Just Grace Goes Green

Just Grace Goes Green

Charise Mericle Harper
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009

Suggested Delivery: Whole Class

Reading Level:
•     Grade Level: 5th grade
•     Lexile Measure: 950L

Key Words:

1.      Environment

2.      “Going Green”

3.      Conservation

4.      Recycling

5.      Humor

Vocabulary: stimulating (6), peon (7), passionate (18), endangered (23), conservation (50), “cooks in the kitchen” (83)

Summary: Lots of exciting things are happening to Grace and her friends. Most exciting of all, Miss Lois’s class is GOING GREEN! For their “green” project, Grace and Mimi aim to inspire their friends and classmates to conserve plastic bottles. But a far more important issue is that Gwen has taken a strong liking to Mimi’s favorite stuffed toy, Willoughby. Just Grace uses her empathy superpower to figure out ways to make her best friend feel better, and she makes a difference for the environment too!

Before: Class will have a discussion on what it means to “go green”.

·         What is “going green”?

·         Why is it a good thing?

·         What are some things you could do to “go green”?

During: While reading, students will record Grace’s going green tips and facts they learned about conserving the Earth. On this list, they will highlight or star some of the things she mentions that they already do, or could easily do in their own lives. Some tips include:

·         List on page 13

·         List on page 56

After: As a class, we will discuss which of Grace’s tips on conservation we could do in our own lives. Students will share the tips they highlighted with the class and discuss additional parts of their routine they could alter to help the Earth.

Writing: One of Grace’s assignments is to create a “going green” project is she passionate about. Using what you’ve learned from Grace, create your own project that will help save the Earth!

Electronic Resources:

·         http://www.hmhbooks.com/books/justgrace/tips.html

o   Author’s website w/ list of Grace’s tips

·         http://kidshealth.org/kid/watch/house/go_green.html

o   Additional information on environmental conservation

Harper, C.M. Just Grace Goes Green. (2009). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt