In our classroom we have two rubbish bins- One for burnable items like paper, juice boxes and fruit peels. And the other for non-burnable items like plastic straws and wrappers.
One morning a child in our class noticed that some of his classmates were not recycling correctly. So, we took it to our circle time together on the mat and talked about how we could recycle our food and craft scraps better. This then began the journey of learning how our class as young individuals could be more aware and caring towards our planet Earth through recycling. We learnt the three R’s- Reuse, Reduce, Recycle
Then as our school lunch was delivered to our classroom one morning, another child noticed that the hamburgers were wrapped in a lot of plastic wrap which also concerned his classmates.
We came up with the idea of writing a letter to our cafeteria to help us in our efforts to reduce waste and plastic
We wrote with our Montessori moveable alphabet- “In our class we are learning about recycling. Can you please use less plastic? These two boys were working together with the teacher to sound out each word to hear the beginning, middle and ending sounds in each word. They did this with inventive spelling to initially start them off and to also maintain their interest writing the Montessori way.
Then as we were preparing ourselves for lunch time, we noticed that our bread rolls had been delivered in a re-useable plastic container by our cafeteria staff. Our class was so happy to see that our words had been heard to help our planet Earth, that we jumped for joy!
So in reply, Ms Catherine wrote a note to thank the Cezars Kitchen staff for supporting our classroom efforts and to help us learn that our words can make a positive change in the world.
In class we also have the recycling activity that helps the children match and learn which bins and items go together. This activity has been popular since it was first put out on the shelves. The idea is that each child will take this learning and practice being an active recycler at home and out and about on their travels with their family.
Reuse, Reduce, Recycle!