As Spring Break approaches, sometimes 5th and 6th graders are in need of some reminders as to what kindness means. Our read-aloud the past two months has been “Wonder” by RJ Palacio, so this theme of kindness fits right into our room. A new picture book, “We’re All Wonders,” also by RJ Palacio (intended for younger readers to access the story) came out recently and the kids were excited to be finished with the novel so we could read the picture book.
Once we read the picture book together, we started discussing kindness. We began by brainstorming a list of ideas and created an anchor chart for kindness. Then, I asked the kids to think of all the ways that people were not very kind to Auggie (the main character). The kids were able to fill our entire circle map in no time; it was easy to recall how people would scream in his face, recoiling at the way he looked. They remembered the names Auggie was called and the no-touching game that was played.
Next, I asked the students to think about how they personally treat others and how they could make better choices when speaking to others and show kindness to our classmates. The kids were excited for our next step- incorporating an art project into our theme of kindness.