TEACHERS TAKE NOTE

Sheila Says We're Weird

Ruth Ann Smalley

Illustrated by Jennifer Emery

Hardcover, $16.95, ISBN 978-0-88448-326-7

9 x 10, 32 pages, color illustrations

Children / Green Living; Grades 2-6

Sheila is always hanging on the back fence, intently interested in the next weird thing her neighbors are up to. Hanging up laundry outside instead of using a dryer, planting flowers and vegetables instead of grass, riding their bikes instead of driving: What is up with them? But she sure does like playing with Tina by the woodstove on chilly days, and she loves picking flowers in the garden, and she really does think that homemade soup is yummy.

Sheila Says We're Weird is a humorous tale that gently lifts up the virtues of living green, using less electricity and fossil fuels, buying local, and growing your own food. Sheila Says We're Weird is a book with a message, and a book with a sense of humor.

Sheila Says We're Weird will help inspire classroom conversations about:

• Local foods from local farmers and farmer's markets
• The benefits of consuming less
• Carbon footprints and how to decrease them
• Grassroots movements
• Neighbors

Advanced classrooms might like to use Sheila Says We're Weird as a jumping-off point into discussions of biodiversity.

Additional Picture Books

The Everything Green Classroom Book: From Recycling to Conservation, All You Need to Create an Eco-Friendly Learning Environment by Tessa Hill (Adams Media, 2009)

How to share green concepts with classrooms and help ensure the message goes home as well.

The Goat Lady by Jane Bregoli (Tilbury House, 2004)

A strange neighbor ends up as a close friend.

Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils: A Hands-On Resource for Educators by Elizabeth Patton and Kathy Lyons (Tilbury House, 2003)

A curriculum for exploring local foods and growing your own food.

The Lorax by Dr. Suess (Random House Books for Young Readers, 1971)

The classic environmental story about consumerism and greed.

Recycle this Book: 100 Top Children's Book Authors Tell You How to Go Green edited by Dave Gutman (Yearling, 2009)

A collection of short essays.

Reducing your Carbon Footprint at Home by Sarah B. David (Rosen Central Books, 2009)

A how-to guide that explains carbon footprints.

Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer by Carol Brendler, illustrated by Ard Hoyt (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2009)

Winnie's worms win first prize at the county fair in the most creative way.

Activity: Calculate Your Carbon Footprint

A carbon footprint is the negative impact that something has on the environment—the amount of carbon created by you or another person or a business during a specific time. One of the most common ways we create a carbon footprint is when we use something that burns fuel (car, airplane, electricity, heat, etc.). So what can you do to turn your negative impact into a positive impact?

Go to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's website and follow their steps to calculate your carbon footprint:
www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/calc/

Activity: How to Cook SLOW Food

There is a movement among people in the United States, to rebel against how busy we all are by returning to our roots of homegrown, home-cooked food. Some folks call this the Slow Food Movement, as opposed to the food we are all used to grabbing on the run from a fast-food restaurant.

Let's see how good slow food can taste by creating our own vegetable soup from local foods.

The first step is to research what food is available locally, from farmers or farmer's markets. If possible, get the ingredients for your vegetable soup from the farmer's market or invite a local farmer to visit your classroom.

Here is a recipe link for soups from Mollie Katzen, who authored some of the Moosewood cookbooks:
www.molliekatzen.com/archives.php

Activity: "Weird" Neighbors?

It's sort of natural to label something or someone you are unfamiliar with as "weird." But, often, with time, you figure out that what you thought was weird is actually pretty cool.

Our book The Goat Lady is about two kids who befriend the "weird" old lady with lots of goats in her yard. They find out she is not weird at all, but kind and generous. The fact that most people are pretty nice is especially true once you get to know them.

Invite the children, when meeting new people, to ask them questions that might lead to what they have in common. Practice in pairs or have your students write out what they might ask a person from a different country or who has just moved to your area.

Activity: Find What's Green

Sheila Says We're Weird is filled with examples of green living. Can you find these items in the illustrations?

• Rain collection barrel (used to water plants in gardens)
• Worm bin
• Composting bins
• Board games (Is there a TV in Tina's house?)
• Bicycles (how many?)
• Clothesline
• Vegetable garden
• Push mower
• Sun tea maker
• Fan
• Cloth towels and napkins (Are there any paper towels?)
• Cloth bags (Are there any plastic or disposable bags?)
• Books
• Refillable water bottles