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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Students learn about how to create a healthy environment by reducing, reusing, and recycling. Students learn why waste is a problem, about the options for limiting waste, and read stories about different people from around the world who have found ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste.
ELA
Unit 8
Kindergarten
Unit Summary
Over the course of the year, students study the seasons, learn about how animals and plants change and survive in different seasons, and explore some of the life cycles found in nature. In this final unit, students apply their content knowledge to gain an understanding of how to create a healthy environment. Students learn why waste is a problem and how to limit waste by reducing, reusing, and recycling.
Students focus on identifying the reasons an author gives to support points in a text, describing the connection between individual events and ideas, and identifying basic similarities and differences between two texts on the same topic. Students explore a variety of texts, including complex informational texts, poems, and narrative nonfiction as part of this unit.
Students focus on continuing conversations through multiple exchanges with minimal support or prompting from the teacher. Students use conventional writing skills to write an answer to the Target Task question. Additionally, students have opportunities to refine their informational and opinion writing.
Please Note: In April 2026, this unit and its lesson plans received a round of enhancements. This unit is now 24 instructional days (previously 21 days). The writing projects and assessments have been revised. Teachers should pay close attention as they intellectually prepare to account for the updated pacing, sequencing, and content.
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Texts and Materials
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Core Texts
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Book: What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting Our Planet by Jess French (DK Children, 2019) — IG920L
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Book: The Last Straw: Kids vs. Plastics by Susan Hood and illustrated by Christiane Engel (HarperCollins; Illustrated edition, 2021)
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Book: Recycle! A Handbook for Kids by Gail Gibbons (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition, 1996) — AD840L
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Book: The Three R’s: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle by Nuria Roca and illustrated by Rosa M Curto (Sourcebooks Explore, 2007) — AD1030L
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Book: One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon (Millbrook Press, 2015) — 570L
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Book: Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood and illustrated by Sally Wern Comport (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2016) — 820L
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Book: Hana's Hundreds of Hijabs by Razeena Omar Gutta and illustrated by Manal Mirza (Barefoot Books, 2022)
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Book: Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth by Mary McKenna Siddals and illustrated by Ashley Wolff (Tricycle Press; Illustrated edition, 2010) — AD650L
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Assessment Text: “The Patchwork Bike” by Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrated by Van Thanh Rudd (Candlewick, 2018)
Supporting Texts
Rubrics
Resources for Lessons and Projects
Assessment
The following assessments accompany Unit 8. For more guidance, see the Summative Assessments and Assessments Accommodations & Modifications Teacher Tools.
Content Assessment
The Content Assessment measures students' understanding of the unit's content knowledge and vocabulary. It should serve as the primary assessment for the unit.
Cold Read Assessment
The Cold Read Assessment tests students' ability to comprehend a "cold" or unfamiliar passage and answer standards-based questions. The Cold Read Assessment can be given in addition to the Content Assessment as a pulse point for what students can read and analyze independently, a skill often required for standardized testing.
Unit Prep
Intellectual Prep
Before you teach this unit, unpack the texts, themes, and core standards through our guided intellectual preparation process. Each Unit Launch includes a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning to ensure you're prepared to support every student.
Essential Questions
- How does waste impact the environment?
- What steps can you take to create a healthy community and environment?
Reading Focus Areas
- Texts on the same topic can be similar and different.
- Authors include specific reasons in the text and illustrations to support points in a text.
Writing Focus Areas
Narrative Writing Focus Areas
- Poetry is a type of writing that takes on a special form or shape.
- Illustrations provide details about a topic.
Informational Writing Focus Areas
- Put information in order using the words "first," "next," and "last."
- Include a title to tell the reader the topic of the text.
- Add details and labels to help readers better understand the writing.
Opinion Writing Focus Areas
- Name an opinion.
- Write an introduction to an opinion piece.
- Provide reasons based on facts and details.
- Add an exclamation as a concluding statement.
Emergent Writing
Use the Emergent Writing Teacher Tool to regularly study students' Target Task responses. During Independent Writing, prompt students using the supports relevant to their individual Emergent Writing phase. By the end of Unit 8, students should demonstrate mastery of several skills within Phase 4: Conventional Writing.
Speaking and Listening Focus Areas
- Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.
- Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
Vocabulary
Text-based
bancreativitydisposedisposableenvironmentrecyclereusablereusereducerot
To see all the vocabulary for Unit 8, view our Kindergarten Vocabulary Glossary.
Content Knowledge and Connections
By the end of the unit, students will understand:
- Waste is all of the things we throw away. Waste causes a lot of problems for people and the environment.
- Plastic is a problem because it lasts forever. People throw plastic in the trash and it does not decompose. Plastic is in a lot of things, so there is a ton of plastic trash.
- Reducing, reusing, and recycling are ways to limit waste.
- To reduce the use of something means to use less of it.
- To reuse something means to use it again.
- To recycle something means to use it again to make new things.
- People around the world have come up with different solutions for how to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic and other forms of waste.
Previous Fishtank ELA Connections
Future Fishtank ELA Connections
Lesson Map
5 days
Write an informational how-to book to instruct readers about how to reduce, reuse, or recycle an item.
Brainstorm an idea about how to reduce, reuse, or recycle an item.
- Mentor Text 1 (GK, U8, L8)
- Sequence Graphic Organizer
- How-to Book Plan (GK, U8, L8)
Standards
L.K.2W.K.2W.K.5W.K.8
Draft a how-to book to teach readers how to reduce, reuse, or recycle an item.
- Sequence Graphic Organizer for Mentor Text 1 (GK, U8, L8)
- How-to Book Plan (GK, U8, L8) — Completed on Day 1
Standards
L.K.2W.K.2W.K.5W.K.8
Revise a how-to book by adding details about how to complete the task.
- Mentor Text 1 (GK, U8, L8)
Standards
L.K.2W.K.2W.K.5W.K.8
Revise and edit a how-to book by adding a title, illustrations, and labels.
- Front Cover Template (GK, U8, L8)
Standards
L.K.1.cL.K.2W.K.2W.K.5W.K.8
Present a how-to book about how to reduce, reuse, or recycle an item by acting out each step.
Standards
L.K.1.cL.K.2W.K.2W.K.5W.K.8
3 days
State an opinion about which of the 3 R's the school should focus on and why.
Brainstorm an opinion and reasons to support the opinion.
- Main Idea and Details Graphic Organizer (GK–5)
- Mentor Text 2 (GK, U8, L17)
- Opinion Writing Plan (GK, U8, L17)
Standards
L.K.1.bW.K.1W.K.7W.K.8
Draft a school announcement to express an opinion about which of the 3 R's the school should focus on and why.
- Exemplar and Nonexemplar Opinion Writing Pieces (GK, U8, L17)
Standards
L.K.1.bW.K.1W.K.7W.K.8
Revise and edit an opinion writing piece by adding a conclusion to convince readers to take action with one of the 3 R's.
Standards
L.K.1.bL.K.1.cW.K.1W.K.7W.K.8