We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom

We Are Water Protectors... written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade... is a children's book inspired by the protests led by the Standing Rock Sioux against the Dakota Access Pipeline. In 2021, this book received the Caldecott Medal for its illustrations. We Are Water Protectors is a historically significant book, not only because it shines a light on the current events at Standing Rock, but also because Michaela Goade is the first Indigenous illustrator to win a Caldecott Medal. Keep reading to learn more about We Are Water Protectors and for three social studies minilessons you can use.

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Why You and Your Students Should Go Outside and Take Nature Walks

Not too long ago, I wrote a blog post called 15 Reasons Why Children Need Recess. In that post, I described several of the reasons why children feel like they need outside recess. Many of the children talked about relieving stress, getting exercise, releasing energy, and being able to relax for a bit. In today's guest post by Djew Bennis, Djew explains the benefits of taking your students outside for nature walks to listen to the sounds of nature. She also gives suggestions about integrating nature walks... also referred to as listening walks... with different subject areas. Keep reading to learn more!

The following is a guest post written by Djew Bennis. To learn more about guest posts, please visit the Authors, Publishers, and Sponsors page. Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

  

Pumpkin Balloon Globes

Making pumpkin balloon globes is a fun enrichment activity for your map skills and geography lessons. (It's also a fun way to sneak in a bit of Halloween fun without actually celebrating Halloween.) With minimal materials, your students will be able to create a pumpkin balloon globe that will help them remember where the prime meridian, International Date Line, the North Pole, and the South Pole are and help them remember what lines of longitude are. Keep reading to learn how to integrate making pumpkin balloon globes into your social studies lessons.

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Beatrice's Goat by Page McBrier

Since the mid-1980s, the week between the second and third Saturdays in June has been designated as National Dairy Goat Awareness Week. This week was started in order to educate the American people about the potential of dairy goats and their products. Many communities have festivals during this time in which people can taste foods made with goat milk and meat, try their hands at milking goats, visit goats at petting zoos, learn how to take care of goats, etc. Former President Ronald Reagan himself praised dairy goats for their ability to efficiently convert a wide variety of vegetation into nutritious milk and meat. Yes, goats are great at producing milk and meat. But... I would be at fault if I didn’t tell you about something else that goats can do... goats can change the world.

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.