During week three of ELL Camp, students explored nature by focusing on the four elements; earth, water, air, and fire.

Over the course of the week, students developed a more thorough understanding of what it takes to have a thriving natural environment, the importance of natural resources, and what people can do to help save the planet!

On Monday, we launched into a new appreciation of nature by reading The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and connecting all the beautiful animals and creations in the book to our real life world. We took a trip around California via photographs of our state’s most stunning natural attractions. Many students courageously spoke on the microphone for the first time, in front of the whole group to share their writing project – an origin myth! We learned “How the Lion Got its Mane” from Cesar Vasquez and “How the Toucan Got it’s Colorful Feathers” from Andrea Hernandez, among many other creative tales.  

Students became more invested in our environment on Tuesday when we discussed the effects of the immense drought in California. They were eager to express solutions to the problem by creating public service announcements with excellent sentences and illustrations.

On Wednesday, several students described this special day as their most favorite in life thus far! Our trip to the Huntington Library was a phenomenal experience for 826LA and there were many first time experiences for students. From reading their journal entries of the day, memories that stand out to students include the desert garden filled with cacti and succulents, the coy fish in the lily ponds, the jungle with tall bamboo, and the delicious lunch we all enjoyed together. The blazing hot sun did not stop our students from running and rolling in the grass and experiencing nature up close.

Back at our site in Mar Vista on Thursday, students were asked to consider a world where all the gorgeous parts of nature were abolished and life was miserable. Drawing back on themes presented in The Lorax, students related cause and effect and then created their own dystopian stories. Many students wrote about survival tactics, environmental degradation, deforestation, and even government corruption.  Then they planted their own “truffula” seeds and took up their own commitment to conserving their favorite parts of nature.

~Nina Garofalo, 826LA Summer Associate in Mar Vista

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