Teach children that just because something is old, doesn't mean you have to throw it away with a reading of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. Engaging children with an arts and crafts activity in which they patch the holes in pieces of clothing, the class goes on to use the clothes to act out a reading of this award-winning story. To reinforce the concepts of reusing and recycling, an additional activity involves young scholars in turning trash like old cans, jars, and boxes into new creations. This fun, hands-on lesson plan would fit nicely in the Earth Day celebrations of a primary grade class.

Concepts

folk music, folktales, reading aloud, joseph had a little overcoat, children's literature, reusing, recycling

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Additional Tags

joseph had a little overcoat, reuse, recycle, Clothing, folk song, folk tale, yiddish, read aloud, english language arts

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Pros

• Offers suggestions for adapting the lesson for different age levels and group sizes
• Provides a list of additional resources for extending learning about recycling

Cons

• Activities require numerous materials not typically found at school
• Lesson involves considerable preparation on the part of the teacher

Common Core

RL.K.3 RL.K.7 RL.K.10 RL.1.3 RL.1.7 RL.2.3 RL.2.7