How
to connect writing and science? Both are
important areas for learning for students of all ages. At the same time that you teach one, you
might look for opportunities to reinforce learning in the other.
The
website of the publisher of my new nonfiction picture book, Mighty Mole and Super Soil (ages 4-9),
features an article with activities related to the book (including making a dirt cake) and Common Core-related projects.
Here
are two activities that connect writing with science:
DIRT LETTERS: The United Nations named 2015 the International
Year of Soils, in honor of this important resource. Soil is vital to the health of the planet,
but most humans rarely think of it because they can’t see it.
Classroom
discussion: Have students look around the room and out
the windows and brainstorm ways that soil is important to life.
Writing: Young elementary-aged children might choose
one of those ways and write and illustrate a letter thanking soil for what it
has done/gives and how that particular child has benefitted. Older children might send their letters to a
congressman.
Sharing: Letters
might be posted on a classroom bulletin board, to help celebrate World Soil Day
on December 5 (as well as the year-long celebration). Also the class as a whole might plant a seed
or transplant a houseplant into a special pot so that students can feel soil
and experience it through many of their senses.
(Chad Wallace brings the underground world to vivid life through his
illustrations for Mighty Mole and Super
Soil, and students might look at them as they illustrate their letters.)
Playing with
Font/Letter Shapes: Patty Arnold, the book’s designer, worked
carefully with the font so that the title and words in the main story look
“gritty,” as if they’re fashioned from soil.
As Patty says, the shape and design of the words can help to create a
picture and enhance the story. Students
might make some of their words (such as “soil”) look as if they’re made of
dirt, perhaps by using a brown crayon when writing that one word.
ARGUE ON PAPER: Mighty Mole
and Super Soil
grew out of an ongoing discussion with one of my brothers about moles. I was Team Mole, appreciating the shy mammal in
our backyard. Moles mix and contribute
to healthy soil. My brother was Team No
Mole, irritated by the ridges and molehills in his plush lawn. He called the mole a pest! Doing the research to persuade him otherwise
gave me the idea to write this book, which I dedicated to him. J
Classroom
discussion: Ask students to list creatures that many
people label as pests (specific types of animals or weeds, perhaps). Why are they considered pests? What do they do that disturbs humans?
Research and
Prep: Ask students to each choose one of these
“pests” and to research its benefits (find at least three). Then ask them to close their eyes and
“become” this pesky animal or plant.
What does it see, hear, smell, taste, and feel? What is its world like?
Writing: Continue to pretend to be that pesky animal
or plant, and write a letter from it to someone (the world at large, an
exterminator, a mole catcher, human parent, etc.) to persuade that person that
it is not a pest. Why should this
creature or plant NOT be destroyed or removed?
Have students work in pairs to peer review one another’s work and
enhance the persuasiveness.
Share: Ask for volunteers to share and encourage
students to send their letters to the person or to a newspaper editor or
organization.
www.maryquattlebaum.com
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