Earth Day Videos You've Been Looking For

With Earth Day this Saturday ahead, odds are high that classrooms all over are talking about Earth Day either this week or even next ... or both. Here are some last minute visual finds that might be just what you are looking for in your classroom, no matter what level you teach:

Early Elementary

You can also find more at this link to SimplyKinder.

Middle to Upper Elementary

Middle School, High School, or Older

Earth Day Animated in 5 minutes is also pretty cool. Click here to watch as the creator does not allow playback on other websites.

Image created on canva.com and Videos from: https://youtu.be/IkBRbiRyeuU; https://youtu.be/BIRJgGgqSgU; https://youtu.be/YKhRmZskj9k; https://youtu.be/HnepmcAt1JA; https://youtu.be/qtyBzFV9yTs; https://youtu.be/RNFIPZE5KEg;https://youtu.be/PL31i1cu22U; and https://youtu.be/b6LUaGy1ChA

Earth Hour Tonight & "You're The Voice"

"You're The Voice" is perfectly named for this anthem, put together by the group 1 Million Women. Although it was released in 2015, it may not be something you have seen before. 

Sharing it here during March & Women's History Month & on the day of Earth Hour is also well-timed. So many times throughout the course of history, women's voices have been silenced. Yet here, it serves as the perfect foil--countering the silence and being the voice of change, climate action, hope, and leadership.

It also is the perfect anthem for Earth Hour, a long-standing, environmental and global grassroots movement dating back to 2007. Make your voice heard tonight, Saturday, March 27th from 8:30--9:30 in your time zone by turning out your lights. Also, be sure on the 27th to check out Earth Hour's virtual spotlight. To learn more, check out my previous GTG post from 3/20/2021.

Earth Hour's Virtual Spotlight Video: Share it forward!

Image created on canva.com and Video from https://youtu.be/7-3FuApUbnc and https://youtu.be/hvBsgfn_cvY

Steve Trash! To The Rescue!!

Ahhh... to be known as a "rockin' eco hero," a comedian, and a magician. It might just be the trifecta.

Steve Trash holds this triangular title, and has been in action since 1984 spreading the message of recycling, sustainability, and being an environmental steward.



He's taken his show on the road just about everywhere: North America, Europe, Asia, multiple news channels, PBS, and issue of Weekly Reader, and more. He's got a YouTube channel with well over 250 videos. He has 2 albums and music videos along with his Trash TV series and more. He has a blog he's maintained since 2008.  He even has a bank of solar panels in his front yard. He's all in, and all about ecology, science, STEM-STEAM, and even some videos on character development like manners, bullying, taking responsibility, empathy, being a good friend, digital literacy, and more.

He's everything you'd want an environmental educator to be! Definitely check out the plethora of resources he has on his website and YouTube channel when you are wanting to bring a little zip to your classroom eco unit!

Video from https://youtu.be/LMypY08YWqA, photo from http://www.stevetrash.com/bio

Linda Richards: A Musical Magician

The strains of the 1970s song "Reunited" are going through my head.

 An old friend is back in town.

These are the things that make your heart sing... especially when songs are involved.

Songs are always involved when it comes to Linda Richards, the mastermind behind S.L.Y.M.I: Sing Like You Mean It. Linda's music education program strives to connect kids (young and old) in music with a meaning and meant to share a message. Linda's mantra: "Songs can change the world!"

Linda, an avid environmental educator, has a rich history, in both environmentalism & music. Working with Pete Seeger on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, she developed a music program called the Power of Song. Linda uses music to enrich content, tying it to emotions while connecting kids to the outdoors, social awareness, & the importance of empathy, respect, & caring for our world.

It's through environmental education that I first met Linda Richards, 10 years ago, at a li'l river-side eco school that sadly no longer is there.
A friend of our science teacher, Linda came to enjoy our Earth Day assembly. There, the 2 of them decided that the following year they could orchestrate a far better assembly... especially if Linda came for two days--writing eco parodies with our elementary students on Day 1 so that they could then BE the assembly the following day. For 6 years, it was an annual Earth Week assembly... which truly made our hearts sing.

Fast forward. My eco school, Eagle Cove, closed in 2014, & all of my colleagues (& students) had to flee the nest. We did, we scattered, we landed, we compared notes, & I found myself thanking my lucky stars where I landed. Some of us did better than others. I was one of the lucky ones! Life moved on, & then with my help (& others), my new school became a green school last spring. Along the way, I shared my ECS eco-experience. In our new green scene, we were looking for an Earth Day Assembly 2017. Enter Linda Richards, & the circle of life. Hakuna Matata.

Linda spent a day at my school, entertaining the younger students in a lively assembly. She & each of our 3rd grade classes wrote eco-parodies.
Our day wrapped up with another assembly for grades 3-5 where the 3rd graders were part of the featured entertainment.

Ahh! To old times, familiar memories, & another crop of kids who get to experience the importance of environmentalism & social awareness through song.
It's a beautiful, wonderful thing.

Here are the 2 songs that Linda Richards wrote with our 3rd graders:

Take Me Out to the Ocean
sung to the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

Take me out to the ocean,
Take me out to the beach,
Help me to pick up the bottle caps,
And find ways to recycle the trash.
And there's oil from boats in the Chesapeake,
The rockfish and oysters are mad!
Stop! Help the Chesapeake and
Save the Day... Hooray!

This Bay Is Your Bay
sung to the tune of "This Land is Your Land"

This bay is your bay,
This bay is my bay,
From our own school,
All the way to Baltimore.
From the longest rivers,
To the deepest oceans,
This bay was made for you and me.

As I was fishing, I saw a rockfish.
It was so slimy, and trapped in plastic.
I helped the rockfish,
And recycled the plastic
What can we do to save our world?

To relive some of my favorite memories with Linda Rivers making magic and music with my former students, check out the links below:

• A Very Full Earth Day Bay Week
  
• ECS Earth Week Day 1 & 2
• Earth Week Excitement
• Eco Songs: We've Been Workin' On the River
• Eco Songs: Terrapins, Terrapins
• Eco Songs: We Will, We Will...Recycle
• Garbage, Garbage, Garbage, Garbage... GARBAGE
• Small Actions Do Make a Monumental Difference
• Earth Day and Bay Week's Eagle Cove Eco Concert
• SLYMI: Sing Like You Mean It

For other ways to visit Linda Richards (because you know you want to)...
Check out her music album that she released earlier this year. (An easy place to get it is iTunes.)
To see the types of music programs she could bring to your school, center, or event go to her Programs page.

Images from our school's photographer; SLYMI logo from http://www.slymi.net/.

Sesame Street Tugs Our Heart

It's hard to believe the start of the 46th Season of Sesame Street is just around the corner.


Though the intro has changed visually over the years, that song still rings true.  All of which probably make last week's news of the restructuring of Sesame Street & the loss of three of their key and
longstanding actors even more ground shaking for those of us who grew up on the wholesome diet of Sesame Street.  Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when "Bob," "Gordon," & "Luis" feel like old friends. (Actors McGrath, Roscoe Orman and Emilio Delgado, respectively.)

Even when you haven't watched the show in maybe 10 years (and that "you" would be ME due to my children outgrowing it), you feel the loss.  It's the loss of "the good stuff" that has stood the test of time.  It's the loss of knowing and taking pleasure in the fact that it was out there. And it's also that secondary loss of losing something that was a part of my childhood that I grew up with.

There's some controversial conversation that maybe the backlash was not well received, and the "Powers That Be" over at HBO may be reconsidering this decision. Time will tell.

In the July 28th article "Five Times Bob, Luis and Gordon from ‘Sesame Street’ Taught Us to Be Better" by Gabe Meline, we take comfort in where this trio of gentleman have taken us.  It seems especially contradictory to this election year when it seems we haven't an empathetic "gentleman" in the race. (Though half of the reason is because we have a historic election year with our first female to be a major party candidate nomination, so kudos to Hillary Clinton for that!). The 5 video clips in the article are throwbacks to how great these 3 gents were at serving as role models for young viewers. Gabe too shows how these messages stay with those of us who are now adults.

In thinking and reminiscing about the cast of human and muppet characters on Sesame Street, I'm thrown into a meandering down memory lane--many of which are accompanied with their songs and my own Sesame Street soundtrack.  Cookie Monster. Big Bird. Elmo. Snuffleupagus. Maria & Susan. Bert & Ernie. Grover. The Count. Kermit. Oscar the Grouch. Sesame Street always took the big and small life lessons and peppered them in amidst the ABCs and 123s. Sometimes with big name stars along the way.

Take for instance this music parody video with Macklemore from January 2015 as he and Oscar take on trash.  Oscar's been in that trash can for 45 years and counting....and he's still there.  But, at least he is enlightening us along the way

For more trips down memory lane, here you can find "11 'Sesame Street' Videos for Earth Day."

If you still haven't gotten your fill....here's a collection of 99 environmental videos from Sesame Street!

Thank you for all you've taught us these 45 years, Sesame Street. Cheers to your 46th year ahead--may it be the start of many, many more.

Sesame Street video opener for the 46th Season https://youtu.be/b2rBhpVDzO8;
Images from http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/07/29/sesame-street-looking-to-bring-back-senior-cast-members-after-uproar/; "Sesame Street" sign picture with Bob and Gordon from http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/07/28/five-times-bob-luis-and-gordon-taught-us-to-be-better-on-sesame-street/; video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=90&v=STH9ZpeFH2o

Prince Ea's "Man vs Earth"

I think I have found my new modern-day superhero. His name is Prince Ea. His focus: to bring wisdom to words, peace through poetry, magic through music-filled imagry, and radical change through inspirational rapping.

In 2009 he founded an organization called “Make SMART Cool,” where SMART stands for "Sophisticating Millions and Revolutionizing Thought." Its goal: to promote positive social change in a myriad of ways through events, speaking engagements, performances and more.

Here's his "Man vs Earth" video, which speaks volumes and details his connection with standforthetrees.org.



To learn more about Prince Ea, check out his website.

Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrzbRZn5Ed4, image from http://respect-mag.com/2016/01/conversations-in-light-with-prince-ea/ 

S.L.Y.M.I. (Sing Like You Mean It!)

Music is powerful. Just last night, walking into a restaurant, I heard the classic 1976 Stevie Wonder song "Sir Duke" playing. That's the song with these lyrics (which has always meant more to me than the song title itself):

Music is a world within itself
With a language we all understand
With an equal opportunity
For all to sing, dance and clap their hands
But just because a record has a groove
Don't make it in the groove
But you can tell right away at letter A
When the people start to move
They can feel it all over

They can feel it all over people
They can feel it all over
They can feel it all over people

Hearing this song took me back instantly to my grandparents' house when I was probably 8 years old. I was staying there while my folks were on vacation for the week. Being a self-entertaining-unit, I played that song over and over again during that week, trying to work up some kind of dance routine--because that's what 8 year olds do!

Walking into dinner last night, I was transported to 8-year-old-me.

That is the power of music!

And that is the power of Music Education. Our kids need it as music is an enhancer, a connector, a brain activator, an enlightener, an energizer, and it can make learning more fun.

Luckily, there's an agent out there who is working to bring music to our classrooms. Her name is Linda Richards.

Linda has come to Kickstarter with a new to music education program: S.L.Y.M.I. (Sing Like You Mean It!). Her goal--to connect learning through song to capture concepts. 

I've seen Linda in action--she's a powerhouse full of amazing!! For 6 years while I was teaching at Eagle Cove School in Pasadena, Maryland, she was a touchstone & annual tradition to our Earth Week. Visiting each class, Linda could get a group of kids (whether 1st or 5th graders) to whip up & perfect an eco-parody song in a half hour. The production at the end of the week was a magical, musical experience where students' self esteem soared while they performed their songs for the school community.

S.L.Y.M.S's Kickstarter funding deadline ends October 25th, meaning there is still time to jump on Linda's "music bandwagon" and be one of her backers. You can go there to donate to her cause, as well as to learn more and see her perform her program's philosophy in song.

Other places you can find Linda Richards:

* LindaRichardsAdventures.com
* SLYMI on Facebook

You can also find her in my Green Team Gazette Archives:

• Green Team Gazette: Earth Day!! The Eagle Cove Way!!
• Green Team Gazette: A Very Full Earth Day-Bay Week
• Green Team Gazette: Eco-Songs: Terrapins, Terrapins
• Green Team Gazette: Happy Earth Day 2015
• Garbage, Garbage, Garbage, Garbage... GARBAGE
• Green Team Gazette: Earth Week Excitement

What SLYMI offers:

• assemblies & class visits, 
• opportunities to collaborate, create, write songs, & perform music, 
• concept building, raising social awareness, integrating curricular areas, connection making, & weaving in the wonderment of music.

"Children + Music = The Agent of Change...When I look into the future, I see this program growing thoughtful, spirited, socially aware, participatory musicians. Your support in this Kickstarter campaign will set those songs in motion sooner rather than later. The time for those songs is right now."          ~ Linda Richards, from her S.L.Y.M.I. Kickstarter Campaign

Crowd image of Linda Richards from https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/911444452/slymi-sing-like-you-mean-it/posts/1353788 and a screenshot of her singing her video on http://thecrowdfundingcentre.com/videos/play?id=8BD3FF

Stevie Wonder lyrics from https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tjjg23qx75gdnvo6kgiuxmmtu3u?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics

"You Can't Touch Music" quote from https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/0c/f4/e6/0cf4e628ea4f1615e5874c573091f7b3.jpg

Happy Earth Day 2015

As a person who has come to travel the path o'green (the one that has nothing to do with the Blarney Stone), Earth Day is a favorite holiday of mine.  Earth Days in school are particularly fun because you see these little human sponges just soaking in the knowledge.  They "get" it.  They see it.  They innately see the importance of talking about saving the environment & its resources. The environment a lot of time is the place that holds kids' play places (even in this TV-tech realm), their animals, the places they want to be barefoot outside in.  The place where their curiosity is ripe, and the place where hands-on learning just comes naturally.  Naturally in nature...naturally, of course.

Today at my school, we had a pretty neat (& new) event called the "Earth Day Family Maker Night."  It was a fabulous night of invention, upcycling, reusing, creating, & celebrating Earth Day.  It's something definitely worth sharing, and will be featured here sometime soon.  Additionally, a week ago, we had Celine Cousteau, granddaughter of oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, come to campus as part of a commemorative lecture series. That's another dynamic eco-piece I'm eager to write about as it was fascinating.

But for tonight, this most sacred of environmental holidays, I'm wanting to pay tribute to the most greenest of schools I've ever known, a school that holds many a memory, but yet unfortunately is now a memory itself.  Tonight, I'm honoring the 8-year MD "Green" School Eagle Cove, which closed its doors the last time last June, shortly after its final 5th grade Graduation.  Eagle Cove School was a place where "Earth Day" was not a just day, but a week, an annual event, & a lot of fun.
It was the place:

• Where Earth Day musicals happened every year as created by our amazingly creative science & music teachers;

•  Where a marvelous musician named Linda Richards came every year & brought her talent to our troops to create eco-parodies and a fabulous musical show (that was often held outdoors, river-side);

• Where children's book writer and environmentalist Jennifer Keats Curtis always came and shared her writing wisdom with our young learners;

• Where solar car races happened, birdhouses were put up, vegetables were planted in the greenhouse, animals were introduced to us, and we might even get a bit wet in the campus-side river;

• Where we all were outdoors, doing so much, and kids were learning to become young naturalists and young activists.

Cheers to Eagle Cove, and my school family and friends.  Click here to relive some of the mighty memories of ECS's Earth Days & Weeks over the last several years.

"Happy Earth Day" 2015 pic created using the "Pic Collage" app; ECS farewell faculty pic from http://www.pasadenavoice.com/school-youth/community-says-farewell-eagle-cove-school, ECS "Dive Deep & Fly High" from http://ecsgreen.weebly.com/

Dueling Banjos

Here's Kermit the Frog proving, once again, although it's not easy to be green, you certainly can do it in style!

You too, Steve Martin!  Kudos for the smiles today, gents!

Steve Martin and Kermit the Frog in "Dueling Banjos" from Steve Martin

Video from http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/87w0

Right Brain Meets Left Brain With Climate Change--Climate Change, Summer 2013, Part 2

I'm sort of continuing on with my Climate Change thread this week.  In thinking about the rise in temperatures and the fact that this still is somehow "a debate," I landed on this video by Ensia.  In it, University of Minnesota and Daniel Crawford go about discussing climate change in a non-traditional way.  A way that hasn't been done before.  A way that more of us might "hear."  He combines raw scientific data with the music and magic of his cello and a pretty distinctive game plan--to record a song to reveal about climate change.  Namely, "A Song of Our Warming Planet."


A Song of Our Warming Planet from Ensia on Vimeo.

The score of this musical masterpiece is a little different than your typical song.  In it, Daniel Crawford plots the global temperature since 1880 by scale--musical scales.  If the temperature trend went down, the musical notes of the song go down.  If the temperature goes up, so too do the tones.  I love how the historical temperature graph is superimposed on the images, and the line graph moves with the music.  The trend is quite clear.

I love that this approach takes a right-brained tackle on the left-brain global data.  It left me wondering:  could this be the type of thing that finally makes a difference between the deniers and the dedicated believers.  My question is how many scientist need to be right in order for us to start believing it?  97% clearly isn't quite enough yet.  Perhaps by approaching it in a non-scientific way, people will truly be able to see!

For more on Right Brain-Left Brain from GTG, check out:
When Left and Right Brains Unite: The Symphony of Science

For more on Climate Change from GTG, check out the sidebar and click on "climate change."


Video from https://vimeo.com/m/69122809

Move & Groove & Do the "Recycle Robot"

Teachers know that music and movement make for a stellar combo when trying to inspire students, both with engagement and learning content.

Here's a great way to move and groove this Earth Day.  Have your youngsters do the "Recycle Robot."

Video from http://youtu.be/YHe9U3MLDT8

Singing the Earth Day Song

In this month of Earth Day, here's a fun find that will get your students geared up in song...or inspired to create on of their own to sing along!  A Pinterest find, which takes you back to HotChalk Lesson Plan Page--a song written by Sandra Moyer and the third graders of A.W. James Elementary School in Drew, Mississippi.

Title – Earth Day Song     

tune: “If You’re Happy and You Know it…”

If you love our world, clap your hands (clap, clap)
If you love our world, clap your hands (clap, clap)
If you love our world, really love our great big world; If you love our world, clap your hands! (clap, clap)

If you love our world, plant new trees (new trees!)
If you love our world, plant new trees (new trees!)
If you love our world, plant new trees for birds and bees; If you love our world, plant new trees! (new trees!)

If you love our world, recycle (recycle!)
If you love our world, recycle (recycle!)
If you love our world, then recycle and reuse; If you love our world, recycle! (recycle!)

If you love our world do your part (do your part!)
If you love our world do your part (do your part!)
If you love our world, really love our great big world; If you love our world, BE SMART! (be smart!!)



For kudos and credits, email song author Sandra Moyer ! Earth Day image (and a boatload of Earth Day ideas) from PlanetPals:  http://www.planetpals.com/earthdayideas.html

Educate, Engage, & Energize with MAEOE ~ Part 2

Just when it seems like it was just Christmas, here we are at Valentine's Day.  Valentine's Day, that season of love, you can't help but have hearts to come to mind.  A family tradition over the years has been to transform the EveryMan Meal of Meatloaf into "The LOVE Loaf."  This year, in thinking about it and about dinner, I was moved to music, creating a sort of "Ode to the Love Loaf," singing it (of course) to the tune of "The Love Boat."

Of course, humming that tune, it reminded me (in a "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" sort of way), of my 2nd session at MAEOE's [Maryland Association of Environmental and Outdoor Educators] conference that I attended just this past weekend.  The session was entitled "Teaching Environmental Ethics Through Games and Songs" and was run by two gregarious and fun educators, Edward Hall and Sean McGuinn of Arlington Echo.  They are two vital components of the Camp Woodlands Kindergarten Environmental Literacy Unit "Trees Are Terrific." During their hour long session, they had us singing, moving, and grooving to some familiar tunes with revamped text to make science concepts come to life for young children.  We also had an opportunity to write a tune of our own.

It was a fun session which I loved, but it was great in reminding us of all the things we already know.  Kids are much more engaged when they are entertained, and active participants in their own learning.  It builds a kinesthetic memory, which strengthens the retention of the skills.   Here is a great infographic reminding us why we need to incorporate music more (double click on it to enlarge or the above link):

Here's a fun and easy one from Hall & McGuinn's Arlington Echo Trees Unit:

Leaves, Branches, Trunks and Roots

(sung to the tune of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes")

Leaves, branches, trunks, and roots, trunks and roots;

Leaves, branches, trunks, and roots, trunks and roots;

Seeds fall down and start to grow.

Trees are Terrific!  Don't you know?  Don't you know?

Don't forget the movements--
or to speed up!

"Leaves" = wave hands

"branches" = "strong man" pose
"trunk" = hands on hips

"roots" = touch feet

"seeds fall down" = wiggle fingers down like snow

"And start to grow" = reach arms out and up

"Trees are terrific!" = wave arms in air

"Don't you know" = point to your head

Here's the one our 3rd grade group of 4 teachers created in 15 minutes or less.  (It's not ready for the Grammy's, but it's fun, teaches a bit, & does the job!)

The Itsy Bitsy Raindrop

(sung to the tune of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider")

The Itsy bitsy raindrop flows down the watershed,

Into the gutter, straight to the river bed.

Tributaries join and bring the water down

Now the itsy bitsy raindrop, in the bay has found.

So put a little song in your school, a little life in your lessons, a little wiggle and jiggle and a mini jam session in your classroom.  It'll leave your kids (and you!) energized and glad that you did!

(For more eco-songs à la Green Team Gazette, check out this link.)



Infographic from http://lteacherstoolbox.blogspot.fr/2012/09/news-music-learning.html, Arlington Echo logo from http://www.arlingtonecho.org/, and Love Loaf pic from my sister-in-law.

Earth Week Excitement

I'm a little befuddled that Earth Day was a week ago already, and I'm only just getting back here! I think in the aftermath of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which is what I like to call getting named the private school "Teacher of the Year" in my county) and an amazing Earth Week of daily celebration at Eagle Cove School, that's just how it happens. I have a lot stored up to write about, so it'll probably trickle in here over the next several days in several posts.

Earth Week's excitement this past week included the following:

An article came out in the Bay Weekly (a local weekly gazette), timed specifically for Earth Day, highlighting the eco-side of life, me, Eagle Cove School, and GTG: "Little Actions, Big Effects: Changing the World Begins with Small Steps Even a Third Grader Can Manage.   It is here you'll see me in all my Capri Sun glory from above!

Solar Car Races ~ The Pasadena Patch has a nice article about our day at the races thanks to Solar Energy World and the cars our 5th graders built and each class designed.  The Patch also has a nice video of the sun at work, pushing each vehicle closer and closer to the finish line!

An action-packed outdoor adventure day with visiting 1st--5th graders from Grace Episcopal Day School (from Kensington, MD).  To help enhance their yearlong study of the Chesapeake Bay, Eagle Cove invited them to come and hang out with us for the day for: seining in the Magothy River, cast netting, geocaching with iPads on an eco-QR code quest (complete with an impromptu raccoon sighting), paper making using recycled paper, nature trail hikes, and a visit from local children's author Jennifer Keats Curtis. The grand finale... a student musical production from our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders (written and directed by our science and music teachers) entitled "Jack and the Green Stalk."  Oh yeah, this day alone is a whole other post!!

Songwriting from our annual favorite visiting musician, Linda Richards from New York.  She has a knack for creating amazing songs with each class that are parodies of time-honored songs like "Row Row Row Your Boat."  In a half hour, magic happens as the kids and Linda write an environmentally-based song that we then perform the next day at a fabulous Earth Week culmination concert that has us all moving and grooving in our seats.  Yes, magic in motion, and a great way to end up the week!!

Oh, and we also met the challenge for a completely "trash-free" week, with everything finding its way back home for reuse, the recycling bin, or the classroom compost buckets!!   

So that's the snapshot of our action-packed week, with more to come since everyone should enjoy our "green" week of fun!!

It's Not Easy Being Green... Or Is It? Ma Nama Na!

I'm going to be bold and daring in this statement:  The new "Muppet Movie" might just possibly be the greenest movie ever!

The elements of green are everywhere:

Let's start with the main plot point ~ a ruthless eco-terrorist/ capitalist wants to take over the namesake's property and drill for oil.

Secondary plot point ~ Jealousy, the green-eyed monster, rears its head in matters of love.

Money, a green favorite to many, was flowing this opening weekend.  Case and point:  "The Muppets" was the #2 grossing movie of Thanksgiving Weekend (love it or hate it, Twilight's Breaking Dawn wouldn't dare step aside to give up the #1 spot).  "The Muppets" grossing $29.5 million this opening weekend alone, according to UGO: The Movie Times.



But wait!  There's more!

Environmental steward Yazmin Watkins served on set, making it greener than ever! According to On Earth:  A Survival Guide To the Planet, her jobs were many.  She was the one in charge of:

• reducing the amount of waste produced on set;
• monitoring and eliminating waste in the areas of energy usage, water, and other vital resources;
• hiring green vendors; including organic caterers and composters
• making eco-friendly decisions along the way, whether it's reuasble bottles (plastic-be-gone!) or eliminating eco-unfriendly wardrobe malfunctions.
• All of this (and more) ties in with Walt Disney's Environmental Initiatives and Commitments, which they began in 2009. 

And then, of course, there's Kermit the Frog.

There's no question that Kermit is a fair-minded frog, and an environmentalist at heart.  How can you not be, when you rely on a clean planet as a multi-talented swamp-dweller?  How can there be any question about his eco-fortitude when he's known for singing "The Rainbow Connection?"  The song clearly is a tribute to clean air, optimism, and a view for a better world with it's word's "What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing? And what do we think we might see? Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection... The lovers, the dreamers, and me."

Then of there's his anthem, "It's Not Easy Being Green."  Can anyone deny that perhaps the green/eco-movement started here, with Kermit?

And then too, there the fact that Kermit is a Congress-speaking activist. Check out the video here of his day on Capital Hill in Washington, DC, where he was speaking on behalf of amphibian conservation for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Which all brings about another definition of "green:"  all the newbie children that all us "Muppet Show" fanatics of the 1970s are bringing to the show.  Our own children.  Many of us doing it not only as a family bonding experience, but also as a large yet valid excuse to walk in the theater and fork over our wallet-greens to purchase the tickets!  It is our turn to indoctrinate the youth of America.  Our time to pay tribute and homage to the late Jim Henson.  Our time to cherish the fact that "it's not easy to be green."  Our time to embrace our inner-green.

And yes, our time to perhaps embarrass our children as we openly sing along to the old favorite tunes that percolate throughout the movie.  Or, maybe that was just me...and my own mini me!

Movie Poster image from http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/press_releases/archive/2011/10/24/new-release-quot-the-muppets-original-soundtrack-quot-on-walt-disney-records.aspx and Kermit pic from http://www.theresabook.com/2011/09/a-bit-of-meme-kermit-the-frog/.  Walter pic from http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/press_releases/archive/2011/10/12/new-muppet-character-descriptions.aspx.

Turn, Turn, Turn!

The Song... 
Turn, Turn, Turn!

The Lyrics...from the Bible, Ecclesiastics 3: 1-15, making the lyrics potentially some of the oldest ever.

The Music....from Pete Seeger in 1959

The Mega-Hit...1965 by The Byrds, where it reached 1# on the "Billboard Hot 100." 

The Cool Coincidence...1965, the year my folks got married.

The Sentiment...Whether you are religious or not, the words are good reminders of all the wonders of life, and how precious life truly is.  Peace...that is the overriding sentiment.  And we all need a little bit of that.

The Video Here.. A great pictorial treat of nature and all that our planet has to offer.  Embrace it all.

The video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB6jhbtDUZE&feature=related

http://www.vinylrecords.ch/B/Byrds/Turn/byrds-turn-turn-turn.html

A Very Full Earth Day-Bay Week

When you start the week with children's author Jennifer Keats Curtis coming to visit and inspire us to write, then on Day #2 having a double showing of an original "green" theatrical treat of an eco-remake of "The Wizard of Oz," you kind of wonder where on Earth you can go during Bay Week as you progress to Earth Day.  

Well, let me tell you, there was no disappointment anywhere.  At Eagle Cove School, we were the eagles that just kept soaring!!

This week, we wrote letters to the director of Anne Arundel County Recycling as well as our county executive about why it was important to modify our recycling bins so as not to let a windy day pollute our bay.  We wrote Earth Day Haikus (which is trickier than it sounds) for the Earth Day Haiku Contest (co-sponsored by PlanetPals, The Haiku Society of America; With Words; and Sketchbook Haiku Journal), we've been reading Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French as our read aloud, we studied "rivers" in social studies and talked about the many ways rivers can be polluted.  

And then, the week, really rocked!  Quite literally!!

A major part of our Bay Week the last 4 years has involved a special visit from Linda Richards (http://www.lindarichardsadventures.com/song-gallery). Trekking down from NY state, Linda is a singer-songwriter-mega environmentalist extraordinaire.  Musically, she's amazing, but the truly fun part is that she gets each classroom together and inspires them to write "eco" parodies of familiar tunes and turns them into performers after a short half hour.  

So Wednesday, she had a whirlwind of a day, hitting up all 7 of our PreK to 5th grade classrooms, putting everyone into creation-mode.  Then Thursday, the Bay Week Concert occurred where, for an hour and half, we were in an environmental musical mecca!!  Singing old favorites from past years when she's been to visit (my personal favorite = "Garbage, Garbage, Garbage, GARBAGE") ... to sharing the newly ECS-created tunes.  Truly, I may have to digress later in another blog entry about the great, showstopping tunes she shared!!

But WAIT!  There's More!!

Given a winter of over-used snow days, we had to attend school today (Good Friday) for a half day.  However, when this day is also Earth Day, we knew how to soften the blow!  In honor of March 22nd's World Water Day, we broke our student population into 3 groups:  PreK/Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd, and 3rd--5th.  We led each group on a one-mile "Water Walk" with 5 buckets that as a total held 2 gallons of water.  Our mission:  to walk approximately that 3.7 mile journey that over 1 billion people world wide walk daily in search of clean drinking water.  Using teamwork and just plain determination, the youngest of our clients felt it the most, revealing that it was much harder than they originally thought.  

 

I had the perspective of seeing it all as I walked all 3+ miles, and even a fourth grader commented that although it wasn't really heavy, the pressure of the weight really wore on your arm.  There's no way to see someone else's life until you walk a mile in their shoes, and we did just that!!  We managed our mission with only a few drops lost; but even more, we worked as a community to get things done, gaining empathy as we went.  While the water walkers walked, the other 2 groups took part in community-building group games with our science teacher, Tim Decker, and Linda Richards.  True, little "book learnin'" took place during that hour and a half or so, but the life lessons were rich and community-building/awareness skills-learning were endless!

After our water victory, we united as a group in the auditorium to watch the Disneynature: Oceans.  Narrated by Pierce Brosnan, the movie has a very "David Attenborough" feel. In watching it, you get a sense of the vastness of the ocean!  The imagery is amazing...from diving dolphins to amazing octopus to soaring seabirds at a sardine smorgasbord!  It truly is amazingly mind-boggling the number of fish in a school!  Secondarily amazing was the sight of a gym/auditorium filled with 4 to 10  year olds in theatre darkness, completely glued to this nature movie, rooting for the baby sea turtles as they were making their way to the water while trying to escape the looming seabirds!!

All in all, our Earth Day/Bay Week at Eagle Cove School, the Maryland "Green" School I call home, was a grand success.  Once again, we managed to top the previous year!  For a time, you wonder if you'll be able to top it next year--at this point, I know we will!  

Happy Earth Day!

Images from:

Earth Day:  http://www.thegogreenblog.com; Earth Day Eagle:  http://www.zazzle.com; Earth Stamp:  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/earthday/; Oceans: http://www.amazon.com; All other pics from my camera!

We Wish You a Musical Eco-New Year, Part 4

Marvin Gaye's song "Mercy, Mercy Me" with these images 

really show you how vitally important it is to start 

making a difference in our habits to save our planet.  

A dynamic discussion will surely follow the viewing of this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-XpUacV-TE&feature=related

We Wish You a Musical Eco-New Year, Part 3

Let the music continue!!

“R-E-S-P-E-C-T” comes by way of another spelling in this song. 
Aretha Franklin might even sing this version every now and then!

How do you spell “Respect?” R-E-C-Y-C-L-E!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrEPSACrLmA&feature=related

We Wish You a Musical Eco-New Year, Part 2

Yesterday, we shared the “green” version of
Multiplication Rock's “3 is a Magic Number."

Today, you get two more--the same song but different visual versions. Let the video version of your choice be your classroom vision and your voice on the importance of those 3 “R’s!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAapw1UwhMI&feature=related




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKdZYYmTT9A&feature=related