Literature Is Where Empathy Is Strengthened

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Hi Everyone,
Wow, I cannot believe it is July!  I just wanted to write a quick post about some thoughts I had as I was reflecting on the book, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.  I finished the story last week, and I am constantly thinking about the characters--Starr, Kahlil, Mav, Seven and Momma.  Their experiences pop into my thoughts at various times during the day.  I think about them when I listen to the news, I think about them when I'm reading an article about anti-racism and white privilege, and I think about them as I write new lessons for the upcoming school year.  Those characters touched my heart.  They have a way of constantly reminding me to reflect on my own implicit bias's.  They remind me about my white privilege.  Those characters are the ones who remind me to keep improving myself as a human being and the need to do my part in healing humanity.

My reflections remind me of why I love children's literature and realist fiction in general.  When a story is well-written with believable characters, readers cannot help but become invested in them.  Readers begin to feel connected to those characters.  They root for those characters and want the best for those characters.  If students are taught to pay attention to their thoughts as they read and are guided to read between the lines and infer the character's thoughts and feeling--they may just start to reflect on their own lives.  Readers may start to remember the traits of good characters and want to emanate them.  They may remember the obstacles and struggles their beloved character went through, inspiring students to be more aware of their actions and behaviors.  Students may be able to see another side to situations.  They may be able to step in someone else's shoes for a moment to see the world from that person's point of view.

I'm almost done writing this learning path!  I'll share it soon.

That is what Starr, the protagonist in The Hate U Give has done for me.  Among other things, she has inspired me to become aware of my thoughts, feelings, actions, and privilege.  She has inspired me to be brave, more compassionate, and to keep myself open to new perspectives.  I've come to love that girl and her family.  Her story, getting a look at some of her daily experiences and interactions in the world, has created a feeling inside of me that a news story or a nonfiction article could ever do.

Still my favorite book ever!

Another book I read last summer, that awakened my awareness of the connectedness of all living things on earth, is Tree of Dreams by Laura Resau.  I still think of that story and the characters Coco, Leo, and Gali. Tree of Dreams is beautifully written to show how our actions, both selfish and altruistic, affect others and our environment.  It was this story that immediately appeared in my thoughts at the start of our world-wide pandemic.  As I recalled the events of that story and the far reaching affects Gali's actions had on others, I was reminded that we are all connected...what we do or do not do will affect us all.  No one is beyond it's reach.  As I see the kindness and consideration of others in this very scary time, I am comforted to know those actions will have powerful, lasting effects on us all. They certainly did for the amazon rainforest, the Huaorani people who live there, and all the other main players in Tree of Dreams.

Gone Crazy in Alabama

There are countless children's books, young adult books, as well as adult literature that I could include in this post, but I won't.  My main point is,  developing greater empathy and compassion for others, as well as developing more awareness about humanity, the earth, and ourselves is why I believe literature is vital in helping to heal our world.  I cannot wait to share new stories, and the experiences of characters from all walks of life, with my class in the upcoming school year.

Here are some new titles I want to read.  Some of these books are just for my own reading, while others I intend to use with my class.

Last Stop on Market Street

The View From Saturday

The Red Crayon

These are just a few of the books that are on my list of "want to read."  As I was doing some research for my new learning path, I came across a website titled 27 best moral stories to read with your kids.  It has titles like The Invisible Boy, Beautiful Oops, and a title I remember hearing about years ago, but never bought...The Empty Pot.


So, I guess this was not a quick post, but I'm just so excited about getting back to school to engage my students in reading and discussing books that will touch their hearts, ignite their compassion and empower them to help make our world a kind, healthy, flourishing place to be.

Have a great holiday.
Kim

                                                                                                 

                                                                                           

Officially In The Halloween Spirit

Sunday, October 13, 2019

October 13th!?!?  This month has flown by faster than a wicked witch on her broomstick!  Anne and I love the month of October and don't want it to end so quickly.  We have a myriad of Halloween and fall activities to keep our students engaged, excited, and challenged.  We are excited to pack in as many as we can in the next few weeks.

Last week, we introduced the students to Haiku poetry by reading aloud the adorable book, Boo! Haiku by Deanna Caswell.  Needless to say, the kids went crazy for this book.

To deepen their understanding of this type of poetry, we showed a PowToons video and a slide show.  Then, we dove right into writing some fall haiku.  We wanted to guide them in writing a few haiku poems and help them feel secure before sending them off on their own.  Once we were confident they understood this genre, we allowed them to find a partner and begin writing Halloween haiku poems.  Their drafts are great and need to be published.  As soon as they are we will upload some examples.

This is the outside of the Haiku.

This is the inside.

 We had an impromptu SEL lesson that focused on Habit #1 Be Proactive due to  a video I saw on a social media site. It is important for Anne and me to help the kids understand that, for the most part, they can choose their moods, attitudes, and actions each day.  We feel that having students understand this will give them a sense of security and control over themselves and their lives.  It was also important that the students realize the can impact others' lives, positively or negatively,  depending on the mood/attitude they choose. 

We read the lovely book I Am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness by Susan Verde.  (I loved the book so much I bought the other two--I Am Human and I Am Love.)  The lesson took two days.  The first day, we had the kids brainstorm a list of positive mood and attitude words.  The following day, we watched the kindness video, linked above, and had an amazing discussion. To follow up, the students wrote what attitude/mood they chose to have that day and added details about their chosen word. Lastly, they drew a picture of what they would look like having that mood.  Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the kids' work, but I will upload my sample on Tuesday.

The above SEL lesson will be a perfect flow into our writing lesson.  We are going to read aloud the book Crankenstein  by Samantha Berger.  It's about a boy (Crankenstein)  who wakes up in a cranky mood.  Throughout the book, the author details the character's negative, grouchy behaviors.  By the end of the story, Crankenstein is motivated to change his mood and attitude.  We anticipate an amazing conversation before, during and after our reading making connections back to Habit #1.  Our students will then write a focused personal narrative about a time they remember being "Crankenstein."  We will focus on adjectives, elaboration of details, first-person point of view, and narrative elements.

This is just an old sample of mine.  We will share the students' writing soon.  This project was inspired by Amy Lemons.

Lastly, these little gems will be displayed in our classrooms for the next week.  Hopefully, igniting curiosity and wonder in our students.  We will let you know the fun, but rigorous reading and fluency activity we will be doing that connects to them.  We also have a super cute project to go with the reading rigor.

We are so excited about these little critters.

Have a fabulous week and enjoy the beautiful month of October.  It is quickly slipping away.

Kim and Anne