YOU {Rock} Kindness
Each Kindness,
a Coretta Scott King award-winning picture book, is a book written by Newbery
Honor- Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Caldecott Honor- E. B. Lewis. This
book is set in a school setting when her peers, because of the clothes that she
wears, belittle the new girl Maya. Chloe and the other girls turn away from
Maya when she consistently tries to befriend them, but miss out on the
opportunity when she suddenly stops coming to school. When the teacher, Ms.
Albert, gives a lesson on small acts of kindness, Chloe realizes that her she
missed her chance with Maya.
This book shows
the diversity and difficulty of human relationships. Think back to a time when
you were rude to someone or when someone was cruel to you – At some point in time you have been
either Chloe or Maya in the story, or maybe you are more like me, and been in
both situations. This book can be a promoter for children at a young age so
that they understand the importance of nice gestures and how small things can
affect someone remarkably.
When
using this children’s book in my classroom, Each Kindness, is written on
a third grade-fourth month reading level. This is an appropriate grade level
for this particular book, because of the more serious message the author guides
for her audience. The lesson that I will be doing with the activity will be a
mock of the lesson that teacher portrays in the story:
I am going to start off by reading
the book. Students will work in groups of 2-3 and use discussion questions to
talk about the characters and how their actions and feelings contribute to the
sequence of events that happen in the story. The students will then collaborate
to determine an action plan: groups will think of a proposal for Maya, Chloe,
and Ms. Albert. The teacher will give the students a copy of several parts of
the sentences from the book as students discover the pronouns, nouns, and verbs
in those sentences. I will conclude the lesson by giving each student a rock
with YOU written on it. The students will then drop the rock into a large area
of water, when sharing with the class an act of kindness that he or she has
performed in the past. This will demonstrate and create a ripple affect and
show how one act of kindness can be passed on. The standards used for this
diversity activity will be:
L.3.3.
Describe characters in a story
(e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions
contribute to the sequence of events.
SL.3.
1. Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
o
Come to
discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw
on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore
ideas under discussion.
· L.3.1.a Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard
English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Explain the
function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and
there functions in particular sentences.
