September 2002 Learning to read is one of the most important (and challenging!) skills for young students. The September issue of LAND, SEA & AIR MAIL goes back to school with great activities and reading lessons for students at the preschool through second grade levels.

Creating animal nametags; pasting, coloring and reading an ocean book; and working with funsheets helps develop reading skills for P-2 students. These activities and background information are contained in PDF files.

SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have a variety of teacher’s guides available at our Teacher Resource Web site. Most subjects have a K-3 level. And if you have missed past LSA issues, you can scroll through all classroom activities archived on one convenient page.

 

Each year, the Anheuser-Busch Environmental Excellence Awards selects eight winning schools out of hundreds of applications. This year, the judges chose two elementary schools, one of which won for an outstanding recycling program. Check out Potter Street Elementary’s “We Always Recycle” project and how these students recycled 14,000 pounds of paper in the first three years!

The deadline for next year’s Environmental Excellence Awards is December 20, 2002. Interested? Here is more information and an application.

Teaching about the environment is not always easy. Do you know a teacher who’s figured out a unique way to inspire students, communicate concepts, or encourage exploration? What about a school that has dedicated itself to a project? We want to hear about them. Use our easy entry form to nominate your favorite school or teacher.

 

 

Julie's Journal
Julie looks at young learners, killer whale learners that is! As SeaWorld San Diego’s two new killer whales approach their 6-month and 1-year birthdays, there’s been a lot of learning going on.

Conservation Partners: National Science Teachers Association
Get great back-to-school tips at the popular National Science Teachers Association Web site. Looking for new reading books for the classroom? NSTA has a recommended reading list of more than 400 books for the K-4 level.

 

The U.S. Department of Education’s Web page “Teaching our Youngest” gives eight great suggestions for early learners plus a “teacher talk” section with suggested dialog between teacher and children.

In his book, Reading Instruction that Works, Michael Pressley, presents what he considers to be "Ten Dumb and Dangerous Claims about Reading Instruction." Can you guess some of them? See this page to read them all.

Looking for a way to involve parents in reading activities? “A Compact for Reading”, a nationwide project headed by the U.S. Department of Education, gives materials and activities for kindergarten, first, second, and third grade students.

The Web site Teach-nology has 18 other links to a variety of subjects on reading, from current research and advice to classroom activities and hand-outs.

 

It’s never too early to learn! Try these books to introduce environmental concepts in the classroom.

1. SeaWorld and Busch Gardens has produced books and videos to help engage young learners. View these online items which are available as a package or individually.
2. The Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter series of Nature Projects for Every Season by Phyllis S. Busch gives general information plus both indoor and outdoor activities.
3. An easy reader with a important lesson, The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest, by Lynne Cherry explores the issue of wildlife conservation. The San Diego County Office of Education developed additional classroom activities for this book.
4. Caring for Our Planet, by Robert E. Rockwell, Elizabeth A. Sherwood, Robert A. Williams and David A Winnett, has 11 activities for second graders on recycling, reducing, and reusing. The activities focus around science process skills from National Science Education Standards.
5. WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands, by Alan S. Kesselheim, Britt Eckhardt Slattery, Susan H. Higgins, and Mark R. Schilling, gives a lighthearted but in-depth overview of wetlands with activities for the classroom and for field trips.

 

 

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COMING NEXT MONTH Come monkey around with us as we get to know primates—chimpanzees, gorillas, orang-utans, baboons, and monkeys—in the October issue of LAND, SEA & AIR MAIL.

SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Information Database
http://www.seaworld.org/ / http://www.buschgardens.org/

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