Saving Monarch Butterflies and Building Empathy Through Early Literacy

Kindergartners from Golden Charter Academy, a public TK-5 school in Southwest Fresno, California, advocate for and participate in milkweed restoration in critical monarch habitat, thanks to their teachers Taf Wilson and Melanie Smith. In this interview, you will hear Taf and Melanie talk about their monarch butterfly unit and the ways they engage their students with reading, writing, listening, and speaking while saving butterflies in a project that began with a published curriculum unit and is evolving into a city-wide movement.“If you give a problem to Kindergartners, they want to take it to the world, and they need everyone to come help them.” – Taf WilsonFeatured ELA Superheroes:Taf Wilson (she/her)Melanie Smith (she/her)Explore the episode and teacher resources: https://ca-eli.org/ela-superheroes/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.