![](https://erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Room-5-writes-a-letter.png)
This post is for my #Teacher friends heading back to school in the new year.
You may already know that DEAR EARTH…From Your Friends in Room 5 begins in January, when Room 5 makes a resolution to give back to Earth:
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Room-5-writes-a-letter.png?resize=478%2C503)
And you may alread use DEAR EARTH as an intro to your Writing Friendly Letters unit.
(FREE TPT Google slides here.)
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Parts-of-a-letter-Dec.-2.png?resize=707%2C475)
But guess what?
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Luisa-Uribe-.png?resize=454%2C609)
Illustrator Luisa Uribe recently shared how she chose the animals for our book,
and the answers would make a cool exploration of habitats or biomes.
I have to say I LOVE Luisa’s illustrations of Earth, don’t you?
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Earth.png?resize=605%2C566)
But she also used different animals to illustrate the sections when Earth writes back.
Luisa said, “My idea was to show different biomes from North America.”
Option: When you first read the book,
have students point them out and identify them.
Ocean
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/dearearth_int_8-9.jpg?resize=960%2C480)
The first animal we meet is the sea turtle, which represents the ocean. When I show this page to young readers, I ask them how many fish they see. Many will say FIVE. Upon closer examination, they realize how easy it was to mistake a plastic bag for a fish. Turtles do that too…
Prairie
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_8543.jpg?resize=640%2C576)
In April we meet this adorable black-footed ferret.
Luisa explained, “The animals in DEAR EARTH.. are not all officially endangered, but if you wanted to do a lesson about that, the black-footed ferret and the history and extinction of prairies would be a good option (in my humble opinion of course!).”
River
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_8544.jpg?resize=550%2C640)
For Earth’s response in May, we meet these beautiful Cutthroat trout. They remind me of going camping with my family each summer, Our daughter is the fly-fisher in the family now. Catch-and-release always.
Forest
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_8545.jpg?resize=640%2C566)
In June, Bernard and his dad see a Downy woodpecker. (Spoiler alert) I love that Bernard writes to Earth after school’s out, so the Earth Heroes can keep going!
Desert
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_8546.jpg?resize=640%2C622)
In the fall, this sweet Grey fox greets us. Luisa said the background was inspired by the Grand Canyon.
Tundra
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_8547.jpg?resize=472%2C640)
In November, young readers will see the Red Knot, a sandpiper.
“Red Knots from eastern North America have declined sharply in recent decades owing in part to unsustainable harvest of horseshoe crab eggs, and they have become a flagship species for shorebird conservation in the twenty-first century.”
allaboutbirds.org / The Cornell Lab
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Earth-Heroes.jpg?resize=960%2C740)
Maybe your class will resolve to help Earth this year, like Room 5 does.
If so, please send me photos or art or writing from your Earth Heroes,
and I will happily post them here on the blog.
(Coming next week: A Room 13 Blog Takeover!)
PS Did you know that the book jacket of the hard cover edition reverses to become a cool poster?
![](https://i0.wp.com/erindealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DEAR-EARTH-reverse-of-book-jacket-Poster-Harper-Collins-Art-by-Luisa-Uribe.png?resize=307%2C784)
Comments Off on Happy New Year #Teachers = Eco-friendly lesson plans (Animals & Habitats, Friendly letters +Resolutions) to go with DEAR EARTH…
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