The highlight of this week was having my students write about Earth Day. First, I played them them a YouTube video by on my of favourite poets, Prince Eas.

We then had a discussion and created an idea web about what the main message of the video was. I then had the students discuss, with a shoulder partner, the scenario “You are on an island, with everything to you need to survive, but you can’t leave. How do you take care of your island?”

The students came up with amazing ideas. For example, we need to take only what we need and we should only use what can grow back. Another idea was around composting to create soil to grow food. Also, we need to put all of our waste in one place and create very little of it. This idea was challenged by the question, what do you do when the place is full? This was such an engaging discussion and they basically listed principals of sustainability. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go but I was really pleased with their answers.

Next, in very dramatic fashion, I told them a “secret”. I told them “We live on an island we can’t leave.” They all looked at me like I was nutts. I finished with “It’s called Earth.” Immediately, five or six hands shot in the air. Because I know my class pretty well at this point, I follwed up with “The Martian is not real. We do not have another planet to go to, right now.” Three hands went down. I fielded a few more questions.

I then set them a writing assignment called Earth the Island. They were to write about how we should take care of our island without any limits on their ability to create change.

I really didn’t know what I would end up with but they turned out great. I’m including a few highlights from their writing that made me laugh and feel incredibly proud of my students.