By Wanda F. Bryant
During March 2026, I participated in the Red Cedar Writing Project book study at Michigan State University. We studied Teaching Climate Change to Children: Literacy Pedagogy That Cultivates Sustainable Futures, which chronicles the journey of two literacy researchers as they learn about climate change and explore ways to support climate-focused literacy pedagogy for young children from pre-K through sixth grade.
The authors argue that climate change and social justice are inseparable and that children in the early grades are capable of engaging meaningfully with climate change concepts. They also demonstrate that reading, writing, speaking, and language study provide powerful opportunities for students to explore these complex issues.
Our four-week study met for 90 minutes each week. Each session began with sacred writing time, creating space for reflection and personal connection. We then discussed the book’s ideas and explored how the information could be applied within our own educational contexts. These conversations helped me consider how climate change can be integrated into literacy and other areas of instruction in meaningful, age-appropriate ways.
The book’s website, Teaching for Sustainable Futures, extends the learning by providing lesson plans, professional learning readings, and resources for facilitating a book club. These resources make the book study practical and provide educators with tools to continue exploring climate change education with students and colleagues.
Overall, the experience expanded my understanding of how literacy education can empower young learners to examine climate change, consider issues of justice, and develop the knowledge and language needed to participate in conversations about a sustainable future.
About Wanda F. Bryant
Wanda F. Bryant is a retired educator with 20 years of service in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, where she was honored as the 2021 Michigan Middle School Science Teacher of the Year. Drawing on a prior 17-year career as a medical technologist at the University of Michigan Hospital, Wanda is a passionate advocate for three-dimensional science teaching and STEM careers through the lens of social justice.
She has published articles addressing the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards, including A Recipe for Planning an NGSS Storyline: Curiosity, Persistence, and a Library of Resources .