A Voice for the Environment

Grade Level: Grade 2 – 3

Content area(s):
ELA, Science, Music, Theatre (optional)

Classroom Time: 2hrs +

Purpose:
To educate the students on the importance of saving our environment, the use of jingles in Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) to educate others of important topics, and the use of their creative ability to create a jingle for a PSA to present.

Skills Addressed:
ELA: Reading for perspective, communication, and applying language
Science skill: Properties and materials, and understanding earth materials
Music Skill: Singing, composing, arranging and uses of music
Theatre (optional): Researching, script writing, comparing and connecting art forms

Supplies:
Paper, pencil, sample PSA’s and jingles (websites provided), book on trash (list provided), topics cut into pieces and a container to put them in, and a video camera (optional)

Lesson Process:

Warm-up –

Read a book like – Demo: The Story of a Junkyard Dog by Jon Bozak, I heard the Willow Weep by Toni Albert, Follow That Trash! By Francine Jacobs, Where Does the Garbage go? (Let’s Read and Find Out Science 2) by Paul Showers, or Recycle!: A handbook for Kids by Gail Gibbons
Show two Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) from the following website involving energy efficiency, pollution or environmental involvement - http://www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=15
Ask students if they know why there are PSA’s – To inform and education people

Lesson procedure –

Discuss where garbage goes and landfills – refer back to one of the books or show the short video at http://pbskids.org/eekoworld/index.html?load=garbage_recycling – no sound, reading involved
Discuss what your school recycles - http://pbskids.org/eekoworld/exchange/detail_recycleschool.html , http://meetthegreens.pbskids.org/episode3/recycle.html and connecting links
Optional – Visit a landfill
Ask students ways they learn information – From their teacher, parents, adults, church, TV, PSA’s, etc
Remind them of the PSA’s they listened to
Give another example; http://www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=15
Tell students companies create “jingles” in order for people to remember their topic. Give two examples: http://www.teachertube.com/search_result.php?search_id=Peer – jingles created by students
Divide students into groups of three
Share with the students the different topics (Attachment 1). Cut the topics into strips.
Put the strips of papers into a container
Each group selects one piece of paper
Each group is to create a jingle in the form of a Public Service Announcement relating to their topic.
The students present the jingle to the class
Select the top 3 jingles to present to other classes, PTO, presented on the announcements or to other groups in the school and/or community.

Student assessment or final product to be developed:

Classroom discussion, teacher observation, jingle and oral presentation

Extension activities (optional)

Students create a commercial with their jingle. Video tape their commercial and distribute it throughout the district/community.
Students create a poster with their jingle as their theme but using recyclable items to decorate the poster. Display the posters in the school reminding other students and staff of the importance of recycling.
If the school does not recycle paper, have students collect boxes to decorate and put in different rooms to collect paper. An adult may need to inquire how the paper will be recycled after it is collected at the school. Ask the school to play the jingles daily during the announcements.
Collect twigs, plastic, paper, etc. lying around the school. Cut into small pieces. Attach the pieces to a piece of poster board creating either a picture or a collage.
The class creates a pledge to reuse, reduce, recycle, and recover materials. Students use their PSA’s to encourage others in the school to recycle.

Attachment 1
Topics may be used more than once

4 R’s – Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, and Recover

Conserve Water

Change 1 light bulb with a CFL and save enough energy to light 1643 hours of reading.

Carpool 1 day per year to save enough energy to play a video game for 25 hours.

Lower the heat by 1 degree and save enough energy to microwave 3980 bags of popcorn.

Compost

NATIONAL STANDARDS

Language Arts:

NL-ENG.K-12.1 READING FOR PERSPECTIVE
Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works

NL-ENG.K-12.4 COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

NL-ENG.K-12.12 APPLYING LANGUAGE SKILLS
Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Science

NS.K-4.2 PHYSICAL SCIENCE
As a result of the activities in grades K-4, all students should develop an understanding of properties of objects and materials

NS.K-4.4 EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE
As a result of their activities in grades K-4, all students should develop an understanding of properties of earth materials

Music

NA-M.K-4.1 SINGING, ALONE AND WITH OTHERS, A VARIED REPERTOIRE OF MUSIC

Achievement Standard:

Students sing independently, on pitch and in rhythm, with appropriate timbre, diction, and posture, and maintain a steady tempo
Students sing expressively, with appropriate dynamics, phrasing, and interpretation
Students sing from memory a varied repertoire of songs representing genres and styles from diverse cultures
Students sing in groups, blending vocal timbres, matching dynamic levels, and responding to the cues of a conductor

NA-M.K-4.4 COMPOSING AND ARRANGING MUSIC WITHIN SPECIFIED GUIDELINES

Achievement Standard:

Students create and arrange music to accompany readings or dramatizations
Students create and arrange short songs and instrumental pieces within specified guidelines (e.g., a particular style, form, instrumentation, compositional technique)
Students use a variety of sound sources when composing

NA-M.K-4.9 UNDERSTANDING MUSIC IN RELATION TO HISTORY AND CULTURE

Achievement Standard:

Students identify various uses of music in their daily experiences and describe characteristics that make certain music suitable for each use

Theatre

NA-T.K-4.1 SCRIPT WRITING BY PLANNING AND RECORDING IMPROVISATIONS BASED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND HERITAGE, IMAGINATION, LITERATURE, AND HISTORY

Achievement Standard:

Students collaborate to select interrelated characters, environments, and situations for classroom dramatizations
Students improvise dialogue to tell stories, and formalize improvisations by writing or recording the dialogue

NA-T.K-4.5 RESEARCHING BY FINDING INFORMATION TO SUPPORT CLASSROOM DRAMATIZATIONS

Achievement Standard:

Students communicate information to peers about people, events, time, and place related to classroom dramatizations

NA-T.K-4.6 COMPARING AND CONNECTING ART FORMS BY DESCRIBING THEATRE, DRAMATIC MEDIA (SUCH AS FILM, TELEVISION, AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA), AND OTHER ART FORMS

Achievement Standard:

Students describe visual, aural, oral, and kinetic elements in theatre, dramatic media, dance, music, and visual arts
Students compare how ideas and emotions are expressed in theatre, dramatic media, dance, music, and visual arts
Students select movement, music, or visual elements to enhance the mood of a classroom dramatization

TEKS

Language Arts

Grade 2

(2.1) Listening/speaking/purposes: The student listens attentively and engages actively in a variety of oral language experiences. The student is expected to: (A) determine the purpose(s) for listening such as to get information, to solve problems, and to enjoy and appreciate (K-3); (B) respond appropriately and courteously to directions and questions (K-3); (C) participate in rhymes, songs, conversations, and discussions (K-3); (D)listen critically to interpret and evaluate (K-3); (F) identify the musical elements of literary language such as its rhymes, repeated sounds, or instances of onomatopoeia (2-3).

(2.3) Listening/speaking/audiences/oral grammar: The student speaks appropriately to different audiences for different purposes and occasions. The student is expected to: (A) choose and adapt spoken language appropriate to the audience, purpose, and occasion, including use of appropriate volume and rate (K-3); (B) use verbal and nonverbal communication in effective ways such as making announcements, giving directions, or making introductions (K-3); (D) present dramatic interpretations of experiences, stories, poems, or plays (K-3);

(2.14)Writing/purposes: The student writes for a variety of audiences and purposes, and in various forms. The student is expected to: (D) write in different forms for different purposes such as lists to record, letters to invite or thank, and stories or poems to entertain (1-3).

Grade 3

(3.1) Listening/speaking/purposes: The student listens attentively and engages actively in various oral language experiences. The student is expected to: (A) determine the purpose(s) for listening such as to get information, to solve problems, and to enjoy and appreciate (K-3); (C) participate in rhymes, songs, conversations, and discussions (K-3); (F) identify the musical elements of literary language, including its rhymes, repeated sounds, or instances of onomatopoeia (2-3).

(3.3) Listening/speaking/audiences/oral grammar: The student speaks appropriately to different audiences for different purposes and occasions. The student is expected to: (A) choose and adapt spoken language appropriate to the audience, purpose, and occasion, including use of appropriate volume and rate (K-3); (B) use verbal and nonverbal communication in effective ways such as making announcements, giving directions, or making introductions (K-3);

(3.4)Listening/speaking/communication: The student communicates clearly by putting thoughts and feelings into spoken words. The student is expected to: (A) use vocabulary to describe clearly ideas, feelings, and experiences (K-3); (B) clarify and support spoken messages using appropriate props, including objects, pictures, and charts (K-3);

Science

Grade 2

(2.2)Scientific processes. The student develops abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry in the field and the classroom. The student is expected to: (A) ask questions about organisms, objects, and events; (B) plan and conduct simple descriptive investigations; (C) compare results of investigations with what students and scientists know about the world;

(2.3)Scientific processes. The student knows that information and critical thinking are used in making decisions. The student is expected to: (A) make decisions using information; (B) discuss and justify the merits of decisions; and (C) explain a problem in his/her own words and identify a task and solution related to the problem.

(2.7)Science concepts: The student knows that many types of change occur. The student is expected to: (A) observe, measure, record, analyze, predict, and illustrate changes in size, mass, temperature, color, position, quantity, sound, and movement; (B) identify, predict, and test uses of heat to cause change such as melting and evaporation;

(2.8)Science concepts: The student distinguishes between living organisms and nonliving objects. The student is expected to: (A) identify characteristics of living organisms; and (B) identify characteristics of nonliving objects.

Grade 3

(3.1)Scientific processes. The student conducts field and laboratory investigations following home and school safety procedures and environmentally appropriate and ethical practices. The student is expected to: (A) demonstrate safe practices during field and laboratory investigations; and (B) make wise choices in the use and conservation of resources and the disposal or recycling of materials.

(3.2)Scientific processes. The student uses scientific inquiry methods during field and laboratory investigations. The student is expected to: (A) plan and implement descriptive investigations including asking well-defined questions, formulating testable hypotheses, and selecting and using equipment and technology; (B) collect information by observing and measuring; (C) analyze and interpret information to construct reasonable explanations from direct and indirect evidence; (D) communicate valid conclusions

(3.8)Science concepts: The student knows that living organisms need food, water, light, air, a way to dispose of waste, and an environment in which to live. The student is expected to: (A) observes and describes the habitats of organisms within an ecosystem; (C) describes environmental changes in which some organisms would thrive, become ill, or perish; and

(3.11) Science concepts: The student knows that the natural world includes earth materials and objects in the sky. The student is expected to: (A) identify and describe the importance of earth materials including rocks, soil, water, and gases of the atmosphere in the local area and classify them as renewable, nonrenewable, or inexhaustible resources; (B) identify and record properties of soils such as color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support the growth of plants

Music

Grade 2

(2.1)Perception: The student describes and analyzes musical sound and demonstrates musical artistry. The student is expected to: (C) identify music forms such as AB and ABA

(2.3)Creative expression/performance: The student reads and writes music notation. The student is expected to: (A) read and write simple music notation, using a system (letters, numbers, and syllables); and (B) read and write music that incorporates basic rhythmic patterns in simple meters.

(2.4)Creative expression/performance: The student creates and arranges music within specified guidelines. The student is expected to: (A) create rhythmic phrases; and (B) create melodic phrases.

(2.5)Historical/cultural heritage: The student relates music to history, to society, and to culture. The student is expected to: (C) identify relationships between music and other subjects.

Grade 3

3.3) Creative expression/performance: The student reads and writes music notation. The student is expected to: (A) read music notation, using a system (letters, numbers, syllables); (B) write music notation, using a system (letters, numbers, syllables); (C) read and write music that incorporates basic rhythmic patterns in simple meters; and

(3.4) Creative expression/performance: The student creates and arranges music within specified guidelines. The student is expected to: (A) create rhythmic phrases; and (B) create melodic phrases.

(3.5)Historical/cultural heritage: The student relates music to history, to society, and to culture. The student is expected to: (C) describe relationships between music and other subjects.

Theatre

Grade 2

(2.1) Perception: The student develops concepts about self, human relationships, and the environment, using elements of drama and conventions of theatre. The student is expected to: (A) react to sensory experiences; (B) expand spatial awareness in dramatic play, using expressive and rhythmic movement; (C) participate in dramatic play, using actions, sounds, and dialogue;

(2.3) Creative expression/performance: The student applies design, directing, and theatre production concepts and skills. The student is expected to: (A) select aspects of the environment for use in dramatic play; (B) adapt the environment for dramatic play, using simple materials; (C) plan dramatic play; and (D) cooperate and interact with others in dramatic play.

(2.5)Response/evaluation: The student responds to and evaluates theatre and theatrical performances. The student is expected to: (A) identifies and applies appropriate audience behavior; (C) employ music, creative movement, and visual components in dramatic play

Grade 3

(3.2)Creative expression/performance: The student interprets characters, using the voice and body expressively, and creates dramatizations. The student is expected to: (A) demonstrate safe use of movement and voice; (B) participate in a variety of roles in real life and imaginative situations through narrative pantomime, dramatic play, and story dramatization;

(3.5)Response/evaluation: The student responds to and evaluates theatre and theatrical performances. The student is expected to: (A) evaluates and applies appropriate audience behavior consistently; (C) incorporate music, movement, and visual components in dramatic play

The mission of Project GRAD is to ensure a quality public education for all students in economically disadvantaged communities so that high school and college graduation rates increase.