“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.”
—John Muir
RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS
RESEARCHING AND WRITING NONFICTION VIDEOS
- VIDEO #1 – Planning Choices
- VIDEO #2 – The Research Process
- VIDEO #3 – Word Choice
- VIDEO #4 – Organization
THE FORT – Picture Book
- LESSON PLAN #1 – Creative Writing
- LESSON PLAN #2 – Maps
- ACTIVITIES and COLORING PAGE
ANIMAL ADAPTATIONS Picture Books
- CLASSROOM GUIDE and LESSON PLAN #1 for Stink Fights, Earwax and Other Marvelous Mammal Adaptations
- CLASSROOM GUIDE and LESSON PLAN #2 for Spit Nests, Puke Power, and Other Brilliant Bird Adaptations
- CLASSROOM GUIDE and LESSON PLAN #3 for Sunscreen, Frogsicles, and Other Amazing Amphibian Adaptations
- CLASSROOM GUIDE and LESSON PLAN #4 for Water-Walking, Sidewinding, and Other Remarkable Reptile Adaptations
- CLASSROOM GUIDE and LESSON PLAN #5 for Anti-Freeze, Leaf Costumes, and Other Fabulous Fish Adaptations
OTHER LESSON PLANS
- CLASSROOM GUIDE for Crazy Contraptions: Build Rube Goldberg Machines that Swoop, Spin, Stack, and Swivel
- CLASSROOM GUIDE for Biodiversity: Explore the Diversity of Life on Earth
- CLASSROOM GUIDE for Extinction: What Happened to the Dinosaurs, Mastodons, and Dodo Birds?
- LESSON PLAN – Carbon Footprint
- LESSON PLAN – Green Cities
- LESSON PLAN – Three Out of Four
RESOURCES FOR AUTHORS
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators – www.scbwi.org (and if you are a registered member, be sure to check out The Book: Essential Guide to Publishing for Children and the “Blueboard” Discussion Boards)
The Michelle Begley Mentor Program – https://rmc.scbwi.org/mentor-program/ (for author and illustrator members of the Rocky Mountain chapter of SCBWI interested in a one-on-one mentorship to take their work to the next level)
Evelyn B. Christensen’s site – http://evelynchristensen.com/writers.html (there are many links to resources for writers including a list of educational markets for children’s writers)
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) – https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ (information on grammar, punctuation, research and citation, and many other writing-related topics)
Writing Careers: The Business Behind Becoming an Author – https://www.zenbusiness.com/info/writing-careers/ (recommended to me by a young writer named Anne)
Money-Saving Guide for Authors and Writers – https://couponfollow.com/research/money-saving-guide-authors-writers/ (thanks Hanna for the resource!)
PRINT RESOURCES
- Writing Irresistible Kidlit (Mary Kole)
- The Writer’s Little Helper (James V. Smith, Jr.)
- Creating Character Emotions (Ann Hood)
- The Emotion Thesaurus (Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi)
BIODIVERSITY RESOURCES
California Academy of Sciences: Biodiversity Course – https://www.calacademy.org/biodiversity-course
Center for Biological Diversity – https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/about/story/
E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation – https://eowilsonfoundation.org/
OTHER NATURE and ECOLOGY RESOURCES
nature – “the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth”
ecology – “the branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their environments”
Planet Earth and Planet Earth II Documentaries – Produced by BBC, Narrated by David Attenborough (available on DVD and on Netflix)
Smithsonian: Ocean – https://ocean.si.edu/
Racing Extinction – http://racingextinction.com/
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species – http://www.iucnredlist.org/
The Photo Ark – https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/photo-ark/
NOAA Marine Debris Program – https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/
Algalita Marine Research and Education – http://www.algalita.org/
Ocean Conservancy – http://www.oceanconservancy.org
Water Education Foundation – http://www.watereducation.org/
The Global Water Crisis – http://water.org/water-crisis/
EXPLORING MOUNTAINS
NOVA Online Adventure: Everest – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/
Climbing the Seven Summits – http://climbingthesevensummits.com/
ANIMAL RIGHTS
Farm Animal Rights Movement – http://www.farmusa.org/
Mercy for Animals – http://www.mercyforanimals.org/
North American Vegetarian Society – https://www.navs-online.org/
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows – http://www.carnism.org/carnism-presentations