Multimodal Text Set to Encourage Environmental Justice (and a Book Talk!)- Blog Post 6

 Book Talk on the Text Set


The texts included in this book talk are:
    For more on my mention of how texts like these and community organizing can build resilience in young people, click here!

Incorporating Environmental Justice into Teaching

    The topic of environmental justice is a high interest topic that many young people are very engaged in, and, luckily, it can be connected to many texts that are taught in the ELA classroom. Any story, fiction or nonfiction, where the setting is or has been at risk or is now different or affected by climate change is able to connect to the topic of environmental justice. In my teaching, I see connections for this topic in our unit about survival. Specifically, there is a text in this unit where we read an excerpt of A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, which focuses on the story of Salva Dut. After reading this excerpt, we explore Salva Dut's later life, including the nonprofit he eventually founded titled Water for South Sudan. All of the texts I read and watched for this text set on environmental justice discussed the topic of environmental racism. The short documentary "Another World is Possible" spoke specifically on the impact environmental injustice has on the global south. Connecting these topics of environmental justice into conversations surrounding Salva Dut's experience as a young boy during the Sudan civil war and afterwards founding his nonprofit could effectively incorporate these ideas of environmental justice into my teaching.

Stay Tuned for...

    As I continue engaging with this topic and text set, I'm currently leaning towards a text animation of We Don't Have Time for This by Brianna Craft. This was definitely my favorite text of the three I engaged with on this topic and as I read I found myself captivated by the various images and characters described. I still don't know if I want to do a book trailer style animation, where I leave out the spoilers of the whole novel, or if I want to summarize the entire book with animations. I think I'm leaning towards summarizing the book, though, because there are too many scenes from the end of the book that I want to include.

Comments

  1. GayleApril 2, 2026 at 8:31 AM

    Hi Kimberly,

    I loved this blog post; it was well organized and easy to follow. I really enjoyed how you showed the pictures from the books and went into detail about the environmental justice throughout different countries. The documentary that you watched, sounds very interesting and it is something that I would love to watch. I think it is extremely important to talk about environmental racism and the novel "We don't have time for this" sounds like it fits right into this civic issue. Environmental racism makes me think of my neighborhood. My water pipes possibly have lead in them, we don't have the money to get it tested. It is not something uncommon in my neighborhood, I live in a neighborhood with majority people of color. Having lead paint in basements and in water, is common yet if you go up a mile or two into Shorewood you won't find that. It is incredible the amount of work that will go into majority white neighborhoods, and the lack of care that people of color get with their neighborhoods. I really appreciate you going into this topic in depth. I think it is something worth talking about because many students are affected with this, even in college classrooms.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kimberly WinstonApril 2, 2026 at 9:49 AM

      Hi Gayle! I updated my blog post to include a link to the documentary if you're interested. I would highly recommend watching and reading We Don't Have Time for This. I'm sorry to hear about the lead in your pipes; if you're interested in more about the conditions of rental properties and their connections to racism, specifically in Milwaukee, you might want to read "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City" by Matthew Desmond.

      Delete
  2. Emily BemowskiApril 3, 2026 at 8:43 AM

    I really enjoyed reading this post! Your analysis of those texts felt super thoughtful and grounded in what students actually need to see when we talk about environmental justice. I especially loved how you pointed out that none of the goals in the texts are fully achieved in the way the characters initially imagine. The idea that change isn't linear and often comes with setbacks is such an important and honest message for students. It makes the work feel more real and honestly more doable. I also thought your discussion of community as a source of strength really stood out because across all three texts, it's not individual effort that leads to progress, but relationships, collaboration, and collective action. I think that's such a powerful takeaway for young readers, especially since it moves the focus from feeling overwhelmed by big issues like environmental justice to recognizing that small, shared actions can actually lead to meaningful change.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UsernameApril 4, 2026 at 12:34 PM

    Hi Kimberly!

    I really liked how you connected all three of your texts through the idea that change isn’t linear. That was impactful to me because a lot of times when we talk about civic engagement, it can feel like there’s supposed to be a clear solution or outcome. But like you pointed out, these texts show that progress is messy, slow, and sometimes incomplete, and that’s still meaningful. I think your post does a great job showing how these texts can give students realistic but still hopeful models for civic engagement, especially through resilience and collaboration.
    -Tyler Dickson

    ReplyDelete

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