee

member
• Collect your students’ work and turn it in
• Email pictures of students participating in activity or their work
• Click here for link to Reflection Form options

4. Earn your Green School Badge!

Book Options (Some lesson plans are included below)
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, by Simms Taback
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYT4OUgDfIw
Two Old Potatoes and Me, by John Coy
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ9i9VHrB7Y&t=1767s
Garbage Helps Our Gardens Grow: A Compost Story, by Linda Glaser
Baby Coyote and the Old Woman: A Bilingual Celebration of Friendship and Ecological
Wisdom, by Carmen Tafolla
The Wartville Wizard, by Don Madden
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=todgM2wK7uU
Michael Recycle, by Ellie Bethel
Youtube link; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJweMxEhjlU

Related Books
The Tin Forest, by Helen Ward
Max Found Two Sticks, by Brian Pinkney
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqX7vpn0894
Roxaboxen, by Alice McLerran
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kumeb_Ih2U
City Green, by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wny3wrhC9mk

Online resources
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtyBzFV9yTs
Peppa Pig Recycle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxeo_whmOC0
How recycling works https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlRVPum9cp4
How plastic hurts the Earth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUUUxOl715s
Recycle City- Online game for students and resources https://www3.epa.gov/recyclecity/

Take the Recycle City Challenge - Our new Recycle City Challenge will test your knowledge
of how everyday decisions can cut waste and energy use – at home, school, and
throughout your community. Answer questions in five Recycle City locations and earn tokens
for the best responses. When you're done, post your score to the leaderboard!

Student online game: Play the Dumptown Game- In the Dumptown Game, you're
Dumptown's new City Manager! When you begin, you'll see Dumptown at its worst – it's
littered, polluted, and nothing is being recycled or reused. In your new position, you can start
programs that encourage Dumptown's citizens and businesses to recycle and reduce waste.
You'll be able to track costs and benefits – and see the results!
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
by Simms Taback
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYT4OUgDfIw

Questions (Adapted from Live Oak Media, 2011 and from Kinney, 2011):
Before reading: Read the title and discuss the Caldecott Medal. Review
other books that you have read that have also won the Medal.

Before reading: Look at the cover: What can we guess (or infer) about Joseph and the
setting of the book just by looking at the cover illustration? (Is Joseph rich or poor? Where
does Joseph live? Does the book take place in modern times or in the past?) Tell students
that the setting of the book is in Poland and it is based on a Yiddish folksong that the author
liked to listen to when he was a child. Discuss the term Yiddish: Yiddish is a language spoken
by many Jewish people all over the world. (Depending on time and on the needs of your
class, find Poland on a world map and/or discuss Jewish culture, religion, and nationality.)

Read the first page of text: “Joseph had a little overcoat. It was old and worn.” Turn the
page slightly so that students notice the presence and the shape of the die-cut hole: What
might Joseph make out of his overcoat?

Continue reading a few more pages of the book, having students look at the shape of the
die-cut holes to predict what Joseph will make next: Text-to-self: Have you ever had an
article of clothing made from something else? (For example: shorts made from pants; a vest
made from a sweater, etc.) Predict: What will Joseph make with the last bit of his overcoat?
What might happen at the end of the story?

Read to the end of the regular text: “…you can always make something from nothing.”
Discuss: Were students’ predictions correct? Text-to-self: Do you or a member of your family
like to make “something from nothing”? Turn to a partner sitting next to you and discuss the
things that you or one of your family members likes to make; for example, perhaps you like to
invent things from the recycling, or your grandma likes to make quilts from worn clothes, etc.

After reading the book: Spend a few minutes looking at the detail of the illustrations and
Taback’s collage artwork. Refer back to the Caldecott Medal and vote: Do you like the
way that this book is illustrated? Do you like the use of the die-cut holes? Do you think that
this book (the author and illustrator Simms Taback) deserved Caldecott recognition? Why or
why not?

Discuss: Our badge this month is I reduce, reuse, and recycle. How is this book related to our
badge? What is the main point (or moral) of the story?

Book Extension Activities:

1. First he did this…. Make a flow (thinking) map and have students retell the events of the
story.
2. Yiddish tune. Listen to the MIDI of “I Had a Little Overcoat”:
<http://www.mudcat.org/midi/midibrowse.cfm?start_letter=I>
Reading Rainbow Video: Two Old
Potatoes and Me (book) by John Coy
Youtube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ9i9VHrB7Y&t=1767s

Questions:
Before the video: Class vote: Who likes to eat potatoes?
(Who likes to eat French fries?) Has anyone ever grown
potatoes in a garden? Show students the DVD box and read the title of the book: Today we
are going to watch a Reading Rainbow video that features the book Two Old Potatoes and
Me.

After the video: What were the results/benefits of planting two old potatoes? (The girl and
her father grew 67 potatoes; they learned a lot about gardens and growing things; they got
to spend quality time together; they spent time outside; they had fun; they worked together
to make a nice meal from potatoes that they had grown themselves.)

Text-to-self: The girl and her father talk to Grandpa about growing potatoes. Do you ever
ask your grandparents or older people how to do things? If so, what do you ask them
about? Why do you think that people from previous generations know a lot about reusing:
gardening, sewing, canning, quilting, etc.?

Discuss: How is the book Two Old Potatoes and Me related to our badge this month, I
reduce, reuse, and recycle?

Discuss: What is the significance of the plastics made from corn? How might this technology
help us to reduce, reuse, and/or recycle?

Think, Pair, Share: Turn to a person sitting next to you and discuss the other things in the video
that were reused or recycled, like the (soda-can) pop-tops that became a pencil case, the
fan that became a clock, and the record that became a bowl. Which thing excited you
the most?

Discuss: Do you like to reuse things? Do you like to invent things from recycled materials? If
so, what do you like to do? After watching this video, are you inspired to reuse things more
often?
Garbage Helps Our Garden Grow: A
Compost Story, by Linda Glaser
Questions:
Before reading, review prior knowledge: What is
compost? How is compost used? Why is compost
important? Have you composted your leftover fruits
and vegetables in the cafeteria? Does anyone
compost at home?

Look at the cover: The title of this book is Garbage

Helps Our Gardens Grow: A Compost Story. What is
garbage? What types of things do you put in your garbage can at home? How can
garbage help a garden grow?

After reading the page with the earthworm: Text-to-self: Do you like to hold earthworms?
How do earthworms help the compost? Earthworms as just one type of decomposer;
decomposers are animals that break down non-living plants and animals into small parts.
Other types of decomposers are centipedes, millipedes, and snails. Have you ever seen a
decomposer?

Read the last page of regular text (with the two girls holding a pumpkin): “So that’s how
composting works. It keeps on going around and around from garbage to compost to
garden again and again and again.” Turn to a person sitting next to you and discuss: What
does this mean? Trace the life (cycle) of a jack-o-lantern pumpkin from seed to seed—make
sure that you include the compost pile! (Pumpkin seed, planted in soil, grows into a plant,
produces a pumpkin, pumpkin is carved at Halloween, pumpkin is put in the compost pile,
pumpkin decays, pumpkin turns into rich compost, compost is added to the soil, pumpkin
seed is planted in the soil.) Discuss this circle of renewal; what other things in nature are
cyclical?

After reading the book: Discuss: Why is compost important? (“Compost makes the earth
rich.” “[Compost] helps our garden grow….” “The more we compost, the less garbage we
throw out.” Other reasons not listed in the book: Compost helps to lighten the soil so that
there is better water drainage and more air spaces. Compost helps to recycle nutrients like
nitrogen and phosphorus so less fertilizer is needed.)

Discuss: Our badge this month is I reduce, reuse, and recycle. How is this book (or
composting) related to our badge?

Book Extension Activities:

1. Explore compost! Go out to the compost bin in the butterfly garden. Ask students to look
inside the bin: What do they see? Give each student pair a paper plate (or aluminum pie
pan) and an old pencil. Use the small shovel (found next to the bin) and dig down into
the bin. Shovel some compost onto each plate; have students sort through the compost
 using their pencils. Have students use their senses to make observations. Ask: Can you
identify any food in the compost that has not decayed? Do you see any decomposers?
Does the compost smell bad? What color is the compost? What does the compost feel
like? Is the compost wet or dry? Option: Use hand lenses to look more closely. Option:
Put the compost into a bucket and bring it back to your classroom for observations (you
can spread newspapers or an old sheet for easy clean-up).

When you are finished, put the compost back inside the bin.

2. Make a classroom ABC book. Draw or create images (use recycled materials) of things
that can go in a compost bin for each letter of the alphabet. (For example: ‘A’ is for old
apples; ‘B’ is for banana peals; ‘C’ is for corncobs, etc.)
Baby Coyote and the Old Woman: A
Bilingual Celebration of Friendship and
Ecological Wisdom, by Carmen Tafolla
Questions:
Looking at he cover: What is the setting of the book? How
would you characterize Baby Coyote? (In folklore,
coyotes are often depicted as mischievous tricksters; in
some Native American legends, coyotes act as
messengers.) How would you characterize the Old
Woman?

After reading page 7: Discuss the friendship of Baby Coyote and the Old Woman. How did
they help each other?

After reading page 8: Discuss: Why do you think that the Old Woman threw her trash into a
pile behind her house? Does this seem unusual to you? Have you ever heard of the phrase,
“Out of sight, out of mind”? Do you think that this phrase applies to the Old Woman?

After reading page 8: How did the Old Woman’s trash affect the desert and Baby Coyote?

After reading page 14: What steps did Baby Coyote take to teach the Old Woman? How
did the Old Woman’s perception change when the trash items were left at her door? Was
Baby Coyote wise?

After reading page 21: What did the Old Woman learn about plastic bottles?

After reading the book: Discuss the friendship of Baby Coyote and the Old Woman. How did
they help each other? How did they help the Earth?

Turn to a partner and discuss: What is the main idea (or moral) of the book? Opinion: What is
most memorable about the book?
The Wartville Wizard by Don Madden
Youtube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=todgM2wK7uU

Questions:
Before reading, look at the cover of the book: Based on his
facial expression, what is the man feeling? Predict: What is the
man doing? What’s in the man’s sack?

Open the book to the title page: What items are found on the
ground? Prior knowledge: What is litter? Where does litter
come from? Where is litter found?

Read until the Wizard is given power over trash (two-page spread with the old man sitting on
the grass): Predict: What type of power will the old man have? What will he do to solve the
problem?

After reading the book: Discuss: Why didn’t it work for the old man to pick up the
townspeople’s litter?

Discuss: What was the Wizard’s power? Why do you think that the Wizard’s power changed
the townspeople’s behavior?

Text-to-self: Have you ever been called names (in a derogatory way)? How did it make you
feel? Discuss: The Wartville Wizard liked calling the townspeople “slobs.” Did this change
their behavior? Why or why not?

Text-to-self: Have you ever tried to convince someone to reduce, reuse, and/or recycle? If
so, was it easy or difficult? What was the end result?

Book Extension Activities:

1. What happened? Use a graphic organizer for the beginning, middle, and end of story.

2. Act it out. Read the book a second time having students pantomime the characters.

3. Turn the story into a play! Characters might include: The Wartville Wizard, Barbette
Swartley (candy wrapper on her face); Harvey Bender (aluminum can on his neck); Mr.
Fullerton K. Hardboard (cigars stuck to his arms); Mrs. Mabel Botts (bag full of garbage
stuck to her rear end); Dr. Melvin Splint (gum wrapper stuck to each ear); Jimmy
VanSlammer (so much trash that only his legs were visible); and the sheriff (no litter).

4. Trash Awareness. Look at the trash that is in the classroom trashcan. What do you throw
away each day? How much do you throw away? Imagine having whatever you threw
in the trashcan stuck to you. Does this change the way you think and/or feel about
trash?
Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel
Youtube link;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJweMxEhjlU

Questions:
Before reading: Look at the cover illustration: What do you
notice? Is Michael a kid or an adult? What is he wearing?
What is a superhero? Can you name some superheroes?
Does Michael look like a superhero? Why or why not?

Read to the end of the second full page of text, “They got rather lazy.”: Look at the
illustrations: List some of the characteristics of Abberdoo-Rimey and the townspeople. Does
Abberdoo-Rimey look like a nice place to live? Why or why not?

Read to the end of the second full page of text, “They got rather lazy.”: What is litter?

After reading the story, but before reading the “go green tips”: What did the townspeople
do to clean up and recycle? (They recycled paper, plastic, cans, and old junk; they began
the Be Greener Campaign; they grew their own food; they collected rain water; they even
re-rolled toilet paper!)

After reading the story, but before reading the “go green tips”: Review the illustrations of
Abberdoo-Rimey and the townspeople after their transformation: How did Abberdoo-Rimey
and the townspeople change? Does Abberdoo-Rimey look like a nice place to live? Why
or why not?

After reading the “go green tips”: Are you inspired by any of these tips? Which one do you
like the best?

After reading the “go green tips”: Remind students of the ways that they already “go green,”
like recycling in the classroom, recycling and composting food waste in the cafeteria,
contributing to the used book sale, and participating in the Green Badge program. Think,
Pair, Share: Turn to a person sitting next to you and discuss what it means to be a hero. Do
you have to wear a cape and fly through the sky to make a difference? In what ways are
you heroes already?

Book Extension Activities:

1. Green Superheroes! Develop “green” superheroes for the town of Mt. Airy. Discuss: What
are the superheroes’ special powers? What actions will they take? Do they have an
Achilles heal? How about a special motto; an alias; helpers or sidekicks? Do they have
archenemies? Create the superheroes using recycled paper, old magazines,
newspapers, etc. Option: “Hook” students by first drafting and reading an official-looking
letter from the town, asking students for their help.

2. We are Heroes and Stewards. Discuss: What is a hero? Prompt students by having them
think of different types of heroes: political figures, religious figures, teachers, doctors,
firefighters, police officers, family members, service men and women, fictional characters,
and historical figures (like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Lincoln). (Note: Students
will likely list “idols,” such as sports stars and singers; idols can also be heroes, but it might
help to make a distinction between the two.)

Discuss: What are some characteristics or qualities of heroes (or of these people)? What
types of actions do they take?” (Heroes can be kind, loyal, generous, brave,
courageous, hard working, smart, or strong. Heroes often go above and beyond what is
required; they take a stand in the face of adversity; they rally other people; they are role
models; and they put others before themselves, etc.)

Discuss the fact that people can be heroes for the Earth, too. People who take care of
the Earth are sometimes called stewards; the act of caring for the Earth is called
stewardship. Brainstorm a list of stewardship behaviors (such as picking up trash and
recycling). In what ways are the students already stewards or Earth heroes?
Related Books: (Note: The main point of these books isn’t necessarily “reduce, reuse,
and recycle,” but they are wonderful books that feature some aspect of the 3 R’s.)

1. The Tin Forest, by Helen Ward. The main point of this book is
probably “Never stop dreaming,” however the central character, an
old man, transforms the garbage that surrounds him into beautiful tin
flowers, trees, birds, and other wildlife. Wayne Anderson’s illustrations
are amazing—the beginning illustrations are gray and bleak and still;
gradually the illustrations show warmth and light and life. Library call
number: E WAR.

Book Extension Activity:

Go on a “picture” or “story” walk to help students capture the meaning of this book.

2. Max Found Two Sticks, by Brian Pinkney. This book is a

celebration of urban Afro- American life, however the central
character, Max, finds two sticks and makes music with a variety of
found objects: a cleaning bucket, hatboxes, soda bottles, and
garbage cans. Library call number: E PIN.

Book Extension Activity: Make and play instruments from recycled

objects.

3. Roxaboxen, by Alice McLerran. This book is so many things—

it’s about the freedom of play in days past; it’s about imagination
and a childhood “secret place;” it’s about dear memories; and
it’s about communities and our roles in them. Marion and her
sisters and friends create Roxaboxen with white stones, old
wooden boxes, pieces of broken pottery, glass bottles, and other
found and reused “treasures.” Library call number: E MCL.

Book Extension Activity (adapted from Arizona Geographic Alliance, 2011): Use recycled
materials, old magazines, scraps of paper, newspaper, etc. to make a map of
Roxaboxen. There are approximately 24 features of Roxaboxen for your students to
choose from: River rhode, Main Street, eight houses, Town hall, House of Jewels, a bakery,
two ice cream shops, a jail, two forts, a cemetery, and three new houses and two new
shops.

4. City Green, by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan. The focus of this book

is on the creation of a community garden in a vacant city lot
and the lives that it touches. Marcy and her neighbors clean up,
recycle, and reuse; they plant, they water, and they celebrate.
New friendships are made and old ways are changed! Library
call number: E DIS.