It's Okay to be Different

Before I even start this post, I need to say, "Thank You," to Sarah, from A Sunny Day in First Grade.  Sarah created this incredible pack to accompany the book Elmer.  

I am very grateful to work at a school that is bursting at the seems with diversity.  We have over 30 languages spoken at our elementary school alone!  This year, I wanted to be purposeful with my teaching on embracing difference, and this unit was the perfect follow up to our lessons from Chrysanthemum (check out my previous post).  

During the week, we read Elmer, by David McKee and completed our first story elements.  It was a learning curve for my new group, but they persevered and completed the task.  We also complete a tree map about Elmer.  My kiddos are getting really good at their tree maps!

We learned how to order words, colors in particular, and read crayons. 

 

We even retold Chrysanthemum and read The Hueys in the New Sweater, by Oliver Jeffers.  Both of these books allowed for a deeper discussion on the greatness of being different.

As a wrap up, we completed our first writing prompt.  Yikes!  Check out the range of writing within my classroom.

I learned a ton about my kiddos from this.  I can't wait to start Writers' Workshop! 

How do you teach about diversity?