#ClassroomBookADay Recommendations: Oceans/Seas

March 2022
World Oceans Day is not until June 8th, but as I sit watching snow melt, spring feels like a good time to talk about water (and leaves me longing for a beach trip). Plus, Earth Day is coming up next month, and in thinking about oceans and seashores, it would be hard not to consider conservation and global warming. Most adults have heard of the issues with garbage/pollution marine life, but are your students aware?

Living in the Midwest, the oceans can feel very far away and abstract for my students who might not have ever seen one in person. If you are living closer to a coast, your students may connect more directly with books about oceans/beaches because they see them or spend time there. You may already be familiar with Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s essay “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” (1990) and how it relates to racialized representation, but consider how Bishop’s concept could also be applied to a broader topic, such as oceans. Will books about kids on the seashore be a mirror or window for your students? Will the book allow them to walk through a sliding glass door onto that beach? Wherever they are, or however familiar they are, these books might find a place in your #ClassroomBookADay read aloud rotation.

While researching books for this topic, I learned about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which would be a good fit for connecting the books in this set to a larger worldview.

Why should you care about the sustainable development goals?

“The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.” (source: https://sdgs.un.org/goals)

While the water and oceans books most directly tie into Global Goal 14, “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development,” they also connect to Global Goal 12, “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns,” and Global Goal 13, “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.” These goals fit into a broader sustainable development topic, as well as the more specific science and social studies concepts you may be teaching in your classroom.

Goal 14 infographic, source: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2021/

I share some thoughts about this month’s topic, and highlight a few books, in the video below.

Follett Classroom has partnered with me to spread the #ClassroomBookADay message. As part of that, my themed picture book recommendation lists are housed in Titlewave, one of my favorite free databases for looking up all things related to book information! Don’t have your free account? Grab it today.