Students read an article highlighting the most celebrated holiday, Earth Day. Children are encouraged to consider the many ways people along with various animals, such as earthworms, help the Earth. The role of earthworms is explained as well as how their body structure allows them to keep the soil prepared for growth of plants. A follow-up reading activity includes directions on how to improve comprehension in the content areas and encourage the development of test-taking skills. The activity is available on the intermediate, primary, and emergent levels and correlates with the IRA/NCTE Standard, “Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).”
