Let's talk picture books for SEL
Have you read The Good Egg? It's by Jory John and Pete Oswald. This a really great way to get across the idea of self care. See, the good egg is veeerrry good. The egg always tries to be the very best and tries to make every other egg good too. One day, the egg noticed some cracks in the shell! The doctor said it was the pressure the egg was putting on itself! So the egg left to make time for itself. It read books, had massages and went on walks. The egg finally decided to go home but realized it didn't have to be perfect or make sure any other egg was either. An activity you can do with your kids is "It's up to you." Give them an outline of a head. Inside they can write what they have control over: themselves, their thoughts and actions. Outside of the head, they can write things they have no control over: the pandemic, school closures, parents fighting. You can only control what you can.
Next up is I Am Enough by Grace Byers. "Like the sun, I'm here to shine." I love this poetic book about why we should each accept ourselves. It focuses on loving ourselves, respecting others and being kind. A great activity to do with kids is Kindness cards. First we discuss positive personality traits and chart them together. Then students put blank cards on their desks. I play music as we walk around. When the music stops, you put a kind comment on whoever's card you are standing in front of. Once they are filled, I collect them check that they are indeed all kind and then pass them out to the kids. They become something they can always pull out to read then they are having a bad day.
There will be times when you walk into a room and no one is quite like you until the day you begin to share your stories." Last up is The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodsen. I have to say she is one of my favorite authors: chapter books like Brown Girl Dreaming and picture books like Each Kindness. She just has a way of reaching in to heart! There are always times where might feel like outsiders but once we share, we realize we have more in common than we realize. A cool activity is Cross the room. Students start in the middle. Then the teacher says something like, "If you've traveled outside the US, move to the left, If not, go to the right." As the teacher makes more statements "Eaten seafood?" "Ridden a train?" "Used a hula hoop?", the kids will see they have more in common than they realize. If you need some more activities, check out my products in my store.
Clubhouse
Katie, from A Basket Full of Apples, Kelli, from The Beachy Teacher, and I talk about picture books on Tuesdays at 4:30 PST on Clubhouse. Are you on Clubhouse? It's an app for the iPhone and you need to be invited to join. Come join us to share your favorite books. We'd love to bring you on stage to share. There are so many great reads out there. Help us discover them!
I am always looking for book recommendations because I believe that independent reading is the most important key to effective reading instruction. Thanks for the ideas.
ReplyDeleteMe too. Next week is about indigenous voices.
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