Audubon Adventures 2009-10: Another successful year in the classroom!

by Debra Eichner, aceichner (at) msn.com or 541-607-6123

The theme for Audubon Adventures 2009-10 was entitled "Action for Planet Earth", and the study units focused on water, energy, habitats, and Earth's species. Over thirty local classrooms received the kit this past school year. The teachers shared their thoughts with us on how they used the material and how the curriculum worked for their classes. Here is what several of them had to say.

• "The topics fit in perfectly with other themes in our class-garden, ecosystems, the web of life, and our green school status." - Grade 5
• "We used the material in two ways. One was to work in partners on re-tell and summarization/main idea; the other was to supplement our studies of ecosystems. The material works wonderfully for that! Fit the reading level of most kids, very colorful and are different than the reading text and other materials we have.
  
  I would LOVE to get the materials next year!!! They have become an important part of my curriculum in the spring." - Grade 4
• "The materials are easy to read. They contain good and important information. It is a good math tie in." - Grade 6
• "I made the kit available with guidance on a table so that students had access to materials and checked out relevant books to go on the table as well. Students worked with the kit on their own time and read the Quail articles with other students who shared similar interests." - Grade 4
• "I used it in conjunction with our 'Bill Nye the Science Guy' curriculum for science. We started a community garden this year that incorporated the ideas of 'At Home in Habitat', 'Caretaking Our World's Water', and 'Power from Our Planet'. I used the worksheets that came in the TE Classroom Resource Manual. We constructed the bird feeders and hung them near our garden.
  
  The strength of the curriculum is the visuals available for each child. The students were able to take home the visual poster after the curriculum for that unit was done. They liked having something that was 'theirs' that they could take home and share with their families." - Grade 6

Next year Audubon Adventures is publishing a classroom kit entitled "Wildlife on the Move". The curriculum will focus on three types of animal migration: birds, monarch butterflies, and marine animals. The material meets core elementary curriculum standards across the life sciences, science in personal and social perspectives, language arts, social studies/geography, and social studies/civics. Teachers have already expressed interest, and we will be seeking out more teachers as the school year approaches near the end of the summer.

Audubon Adventures is a literature-based environmental education curriculum targeting third through sixth graders. Younger classes have also used the material successfully at the teacher's request. If you know a classroom teacher who might be interested, please have him or her contact Debra Eichner at aceichner (at) msn.com or 541.607.6123.

We would like to thank everyone who sponsored classrooms and helped make Audubon Adventures successful this school year!