Worksheet Kindergarten English Language Arts
Trash at Willowmere Pond: A Kindergarten Water-Pollution Worksheet
A kindergarten worksheet where students sort pictured items into ones that belong at Willowmere Pond and ones that are trash, then dictate why trash can hurt the fish.
Objectives
- Students will sort pictured items into ones that belong at a pond and ones that are trash.
- Students will identify trash left near water as a problem for the animals living there.
- Students will dictate or write one reason trash can hurt a pond's fish.
Teacher overview
Willowmere Pond (a fictional pond used for this worksheet) is home to ducks, frogs, and fish, and it also collects trash when people leave it nearby instead of in a trash can. This worksheet pairs something that belongs at the pond with something that is trash six times, so students practice telling the two apart, and it ends with a chance to explain why trash can hurt the animals that live in the water. Read each item aloud, since the goal is to build the idea that trash and water do not belong together, using pictures students can point to rather than words they must read alone. A worked example to model first: a duck belongs at the pond, while a can floating next to it is trash, so item 1 is answered by circling the can.
Student Worksheet
Layout note: beside items 1 through 6, print two simple pictures side by side, one for each sentence, for students to circle.
- A duck swims in the pond. A can floats in the pond. Which one is trash?
- A frog sits on a lily pad. A bag floats by the pad. Which one is trash?
- A fish swims near a rock. A fish swims near an old boot. Which one is trash?
- A leaf falls in the pond. A wrapper falls in the pond. Which one is trash?
- Kids toss a ball on the grass. Kids toss trash in the pond. Which one is wrong?
- A trash can sits on the path. A can floats in the pond. Which spot is right for trash?
- Tell one reason trash can hurt the fish in the pond.
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Answer Key
- Answer: The can. A can is trash left in the water, while a duck belongs at the pond.
- Answer: The bag. A plastic bag is trash, while a frog belongs sitting on the lily pad.
- Answer: The boot. An old boot is trash, while the fish belongs swimming near the rock.
- Answer: The wrapper. A wrapper is trash, while a leaf comes from a real plant and breaks down naturally over time.
- Answer: Tossing trash in the pond is wrong. Trash left in the water can hurt the animals that live there.
- Answer: The trash can on the path. Trash belongs in a trash can, not floating loose in the pond's water.
- Answer: Answers will vary. Accept any reasonable answer, such as a fish or frog could get stuck in the trash, or the trash makes the water dirty for the animals that live there.
Differentiation
Support
Read each pair aloud twice and point to each picture as you name it, so students only need to point or circle rather than read unaided. For item 7, offer a simple sentence starter: "Trash can hurt the fish because ___."
Extension
Ask confident students to name one more piece of trash that might end up near a pond, beyond the ones pictured, and explain in a full sentence why it does not belong there.
ELL supports
Pre-teach pond, trash, and belongs with simple pictures before starting the worksheet. Allow students to answer every item by pointing to the correct picture instead of speaking or writing, and accept a single dictated word for item 7.
Extensions
Set up a class trash can labeled "Keep It Out of the Pond" near the classroom door for one week, and have students add a tally mark each time they see someone use it correctly during recess cleanup.