Environmental Superheroes of the ELA Classroom

Kindergartners from Golden Charter Academy, a public TK-5 school in Southwest Fresno, California, advocate for and participate in milkweed restoration in critical monarch habitat, thanks to their teachers Taf Wilson and Melanie Smith. In this interview, you will hear Taf and Melanie talk about their monarch butterfly unit and the ways they engage their students with reading, writing, listening, and speaking while saving butterflies in a project that began with a published curriculum unit and is evolving into a city-wide movement.“If you give a problem to Kindergartners, they want to take it to the world, and they need everyone to come help them.” – Taf WilsonFeatured ELA Superheroes:Taf Wilson (she/her)Melanie Smith (she/her)Explore the episode and teacher resources: https://ca-eli.org/ela-superheroes/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greg teaches reading, writing, listening, and speaking to his 4th graders at Union Street Charter School, a public rural elementary school in Humboldt County, California. He simultaneously gets students outside and lets them get their hands dirty. His ongoing local land restoration unit, in partnership with a land trust and a native plant nursery, asks students to research native flora, use database evidence and expert advice to justify and present their choices for the most beneficial and appropriate native plants for the project, write a grant, and then complete the restoration project.“It’s a powerful way to tie kids to the land…We are part of this land, and we are expected to care for it.” – Greg GaeiraFeatured ELA Superheroes:Greg Gaeira (he/him)Explore the episode and teacher resources: https://ca-eli.org/ela-superheroes/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This podcast showcases an interdisciplinary argumentative reading, writing, listening, and speaking unit that asks students to grapple with who should take responsibility for corporate environmental degradation, specifically in the “fast fashion” shoes and jeans industries. Students engage with various texts and use those texts to formulate verbal and written arguments about a high-interest topic. At the end of the unit, students create a social media reel ecological call-to-action using Canva.“Wherever I’m at, I want to contribute. I want to participate in this conversation.” – Marivell ArayasirikulFeatured ELA Superheroes:Marivell Caba Arayasirikul (she/her)Explore the episode and teacher resources: https://ca-eli.org/ela-superheroes/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This place-based, interdisciplinary high school climate justice speculative fiction writing unit asks students to bring in an imaginative lens to address environmental racism and the climate crisis. For this unit, August collaborates with a World History teacher to integrate various writing genres to help students civically and creatively engage with climate solutions.“How can I contribute to an overall environmentally just world?” – August FreasFeatured ELA Superheroes:August Freas (they/them)Explore the episode and teacher resources: https://ca-eli.org/ela-superheroes/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lorena Sanchez is a teacher-librarian serving multilingual learners in grades TK-8 in Tracy Unified School District. Her deep STEM background and participation in the California Writing Project Environmental Literacy and Justice Collaborative inspired her to teach reading, writing, listening, and speaking through the lens of environmental literacy. This podcast features a lesson about a rotting pumpkin that leads students into rich ELA learning opportunities around plant life cycles, composting, and food waste mitigation.“Allow students to be curious and then come up with solutions to environmental justice problems. Integrating environmental justice into English/language arts makes students not only feel more engaged in their reading and writing but also feel they have the power to affect the world around them.” – Lorena SanchezExplore the episode and teacher resources: https://ca-eli.org/ela-superheroes/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jodi teaches sixth-grade English at Yorba Linda Middle School. As part of the California Writing Project Environmental Literacy and Justice Initiative, Jodi created and taught a unit that pairs wonder and nature writing with formulating opinions and argument writing. Her students first connect with nature through a variety of nature writing opportunities, then students use that connection to inspire both argument writing and artistic expression."When you’re talking about environmental justice, kids need to feel like they can do something. It needs to move to the place where they feel like they have power to make change." – Jodi BonkExplore the episode and teacher resources: https://ca-eli.org/ela-superheroes/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gurbir Kahlon engages her high school multilingual learners in Torrance, California, with important literacy skills through the lens of environmental literacy. She has taught units in her ELD classroom on biomimicry, plastic pollution, and climate change. In this podcast, Gurbir discusses her most recent expository reading and writing unit on the powerful story of the resilient tribal communities in Northern California and their successful efforts to remove dams on the Klamath River in order to welcome their salmon home. “Instead of focusing on a doomsday approach to teaching students, which heightens anxiety, I want to work to empower students and offer solutions.” Learn more here: https://ca-eli.org/ela-superheroes/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast, Quinn Cataldi talks about his cannery unit in which his multilingual students learn about the intersections of the Chicano labor movement and social and environmental justice, specifically the ways in which the exploitation of the land and people are intertwined with legacies of colonialism. Students are then empowered to identify and write about equitable solutions that address systemic issues such as the climate crisis."We are trying to reenvision environmentalism as something in our day-to-day lives and interactions with each other. Watsonville is about people pushing back against systems of oppression which are destructive to the environment and to themselves as well."Learn more here: https://ca-eli.org/ela-superheroes/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The podcast features Ryan Hansen, principal of Nesbitt School, discussing how her K–8 school integrated environmental literacy and solutionary teaching across grade levels to increase student engagement and academic rigor. By providing teachers with resources, professional development, and funding, Nesbitt transformed its curriculum, enabling students to tackle real-world environmental challenges and develop critical problem-solving skills. "When we moved to the solutionary approach, it was really about addressing engagement and academic rigor and giving kids those tools to spark them being the solutionaries, or like the problem solvers of real things in the community.” —Ryan Hansen Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This podcast episode explores how middle school teachers at Nesbit School integrate environmental literacy and solutionary teaching across disciplines. Sixth-grade ELA teachers Tim and Kyle, along with science teacher Cass, guide students in researching climate change, extreme weather, and other environmental challenges while developing practical solutions such as disaster preparedness kits and innovative technologies.“We're not introducing them to something to be afraid of. We are demystifying and empowering them around something that they already know is happening.” —Tim McIntyre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.