The Trouble With Dragons by Debi Gliora
Schema: dragons, trouble, earth, Earth Day
Things to wonder about: On the cover there is a dragon holing a globe. What kind of trouble could dragons cause? Are dragons real? What will be invented to replace plastic? Do you know a dragon, a person or company that does not respect the earth?
Is there any evidence that dragons ever existed?
Mental Images: Look at the illustrations of the trash along the bottom of the pages. Also look in the sky in the illustrations. The air looks smokey. The dragons are chopping down trees.
Cause and Effect: Because there are less trees the effect is that there is more carbon dioxide.
Because we have more carbon dioxide the effect is that the blanket around the earth becomes thicker and holds in the heat.
Metaphor: Comparing two things that are alike in only one way without the use of like or as: The idea of the trouble with dragons is a metaphor for humans who do not take care of the earth. The dragons are personified.
Text-to-World connection with the movie: Wall-E.
Text-to-self connection: recycling
Text-to-Text connection with 10 Things I Can Do To Help My World: Fun and Easy Eco-tips by Melanie Walsh
Synthesis: Students might say the story makes them think about things they can do to help the earth be unpolluted. Many of my students wanted to share about how they recycle. We had a good discussion about “reducing” which seems to be a problem that is going to continue if new products are not invented to replace plastic.
Subscribe in a reader