Objectives
Overview
My goal is to wake up my students’ minds to the world around them. This unit requires students to practice critical thinking skills while learning about environmentalism through many different lenses. The subtopics will be the means for practicing critical thinking skills, as students will have to read various leveled texts, analyze the source’s credibility, relate the information to their lives, and discuss the information in a collegial manner. The subtopics will build upon each other and continuously relate back to the overarching topic of environmentalism.
I expect that it should take a little over two months to teach. I believe that I have constructed this unit to be one that you can do in its entirety or take bits and pieces from. I have provided many supplementary readings and short videos to further your understanding of the topic.
Sources of Information
There will be several ways of enlightening students about the proposed subtopics. The first is through my anchor text, Fleischman’s Eyes Wide Open2. Throughout the reading of this book, I will provide many opportunities to read and investigate supplementary materials that relate the topics described throughout the chapters. My goal isn’t to spend a month on each subtopic. Rather, we will read broadly and then dive deeply into several subtopics that interest the students and spur critical thinking from those resources.
I will use several picture books as further examples to discuss the theme of environmentalism and various subtopics, such as consumerism, capitalism, conservationism, and living closely with the natural environment. Two picture books I plan on using are Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax and D.B. Johnson’s Henry Climbs a Mountain. I will also couple the theme of environmentalism and its subtopics with various related poems and a short story by Ursula Le Guin called “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”.3
The picture books, especially The Lorax, are excellent tools for grounding students’ understanding about these topics. The imagery literally comes to life in these texts, which will help struggling readers in their basic understanding of material. Interpretations of these stories will inspire further dialogue during class discussions.
Furthermore, I will intertwine educational videos that spark student engagement, reach different style learners, and hold interest through what might be the denser parts of the text. Overall, the unit is not meant to be difficult. Rather, I want to excite my students and promote healthy discussion of anything and everything they learn throughout the unit.
Activities
As mentioned, students will investigate relevant supplementary resources to further their learning about a topic. They will analyze, think critically about, and discuss the information with their peers. It’s important to get students talking about the information they learn. I will suggest activities that promote discussion between paired partners, in groups, or in Socratic Seminars.
Once students realize that what they are learning is real and applicable to them, in their own lives, they will invest great interest in understanding the material, discussing the pros and cons of the topics, and figuring out ways to better the world around them.
Summation
In summation, the main goal of the unit is to promote critical thinking about various real world topics that are interesting to students. Fleischman’s book details a lot of information throughout its pages. Rather than spending a month on each topic, I will pick and choose several topics that interest my students. I will provide supplementary articles about these topics, which students will analyze, think critically about, and discuss in a collegial manner.
Each of these topics will relate back to the theme of environmentalism. I will support this theme with various fictional picture books to help students better understand the topics. Students will realize that this theme and these topics are relevant to their own lives. The very best thing that can happen is students become active participants in their own community. The worst, if it can be called that, is that students will learn how to think critically and form educated opinions about the world around them.
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