Kristie Sommerfeld

Holiday Lesson Plan: Earth Day, April 22nd

Grade: 2nd
Student Learner Objectives:
Students will learn about a holiday honoring the Earth
Students will read a story about Earth Day from an animals
perspective
Students will play instruments to a poem
Students will create a 3-D craft that will go with the poem
Students will learn knew vocabulary words and will find them
in a word search
Students will learn basic gardening skills
Students will take care of a plant for the rest of the school
year

Curricular Connections: Language, Music, Art, Reading,

Spelling, Science

Poem lesson (Language and Music)

In the Water World

Down among the water-weeds,

Darting through the grass,
Round about the tasseled reeds,
See the minnows pass!
See the little turtles there,
Hiding, half asleep,
Tucked in tangled mosses where

tiny crayfish creep!

Watch the trailing grasses string
Strands of purple shells
That the lazy ripples ring,
Sweet as silver bells;
Watch the sunshine sift and drift
Down the eddy whirls,
Whence the laden whiteweeds lift
Loads of blossom pearls;
While the limpid shadows slip
Softly in between,
And the pussy-willows dip
Lightly in the green
Of the mocking trees that grow
Down the water-sky,
Flecked with fleecy clouds that blow
Where the reed-birds fly.
Oh, such marvels manifold
Fill the summer stream,
Such enticing things untold
Through the ripples gleam,
If you could a moment turn
Into what you wish,
Would it not be fun to be
Yonder little fish?

Materials:
Poem on overhead or smart board
Instruments for children to experiment with
Instructions:

 Read poem once through with children

Have student go and choose an instrument
Decide which instruments should be played with each line or
stanza
Practice playing instruments
Read through poem again with instruments accompanying it
Discuss how the instruments relate to the environment

Art Lesson that supplements poem (Art)

Turtle 3 Dimensional Craft

Materials:
printer and paper
stapler,
scissors,
glue,
printer and paper
either wiggly eyes or white paper
Instructions:
Print the template

http://www.dltk-kids.com/t.asp?t=http://www.dltkkids.com/animals/image/bturtle-3d.gif

Color the template pieces

Cut slits in each corner of the large body shape.
Staple or tape the paper together so it overlaps slightly and
forms a bowl shape.
Glue the eyes onto the head (moon shape).

 Glue the head onto the front of the body

Fold the tabs on the feet and tail and glue them to the inside
of the body

Book Lesson (Reading)

Living Green by Artie Knapp
Find the online book here:http://www.dltkteach.com/books/artie-knapp/living-green/index.htm
Materials:
Online book Living Green by Artie Knapp
SmartBoard to see the book on
Instructions:
Watch the book being read online
Discuss with the children how/why littering affects our
world

Word search that supplements book (Spelling)

Living Green Word Search

Materials:
Word search

o http://www.dltk-teach.com/t.asp?t=http://www.dltkteach.com/books/artie-knapp/living-green/cwordsearch.gif

Crayons, pencils, marker

Instructions:
Have the students looks for the hidden words
Remind them that words can be horizontal, vertical,
diagonal, forward or backward

Gardening lesson (Science and Art)

Gardening with Kids!

Materials:
Planters
Child sized tools
Soil
Unplanted flowers or seeds
Paint/ decoration materials
Instructions:
Put students into pairs
Designate each pair one pot
Have them paint and decorate the pot together
Have students fill pot with soil
Have them plant as many flowers/plants in the pot as they
can
Have them take care of the plants for the remainder of the
year

 Place pots around room for decoration and reminder of

Earth Day

Common Core State Standards: CCSS

Key Ideas and Details:
1. Determine central ideas or themes (littering, Earth Day) of
a text and analyze their development; summarize the key
supporting details and ideas.
2. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop
and interact over the course of a text.
Craft and Structure:
1. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the context and
style of a text.
Reading Standards:
1. Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when,
why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details
in a text.
2. Describe how words and phrases supply rhythm and meaning
in a story, poem, or song.
3. Use information gained from the illustrations and words in
a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its
characters, setting, or plot.