Elementary Foreign Language Recycling Lesson: Celebrate Earth Day in French, Spanish, and More
Earth Day is April 22, and I’m already cooking up an environmentally-friendly lesson for kindergarten French this week. Here’s the plan:
1. Regular warm-up. I’ll be sure to bring my calendar so that I can show my students the date of Earth Day.
2. Introduce the globe. I have a nice inflatable one that’s great for tossing around the room. I’ll teach the word for Earth, land, and water. We can toss around the globe and say things like, “I love the Earth” or “Happy Earth Day.” Maybe I’ll have the kids catch the ball and say if their thumb lands on land or water.
3. After a good scrubbing, I’m going to bring in my recycling bin and various items that can be recycled. My main 4 vocab words will be: metal, paper, plastic, glass. We’ll do some developmentally appropriate sorting, and then toss everything into the recycling bin.
4. Ever play the game of Four Corners? Kids love it! I’m planning a recycling version that will go like this: I’ll post four signs around the room, one for each type of recyclable. One kid will be IT. IT closes his eyes and counts to ten as the other children go stand by one of the signs. Then I’ll ask, “What will you recycle? Metal, paper, plastic, or glass?” IT chooses an item, and all of the children by that sign go sit down. Now, all of the children who are out also count for the next round, and chant the question with me. We’ll play until there’s only one child left. Maybe another round if there’s time.
5. As a closure, I’m teaching a Recycling Chant. Here’s how it goes:
Recyclez, recyclez (turn hands)
Métal, papier, plastique, verre (clap each syllable)
Sauvez, sauvez, sauvez la Terre (put fists up in the air 4 times as we Save, save, save the Earth)
I look forward to blending content and language in this recycling lesson. Here are some downloads that you might find useful as you, too, teach about Earth Day in French and Spanish:
FRENCH:
FREE French Earth Day Coloring Page (globe)
French Songs and Chants for Earth Day
French Earth Day Vocabulary Matching Worksheet (secondary level)
French Earth Day/Environment Signs
SPANISH:
FREE Spanish Earth Day Coloring (Globe)
Spanish Songs and Chants for Earth Day
Spanish Earth Day Vocabulary Matching (secondary level)
Spanish Environmental Earth Day Signs
Happy Earth Day!
Click here to take the Foreign Language Fun language choice survey
Image Credit: by Sachin Ghodke at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1042526
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Thanks Diane! These tips are great, and I am sharing them with many of our Boca Beth family! YOU ROCK!!!!