Green Reading for Educators

The following books explore different philosophies of environmental education and different approaches to integrating environmental education into your curricula. Also see our list of green reading for kids.

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Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education

David Sobel 

ISBN # 978-0913098509

From the publisher: Beyond Ecophobia speaks to teachers, parents, and others interested in nurturing in children the ability to understand and care for nature. This expanded version of one of Orion Magazine's most popular articles includes descriptions of developmentally appropriate environmental education activities and a list of related children's books.

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Children's Special Places: Exploring the Role of Forts, Dens and Bush Houses in Middle Childhood 

David Sobel

ISBN # 978-0814330265

From the publisher: From the ages of five to twelve, young people explore their surroundings and find or construct private spaces. "Children's Special Places" enters these hidden worlds, reveals their importance to children's development and emotional health, and shows educators, parents, and other adults how they can foster a bond between young people and nature that is important to maturation.

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Discovering the Naturalist Intelligence: Science in the Schoolyard

Jenna Glock, Susan Wertz, and Maggie Meyer

ISBN # 978-1569760895

From the publisher: This teacher resource will help define naturalist intelligence and explore its potential, identify naturalist traits in students with an observational checklist, meet national science standards, and strengthen students' use of the naturalist intelligence with more than 30 outdoor lessons. Each lesson includes a list of intelligences used, literature entry point, curriculum extensions, assessments that check for understanding, reflection prompts for journals, and tightly formatted directions for teachers.

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Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect 

David W. Orr

ISBN # 978-1559634953

From the publisher: In this book, David Orr explores dominant philosophies of education and the effect our educational systems have on our attitude toward the natural world. He aims to develop a system of education that unites humans with nature, allows students the freedom to explore their unique identities, and invokes a sense of wonder for the world.

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Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World 

David W. Orr

ISBN # 978-1578051533

From the publisher: The concept of ecological literacy advanced by this book's creators, the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, goes beyond the discipline of environmental education. It aims, says David Orr in his foreword, "toward a deeper transformation of the substance, process, and scope of education at all levels"-familial, geographic, ecological, and political.

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Greening School Grounds 

Tim Grant and Gail Littlejohn

ISBN # 978-0865714366

From the publisher: This compendium of articles from Green Teacher, North America's leading environmental education magazine, brings together the best strategies for transforming barren expanses of school grounds into natural spaces for learning and playing. From vegetable and butterfly gardens to an amphibian oasis and avian attractors, this comprehensive resource offers a trove of curriculum tie-ins, activities, and plans for educators, parents, and students. Includes extensive resources. 

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The Geography of Childhood

Gary Paul Nabhan

ISBN # 978-0807085257

Author Gary Nabhan explores the need for children to experience the outdoors firsthand in a society approaching media overload. Through essays on his own childhood experiences and place-based descriptions, Nabhan offers a prescription for providing children much-needed outdoor exploration.

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Hands-On Nature: Information and Activities for Exploring the Environment with Children 

Jenepher Linglebach, Lisa Purcell and Susan Sawyer 

ISBN # 978-1584650782

From the publisher: This book provides information and activities to assist educators and parents in exploring the local environment with children. The book is grouped around five themes (Adaptations, Habitats, Cycles, Designs of Nature, and Earth and Sky), fact-filled essays introduce each subject, followed by field-tested, experiential activities that engage students in learning about the natural world.

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How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate

Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch

ISBN # 978-1584691037

From the publisher: Two leading environmental authors, Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch, have come together to produce a new book for middle school-age children that explains climate science. How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate presents clear science and outstanding photos of the evidence gathered by leading scientists all over the world. View sample pages from the book and the corresponding lesson plan from the book's Teachers' Guide.

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I Love Dirt!: 52 Activities to Help You & Your Kids Discover the Wonders of Nature

Jennifer Ward

ISBN # 978-1590305355

From the publisher: I Love Dirt! is a call to parents, educators, and caregivers to help children recover one of the great joys of childhood. Through fifty-two activities, readers will find a wealth of creative ways to actively engage children, ages four to nine, in nature. Each project is meant to promote exploration, stimulate imagination, and heighten a sense of wonder.

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Into the Field: A Guide to Locally-Focused Teaching

Clare Walker Leslie 

ISBN# 978-0913098523

From the publisher: Into the Field provides teachers with curriculum ideas for engaging students in the natural and cultural history of their communities. The book is both theoretical and practical, combining pedagogical background on why field work enhances educational experiences with the nuts and bolts details of how one gets started.

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Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder 

Richard Louv

ISBN # 978-1565126053

From the publisher: Hailed as "an absolute must-read" by the Boston Globe and "too tantalizing to ignore" by Audubon magazine, Last Child in the Woods is the inspiring work that proves children need nature as much as nature needs children.

 

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More Teaching Kids to Love the Earth 

James Kasperson and Marina Lachecki

ISBN # 978-1570250408

This sequel to Teaching Kids to Love the Earth provides 156 environmental activities for parents and other teachers.

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Place-Based Education: Connecting Classrooms and Communities 

David Sobel and James Tylor

ISBN # 978-0913098554

From the forward: Place-based education is not simply a way to integrate the curriculum around a study of place, but a means of inspiring stewardship and an authentic renewal and revitalization of civic life.

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The Power of Play: Learning What Comes Naturally 

David Elkind 

ISBN # 978-0738211107

From the publisher: Today's parents often worry that their children will be at a disadvantage if they are not engaged in constant learning, but child development expert David Elkind reassures us that imaginative play goes far to prepare children for academic and social success.

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Sharing Nature With Children

Joseph Cornell

ISBN # 978-1883220730

From the publisher: New nature games-favorites from the field - and Cornell's typically insightful commentary makes the second edition of this special classic even more valuable to nature lovers world-wide. The Sharing Nature movement that Cornell pioneered has now expanded to countries all over the globe.

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Sharing Nature With Children II

Joseph Cornell

ISBN # 978-1883220877

From the publisher: This companion volume to Joseph Cornell's classic, Sharing Nature With Children, is a treasury of some of Joseph's favorite nature games for both adults and children. Joseph also introduces his remarkable technique of Flow Learning, placing them in thematic sequence to ensure a genuinely uplifting experience.

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Small Wonders: Nature Education for Young Children

Linda Garrett, Hannah Thomas, and Hilary Elmer

ISBN # 978-1584655749

From the publisher: Small Wonders: Nature Education for Young Children introduces children ages three through kindergarten to the natural world in a special way. Based on a hands-on educational approach, children learn about their environment by seeing and doing.

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Teaching Kids to Love the Earth

Marina Lachecki 

ISBN # 978-0816641970

From the publisher: This book leads you through the author's Sense of Wonder Circle: curiosity, exploration, discovery, sharing and passion. Each chapter contains a story, instructions for a main activity, suggestions for related activities and a list of additional resources.

Don't see one of your favorites listed? Suggest that it be added to this list.

Also see our list of green reading for kids.