Applying the Framework: Informational and Fictional Texts
Book In Component About Component
Professor Figgy’ s Weather and Climate Science Lab for Kids, by Jim Noonan
This book contains seven units addressing weather and climate topics, including“ Severe Weather Events” and“ Climate in Crisis.” Each unit presents details about the topic followed by seven to eight lab activities.
The book contains outdoor activities to teach about weather and climate. Teachers can take children outdoors to observe real weather phenomena to support inquiry-based learning.
The book contains experiments to teach about weather and climate. Teachers can integrate cross-curricular learning by exploring science concepts and extending the lessons through storytelling or art.
Coco’ s Fire: Changing Climate Anxiety into Climate Action, by Jeremy D. Wortzel and Lena K. Champlin
This book describes how Coco the squirrel and her father are on a quest to stop climate change. It includes a model adult – child conversation about climate change.
Teachers can introduce strategies to develop emotional awareness about the natural world. For example, take children outdoors and prompt them to listen to birds, wind, and rustling leaves to relax. Bring natural items indoors, such as a found feather, for children to use during mindful breathing.
The book provides age-appropriate explanations about climate change. Teachers can focus on caring, connection, and action. For example, have the children brainstorm how they can help like Coco does. from making random marks to more intentional, and eventually representational, drawings. As they do so, children can demonstrate their ideas and experiences through their artwork rather than solely relying on their still developing oral and written language skills. By ages 5 to 7, children’ s drawings are more realistic and purposeful( Marotz 2023). They are not simply representations of the world but also include children’ s own perceptions, communicating about emotions and experiences. Art can nurture children’ s abilities to identify and express their emotions and be aware of others’( Ishaq 2006; Morizio et al. 2022). Toward that end, arts and literacy activities can be blended to foster knowledge and skills across domains( Aerila et al. 2024).
Through the familiar activity of drawing and creating, teachers can learn more about children’ s ideas, perceptions, interests, and needs. Strategies include the following( NAEYC 2020):
› Encouragement( While mixing red and blue paint,“ You are so close to matching the shade of the lilacs in the garden. Keep going!”)
› Extending children’ s current skill(“ Two pieces of clay can be pinched together with water like this; now you try.”).
Moreover, children develop problem-solving skills as they address technical and conceptual challenges and use critical and creative thinking when they make and explain their own art( Pitri 2013). Teachers can engage families too; for example, teachers can create a traveling sketchbook where families regularly add a drawing or photo, or a take-home art bag for families to create their own unique representations that can be displayed in a family art museum in a common area of the school.( See“ Applying the Framework: Natural and Recycled Materials in Artistic Representation” on page 46 for more detailed examples.)
› Simple yet genuine acknowledgment of children’ s words and actions(“ You drew two types of leaves to show these are different kinds of trees!”)
44 Young Children
Winter 2025