Worms are wonderful. They improve soil drainage, eat parasites and plant debris, and fertilize the soil with their castings. My students love digging in the dirt searching for worms. You are the winner if you find the biggest one! That’s their rule, not mine. My rule is that all worms must be handled with loving care and put safely on the ground, preferably under a leaf, when we go back inside.
Of course, because my students and I love worms, I have picture books about worms. Superworm is written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. There’s a Hair in My Dirt! is written and illustrated by Gary Larson. You might remember Mr. Larson from his The Far Side cartoons and books.
Julia Donaldson is a prolific children’s picture book author. You know her. She wrote The Gruffalo and numerous more delightful children’s books. Read them all. You won’t be sorry. Her books are suitable for children and adults of all ages.
Superworm is about a hero worm who does good deeds for everyone needing a good deed. One day his fame garners the attention of an evil Wizard Lizard. Now the tables have turned and it’s Superworm who needs help – and fast! Even the smallest creatures can save the day when they all put their talents together to get the job done. Hooray!
I read this story to my students as a provocation to the statement:
Our actions are powerful.
After reading the story, we compared powerful actions that are kind or helpful to powerful actions that weren’t very kind or helpful. We talked about making choices and how everyone can contribute to the safety and welfare of the group. Then we began a collaborative project to clean up our outdoor learning area. We planted new flowers, swept and raked untidy places and added dead leaves to the compost bin. Students went off by themselves or with friends to do the job they enjoyed. Even the smallest of us had a positive impact on improving our learning space.
Children will enjoy the adventures of Superworm and his friends. But, alas, it is fiction. I encourage you to pop into your school library to check out some non-fiction books about worms, too. It’s fun to make a wormery and watch firsthand all the things worms really can do.
There’s a Hair in My Dirt is suitable for most students in fourth grade and beyond. The book is packed with Gary Larson’s unique brand of humor in both the text and illustrations. And it has a double surprise ending – Gary Larson style.
This is a story about a worm who doesn’t know his worth, a maiden who is unaware of her impact and how their lives intersect. There’s a Hair in My Dirt has a moral that will have your students talking for a long time.
CAUTION: I suggest you read it carefully before sharing it with your students, paying close attention to all illustrations. The story is long, so I left out some pages that I felt could be problematic. This is a picture book, so you will have to show the illustrations for the story to have maximum impact. If you feel it’s appropriate in your setting in an abridged version, share it with your upper elementary students.
I read this story as a provocation to the statement:
There’s more here than meets the eye.
I was challenging my students to begin to notice nature more deeply, see new details in the nature that they passed every day and question what they were seeing – or not seeing. My students realized the maiden in There’s a Hair in My Dirt totally misunderstood everything she experienced on her walk through the environment surrounding her cottage. I led them to wonder what they were misunderstanding when they went outdoors.
I took them to an area near the school to explore. The environment consisted of an agricultural field and a small forest. They took photographs of anything that fascinated them or sparked questions in them. Here is a very limited sample of their photographs. The photos below were taken by fourth grade students with an iPad.
Back in the classroom, we put up our photos. Students attached “I wonder…” and “I notice…” statements to the photos of their choice. There were wonderings such as: I wonder why the trees are all in rows. I wonder what kind of mushroom is that. I wonder why the ice forms like that. What they noticed was equally as interesting: I notice the frost is thickest on the edges of these leaves. I noticed the forest felt peaceful. I noticed this plant has thorns. I noticed I could hear everything better in the cold air.
Not only do wonderful worms improve soil drainage, eat parasites and plant debris, and fertilize the soil, they can also inspire curiosity, teach collaboration, improve observational skills and challenge us to seek greater understanding. That’s a mighty creature indeed!
