Lots of Lit (Literature, That Is!) What better way to start the school year than by diving

into a good book (or 2 or 3)! Here are some great eco-

friendly books if you are looking for a way to start the year

off right….whether it’s a read-aloud, a classroom pick, or a

way of getting your nature-centric kids even greener!

Just Grace Goes Green by Charise Mericle Harper

Just Grace is excited by Miss Lois’ new-found

sense of fun…and her passion for the environment. This is a

great book for grades 1-3 (both as a read-aloud for

youngers or a chapter book for olders) to get your green

classroom initiative going. Written in a reader-friendly way,

with illustration galore, it’ll draw your kids in. Offering up a

great chance to study idioms, endangered animals, comic

strips, or even just the environmental facts that are housed

within, it’s a great springboard for your students to share

what’s on their mind!

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

Older kids will enjoy this funny, mysterious,

sometimes irreverent book that is ultimately about teen-

agers who see something that need to be done, and do it.

Plus, did I mention the cute burrowing owls that need a little

habitat protection? Read this one, enjoy, and follow up with

the movie! Scat and Flush are equal Hiassen good reads.

Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French

Again, a great read-aloud for youngers, or a

super read for intermediate olders! The

story turns readers into young activists who find the need

to do something about the deforestation of the Californian

redwoods! How can you NOT take part in this?!

Everyone Needs a Super Hero!

Whether you read Just Grace or not, everyone needs a

superhero. Being both a mom & a teacher who has seen the

magic of Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, kids LOVE

comics. Invite your kids to create their own comic and

design your own super hero to swoop in and make a

difference here on this planet we call Earth!! Use GTG’s

page 2 to design your Man or Woman of Eco-Steel!

The Green Team Gazette Volume 3, Issue 1, page 1 Back to School 2010

Back in Business

Here we are….back to the business

of fall and school starting up.

Exciting times to here this fall

after watching the Plastiki—our favorite plastic water

bottle boat made of 12,500 water bottles. It has

trekked mucho miles across the Pacific Ocean. At the

end of July it accomplished its goal of making it from

San Francisco to Sydney, Australia. We learned a little

more about the Eastern Garbage Patch, and we learned a

little bit about perseverance and how impacts can be

made if people put it in their mindset. Exciting things to

see here in the fall of 2010 with environmental strides

on our horizons. One person can set an example, one

team can make a difference, and changes can be made!!

Thank you Plastiki for showing us that. To learn more,

go to http://www.theplastiki.com/.

Green Team Gazette: The Blog

This summer was a busy one for Green

Team Gazette on both the blog site

(http://greenteamgazette.blogspot.com/)

as well as the Facebook site

(http://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Team-

Gazette/106416856056829?ref=ts) . Check in on the

archives of both for classroom activities, news of the

summer, philosophical findings and more. Be sure to

take a peek at both sites for anything you might have

missed while sunning and funning this summer!

The Green Team Gazette is a publication

co-sponsored by the founders of CynerGreen

CGKidz, and Eagle Cove School (formerly “Gibson Island Country School”), a Green

School in Pasadena, Maryland. Our mission is

to educate and share ways to “go green”—both big & small--

and be environ-mentally-proactive at home, in school, and

beyond. It is written by Vicki Dabrowka, 3rd grade teacher

& co-Green Team Leader at Eagle Cove School. To learn

more visit www.cynergreen.com, www.cgkidz.com, and

www.eaglecoveschool.org. You can also follow us at

http://greenteamgazette.blogspot.com/ or find us at “Green

Team Gazette” on Facebook.

Please print on recycled paper. Copyright © 2010 Vicki Dabrowka

The Green Team Gazette Volume 3, Issue 1 , page 2 Back to School 2010

Copyright ©

2010 Vicki

Dabrowka