Literature+Asignment

Literature and the School Library – Barton Burness Annotation: 1. __Dear Children of the Earth__ by Schim Schimmel Mother Earth is writing a letter to children saying that it is the land, the grass, the rivers and lakes, the oceans, the forests and deserts, the white glaciers, etc., asking to be loved and cared for. The children should see all of the animals as their sisters and brothers, and are worried because their homes are being destroyed or poisoned. It asks, what if all these creatures were no more? The earth would be lonely – and so would humans. The earth is asking each human to do their part in saving the earth, and it’s inhabitants. Mother Earth says, "When you love me, you will take care of me, and protect me." Connection to the theme: Nature needs our help to keep both her and our sister and brother animals safe.

2. The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry In the think of the Amazon forest, a man is chopping down a Great Kapok tree. He decides to take a nap, and one-by-one the different forest creatures whisper in his ear, begging him not to destroy their home and how important every tree is the rain forest. When he awakes, the forest child and other creatures are staring at him. He is amazed at the variety of rare creatures, smells the "perfume" of the flowers. He decides to drop his axe and walk away. Connection to the theme: The creatures are sending a conservation message to humans to not destroy the Amazon rainforest.

3. Lulie the Iceberg by Her Imperial Highness of Japan, Princess Takamado Lulie the Iceberg has many friends in Greenland, represented by the Arctic animals, sea life and birds, especially Kiki, the Arctic Tern. Lulie is looking for an adventure, and wants to travel to Antarctica to meet the "elder", wise icebergs, as well as meeting new, strange friends down there. So his friends give him a push and wish him well. In the middle of the journey near the equator, the winds are helping him speed up his travel, so the warmer environment won’t melt and kill him. But he tells the wind to stop, so he can rescue a girl who fell off a boat due to the wind. The girl gets back to her father; Lulie successfully completes his journey, one day to become an elder himself. Throughout the story, the book refers to several of earth’s creatures. In the glossary, it provides details of the earth and sea, the Polar Regions, ice and a description of the creatures named in the book. Connection to the theme: There are a wide variety of creatures in both Polar Regions, and they are threatened by global warming.

4. Wolf Island by Celia Godkin Wolf Island is a place where there is enough food for all. There are several kinds of life. In addition to trees, bushes and grass, there are deer, rabbits, squirrels, foxes, several kinds of birds, and a family of wolves with their cubs. One day the wolf cubs discover a man-made raft, and jump on it to investigate, only to be swept away into the lake. The parents catch up with them, by getting on the raft too. They drift to the mainland, where life becomes harder, because there are already wolves on the mainland, competing for food. In their absence, the deer over-populate, and eat up too much of the grass and leaves, even the bark of the trees, killing the trees. The rabbits eat less and have fewer babies, because the deer ate their food. This means the foxes have less food. The mice have less food, so there are less of them, which mean the owls that feed on them also have less food. So everyone is very hungry during the cold winter. Ice connects the mainland with Wolfe Island, allowing the wolves to return. They are very hungry, and start eating the weak and sick deer. In the spring, there is once again enough food for all. Connection to the theme: If you remove an animal from nature, it hurts every animal. 5. __The Ever-Living Tree__ by Linda Vieira This book is about the Pacific Northwest Coast Sequoia Redwood Tree, which started to grow 50 million years ago, around the time of the dinosaurs. It survived the glaciers, even forest fires, while human history was unfolding across the ocean. The tree was home where mammals, birds, insects, and reptiles lived together in a natural balance. It became over 300 feet tall – "one of the tallest living things on the face of the earth." One day there was a terrible storm, and a bolt of lightning hit the tree at it’s most vulnerable part, causing the trunk to break into pieces. Yet the tree lived on, and "Soon a new tree began to grow up from the broken trunk." The old tree was decomposed by the insects and became soil as nutrients. The trees today stand "longer than a football field." "Like history, life in a coast redwood forest goes on and on." Connection to the theme: We marvel at our own history, and yet nature has a wondrous history of survival of it’s own, and we must ensure it’s continued survival. Theme: The Environment Curricular Connections: Life Systems: Grade 6 – Diversity of Living Things Overview: To acquire first-hand experience in studying the diversity of living things Overall Expectations: Demonstrate an understanding of ways in which classification systems are used to understand the diversity of living things and the interrelationships among living things. Language Grade 6 Oral Communication Clarity and Coherence: Communicate orally in a clear, coherent manner, using appropriate organizing strategies, and formats to link and sequence ideas and information How I would integrate these works into a Library Program After the books dealing with the environment were read and discussed with the students, I would pose a question for them to see: "Mother Earth needs our help. Write her a letter telling how you can help love, care and protect Mother Earth." Then we would brainstorm how they could do that. It could be approached from two different directions: 1. What can we do (i.e. recycle, use a compost, plant a tree, turn lights off when you don’t need to use them)? 2. What must we do less of (i.e. don’t litter, don’t drive a car as much, don’t cut down trees)? The students do a draft, and the subsequent editions are peer-edited. The final copy has a picture as a cover, and folded inside is the letter (see sample). Students take turns presenting to the class, by memorizing the words and speaking in a proper way that they are clearly understood. Students in the audience practice attentive listening. Annotation: 1. __Dear Children of the Earth__ by Schim Schimmel Mother Earth is writing a letter to children saying that it is the land, the grass, the rivers and lakes, the oceans, the forests and deserts, the white glaciers, etc., asking to be loved and cared for. The children should see all of the animals as their sisters and brothers, and are worried because their homes are being destroyed or poisoned. It asks, what if all these creatures were no more? The earth would be lonely – and so would humans. The earth is asking each human to do their part in saving the earth, and it’s inhabitants. Mother Earth says, "When you love me, you will take care of me, and protect me." Connection to the theme: Humans have a responsibility to protect the world in which we live in.

2. The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry In the think of the Amazon forest, a man is chopping down a Great Kapok tree. He decides to take a nap, and one-by-one the different forest creatures whisper in his ear, begging him not to destroy their home and how important every tree is the rain forest. When he awakes, the forest child and other creatures are staring at him. He is amazed at the variety of rare creatures, smells the "perfume" of the flowers. He decides to drop his axe and walk away. Connection to the theme: The creatures are sending a conservation message to humans to not destroy the Amazon rainforest.

3. Lulie the Iceberg by Her Imperial Highness of Japan, Princess Takamado Lulie the Iceberg has many friends in Greenland, represented by the Arctic animals, sea life and birds, especially Kiki, the Arctic Tern. Lulie is looking for an adventure, and wants to travel to Antarctica to meet the "elder", wise icebergs, as well as meeting new, strange friends down there. So his friends give him a push and wish him well. In the middle of the journey near the equator, the winds are helping him speed up his travel, so the warmer environment won’t melt and kill him. But he tells the wind to stop, so he can rescue a girl who fell off a boat due to the wind. The girl gets back to her father; Lulie successfully completes his journey, one day to become an elder himself. Throughout the story, the book refers to several of earth’s creatures. In the glossary, it provides details of the earth and sea, the Polar Regions, ice and a description of the creatures named in the book. Connection to the theme: There are a wide variety of creatures in both Polar Regions, and they are threatened by global warming.

4. Wolf Island by Celia Godkin Wolf Island is a place where there is enough food for all. There are several kinds of life. In addition to trees, bushes and grass, there are deer, rabbits, squirrels, foxes, several kinds of birds, and a family of wolves with their cubs. One day the wolf cubs discover a man-made raft, and jump on it to investigate, only to be swept away into the lake. The parents catch up with them, by getting on the raft too. They drift to the mainland, where life becomes harder, because there are already wolves on the mainland, competing for food. In their absence, the deer over-populate, and eat up too much of the grass and leaves, even the bark of the trees, killing the trees. The rabbits eat less and have fewer babies, because the deer ate their food. This means the foxes have less food. The mice have less food, so there are less of them, which mean the owls that feed on them also have less food. So everyone is very hungry during the cold winter. Ice connects the mainland with Wolfe Island, allowing the wolves to return. They are very hungry, and start eating the weak and sick deer. In the spring, there is once again enough food for all. Connection to the theme: In nature, there is a food chain balance that must be maintained for all creatures to survive. Otherwise, starvation and possible extinction may result. 5. __The Ever-Living Tree__ by Linda Vieira This book is about the Pacific Northwest Coast Sequoia Redwood Tree, which started to grow 50 million years ago, around the time of the dinosaurs. It survived the glaciers, even forest fires, while human history was unfolding across the ocean. The tree was home where mammals, birds, insects, and reptiles lived together in a natural balance. It became over 300 feet tall – "one of the tallest living things on the face of the earth." One day there was a terrible storm, and a bolt of lightning hit the tree at it’s most vulnerable part, causing the trunk to break into pieces. Yet the tree lived on, and "Soon a new tree began to grow up from the broken trunk." The old tree was decomposed by the insects and became soil as nutrients. The trees today stand "longer than a football field." "Like history, life in a coast redwood forest goes on and on." Connection to the theme: We marvel at our own history, and yet nature has a wondrous history of survival of it’s own, and we must ensure it’s continued survival. - Barton Burness Roselands SERT