Learning to Love Trees and Language Arts with Project Plant It!

Teachers of English around Virginia can take advantage of an environmental education program to help elementary students develop their language arts prowess. Dominion’s Project Plant It! blossoms with new ways to engage elementary students in learning about trees and the environment.

 

In January, teachers in participating school systems received a kit with lesson plans, posters, stickers and other instructional tools. All of the teaching materials align with state learning standards for math, science, language arts and social studies.

 

A new lesson plan in the Teacher’s Guide helps students understand how energy impacts their daily lives and also about the differences between renewable and non-renewable energy sources.

 

Project Plant It! includes several lesson plans that align with language arts standards of learning for third-grade. Students are encouraged to read books about trees and then to share the story with their classmates through book reports, poems and other creative writing projects. Below is a list of some wonderful books about trees, so that students can reach for a book and enjoy reading about trees!

 

Tree Reading List

 

A Tree is a Plant by Clyde Robert Bulla

A Tree is Growing by Arthur Dorron

Be a Friend to Trees by Patricia Lauber

Discovering Trees by Douglas Florian

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry

Leaves by Rena Kirkpatrick

Leaves and Trees by Elaine Pascoe

Mighty Tree by Dick Gackenbach

Outside and Inside Trees by Sandra Markle

Sky Tree by Thomas Locker

Trees by Martyn Hamer

Trees by Andrew Langley

Trees by Jonathan Pine

 

The cornerstone of the program is the distribution of a redbud tree seedling to each participating student on Arbor Day (April 26).  “This beautiful tree species is native to Virginia, and children will enjoy caring for it and watching it grow,” said Paulin Cheatham, spokesman for Dominion’s Project Plant It! Dominion is the parent company of Dominion Virginia Power.

 

 

Students can boost their knowledge about trees and the environment while watching videos and playing interactive online games at www.projectplantit.com. The website has three games and puzzles to teach students about plant life and tree terminology.

 

Over the past year, Project Plant It! has earned the prestigious Public Awareness of Trees award from the Arbor Day Foundation and also has been recognized by the Virginia Association of Science Teachers.

 

Project Plant It! is provided by Dominion at no cost to schools. For more information, visit the website or Facebook page.