In a time of environmental crisis we need a language to speak for nature. In our TLRI project Tuhia ki Te Ao--Write to the Natural World, we have been working with teachers to develop "3D literacy" practices responsive to both culture and environment and located in a rich language and ecology of place. This article will discuss vignettes from two teachers in two schools who experimented with creating ecological units of work for their English classes. The analysis of these vignettes leads to recommendations for how critical literacy can become eco-critical literacy. [This article was written with Newton Rewi and Rosamund Britton.]