ugly gives us a lesson on who really is and who isn’t

~ Ms. P. ~ Leave a comment

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By now everyone has read or heard about Wonder, a heartfelt novel that reveals the importance of accepting others for who they are, not for what they appear to be. Ugly, a memoir by Robert Hoge, is a wonderful nonfiction pairing with Wonder, or a great book on its own for those who want to know about the experiences of growing up with physical challenges and overcoming them.

Robert’s life in school is predictably rough because of his physical disabilities, but he overcomes those far easier than the challenges he faces fitting in. Thanks to a loving family that never let Robert feel that he couldn’t do what his brothers and sisters were able to, Robert accomplished milestones beyond what his parents and doctors dreamed when he was born.

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This memoir explores kids kindness and cruelty but also gives examples of how adults can positively or negatively change a child’s perceptions of his abilities.  Ugly gives us a chance to reflect on what we can do to encourage others and capitalize on their attributes over anything else.

 

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whether you like the weather or not

~ Ms. P. ~ Leave a comment

Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot,
We’ll weather the weather,
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not!

51XKZD9QZVL.SX316.SY316I found a genius little picture book that has weather in the title but would be perfect to kick off discussions and research far beyond weather. If Frogs Made the Weather is a colorfully illustrated book that at first glance would appeal to younger readers. But wait, there’s more! Each animal presented in the book is shown in an environment it would prefer allowing readers to think about everything from biomes to food chains, weather to rhymes, and of course, ART.   If you are looking for a hook for introducing biomes or animal research this is a great pick. I also love the Salamander Room for these reasons, but it focuses on only one animal instead of the may feature in If Frogs Made Weather.

After reading, students chose to illustrate animals and their preferred weather or to create a short video about their animal. The animals were randomly assigned by library staff and some students wanted to research before creating their response.  This was a short lesson in the library but has so much more potential if used in a classroom with opportunity for students to seek research and create.

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the weather outside is frightful- sweater stuff

~ Ms. P. ~ Leave a comment

hueys-in-the-new-sweaterIt’s frigid outside and the kids are pretty darn tired of it by now. All the joy of Christmas has evaporated so now we have to just be cold and we only have Valentine’s Day to look forward to. Hey, expensive chocolate doesn’t cut it for many of us. To liven up the winter doldrums I always try to read about snowflakes and snowmen– and cozy sweaters aren’t too shabby either. Two books we enjoyed in January were Lester’s Dreadful Sweaters and The Hueys in The New Sweater.  Both are comical readings students enjoy but have plenty of discussion points to draw out some reflective conversations about friendship, fitting it vs. being yourself, and following your passion.

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Have students who are followers instead of leaders? The Hueys are all about being the same…until they aren’t. Lester also embraces things he loves and learns a lot about himself when he puts his foot down about his wardrobe.  We enjoyed making our own sweaters that stand out instead of blending in after reading these titles. We made both individual and group paper sweaters, I liked the group ones best.

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