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How do teachers prepare their students to be citizens of the world? (see page 8) Article by Merry Merryfield Spring, 2013 Peace Corps Connect

Tremont first grade classrooms partnered with H2O for Life, an organization that helps find solutions to the water crisis around the world. The first graders learned to become global citizens. Students at Tremont learned that while we are all different, together we can make the world a better place.

Cherry, Lynne. How We Know What We Know about Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming. Nevada City, CA: Dawn Publications, 2008. Age Range: 10 and up Publisher's Description: Cherry and Braasch introduce readers to scientists around the world whose research contributes to an understanding of the causes and consequences of global warming. They also describe the work of citizen scientists, including children, whose observations contribute to knowledge about important changes that are occurring. Studies range from documenting bloom dates of trees and flowers to extracting mud cores from the ocean floor. Small color photographs show the fieldwork and experiments of scientists and students. Even though many findings indicate a grim outlook for plant and animal life, including humans, if the current trends continue, the authors consistently note ways in which students can have a positive impact by making personal choices and influencing public policy. A concluding spread identifies the more than 40 scientists mentioned in the text. The book's wide-ranging exploration of scientific studies and the encouragement to people of every age to become citizen scientists and active participants for change make this a valuable purchase.

Shoveller, Herb. Ryan and Jimmy and the Well in Africa that Brought Them Together. Toronto: Kids Can Press Ltd., 2006. Age Range: 8 and up It costs a lot of money to build a well in Africa -- a lot more than Ryan Hreljac had thought. Still, the six year old kept doing chores around his parents' house, even after he learned it could take him years to earn enough money. Then a friend of the family wrote an article in the local newspaper about Ryan's wish to build a well to supply people with safe, clean water. Before long, ripples of goodwill began spreading. People started sending money to help pay for Ryan's well. Ryan was interviewed on television. His dream of a well became an international news story. In Agweo, Uganda, villagers were used to walking a long way every day in search of water. What they found was often brown and smelly and made a lot of people sick. But when Ryan's well was built, life in the village changed for the better. A young orphan named Akana Jimmy longed for a chance to thank Ryan in person for this gift of life -- clean water. When they finally meet, an unbreakable bond unites these boys from very different backgrounds, and a long and sometimes life-threatening journey begins. Ryan and Jimmy is part of CitizenKid: A collection of books that inform children about the world and inspire them to be better global citizens."

David J. Smith and Shelagh Armstrong, If the World Were a Village (Tonawanda: Kids Can Press Ltd., 2011). Age Level: 8 and up Grade Level: 3 and up Publisher Description: The 2nd Edition of the best-selling book which has sold over 400 000 copies in 17 languages updated with new content and insights about the world's people. First published to wide acclaim in 2002, this eye-opening book has since become a classic, promoting "world-mindedness" by imagining the world's population all 6.8 billion of us as a village of just 100 people. Now, If the World Were a Village has been newly revised with updated statistics, several new activities and completely new material on food security, energy and health. By exploring the lives of the 100 villagers, children will discover that life in other nations is often very different from their own. If the World Were a Village is part of CitizenKid: A collection of books that inform children about the world and inspire them to be better global citizens. Organization Affiliation: CitizenKid

Go-Givers is about developing caring and concerned young citizens with the confidence and skills to make a difference to their communities, both local and global. We are a national educational and child philanthropy programme for primary and middle schools. We are an initiative of the Citizenship Foundation, an independent education and participation charity encouraging and enabling people to engage in democratic society.

Kooser, Ted. Bag in the Wind. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2010. Age Range: 5 - 8 years Publisher's Description: The life of a plastic bag in a landfill is extraordinarily uneventful and long-15,000 years, give or take a few millennia-but in this former U.S. poet laureate's first picture book, a beige grocery bag serves an array of inventive uses in but a tiny sliver of that life span. Set against a barren plains landscape, Kooser's circular story follows a plastic bag, "the color of the skin of a yellow onion," as it travels in a chain of happenstance from landfill, to tree, to stream, and among the various citizens of a nearby town, including a young girl, a homeless man, and a shopkeeper. The muted, dappled colors of Root's gouache and watercolor illustrations are a perfect complement to Kooser's lengthy, meditative passages, which celebrate not only the virtues of economy and ecology but, moreover, the interconnectedness of all things. An excellent opener for discussions about creative reuse and recycling, the book concludes with an informational author's note.

In 2013, Green In Action Awards will be granted to inspiring projects based on GEF's sustainability themes. Winners are those schools, classrooms or youth groups who have demonstrated their commitment, creativity, or passion for sustainability in their application. Great application materials include photos, videos, essays, or artwork describing your environmental project, weigh-in, activity, community service project, or green team program! There are so many ways to participate and make a difference so show us how YOU are a champion for sustainability!

Judith Llyod Yero, American Documents: The Bill of Rights (National Geographic Children's Books, 2006). Age Level: 10 and up Publisher Description: Judith Llyod Yero's thought-provoking text, coupled with carefully selected images from the past and present, challenge young readers to carefully examine and understand the Constitution's first ten Amendments, which guarantee their basic human rights. In addition to defining these rights, Yero puts them into the context of present-day life so that kids will recognize that the Bill of Rights is as important to their daily lives as it was to the lives of the first citizens of the newly independent United States. Included in the back matter are the full text of the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and the Miranda Rights.