Earth Day Recycling Activity

Earth Day is fast approaching and I love being able to share with my students ways in which they can help protect our planet. I thought I would share with you the activity we have been working with this week! This is a very simple activity/lesson to prepare for...especially if you are already a "recycler" like me! :)

I started by gathering a small collection of recyclable items from my recycling bin. 

(I've added a few more items to this collection to include more aluminum cans and glass bottles.) 

Then I decided I needed a book to help explain the recycling process. I went to my elementary school's library and this is the book that I found. This book by Gail Gibbons has great illustrations of the process of recycling and is an easy book to paraphrase so that all ages of students can participate in the activity. 

                                       

After introducing the idea/process of recycling we then used our collection of items and sorted them into different containers. Some students were able to make connections to this activity and shared that they recycled at home. To see their faces when they make a connection and share a personal story is wonderful! 

We had four bins: paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum (cans). In the bottom of each bin I placed a visual of each type of material we were sorting. The students were very engaged in this activity and enjoyed picking items out of the bag. After each student had an item, we labeled the item and then described what it was made of. 

At the conclusion of our sorting activity, the students were very excited to see the many available options of items that can be recycled. 

To follow this activity, I made a category sort activity that uses task cards and sorting mats. This activity can be downloaded for free from my TPT store at the following link: 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Earth-Day-Recycling-Freebie

I also created a poster that I hung out my office door for Earth Day! You can find it for free here:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Earth-Day-Poster-FREE

Thank you for your support and for visiting my blog. Please leave feedback if you download either item from my TPT store! 

Take care, 

~Natalie

Activity Swap

Today I am going to share with you an activity from Jessica, the author of Figuratively Speeching SLP. She is from Long Island, NY, and is one of the first Speech-Language Pathologist I met when I started blogging in January of this year. She has helped me throughout the process, and continues to do so when I have a "newbie" question. We decided to do an "Activity Swap" and today I am going to share one of her great materials with you. 

The name of the activity is Spring Idioms, and it includes:

• 24 idiom cards with matching definitions 
• One 3-page game board
• Poke cards, to include multiple choice idiom definitions
• Blank cards for you to create your own idioms
• Graphic organizer to illustrate the meaning of the idioms

What is special about this activity?? Why do I like it so much??

• It is interactive and my students loved it! The game-board allows the students to visually see their progress as they are participating. 

• The graphic organizer allows students to illustrate and explain the meanings of the idioms. 

• The idiom cards themselves can be paired with their definition.

• The poke cards are a great feature as well. I used them with the game board to initially introduce the idioms, but they can also be used independently to promote self-correction with students.

• The price of this activity is appealing as well. It can be found in her TPT store for only $2.00 at the following link:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spring-Idioms

Thank you Jessica for allowing me to preview this great activity! If you like this activity as much as I do, follow her on Teachers Pay Teachers. There are many more activities in her store (link above) and for up-to-date activity information you can follow her on her FB page, Figuratively Speeching SLP.