Creating a lesson for Social and Emotional learning using The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss

SEL

Recently I found a delightful website that allows a person to add words to an image from a Dr. Seuss book. This website has inspired me to develop a lesson using the book The Sneetches. After reading this book to my 5th grade class during a lesson about civil rights and voting history in the United States, I was impresses by what students observed about this book. They made connections to bullying, diversity, and how people should be comfortable being different. I think that part of creating a safe place in the classroom should be having discussions like this, where we talk about the importance of diversity and treating each other with kindness. I look forward to making bulletin boards with The Sneetches and other wonderful trade books that promote social and emotional learning in the classroom.

An update about the letters to the Governors: 

Students have been steadily receiving packages from various states that in total have spent over $40.00 in postage. It was so thoughtful of them to carefully respond to the students' questions, include pamphlets about their state, and in many cases send a signed photograph. I am looking forward to seeing what will arrive next in the mail and send a smile to my students' faces. We have really enjoyed turning calculating a monetary total of postage spent into a math game. It has opened up many conversations about how local and Federal governments work, and gotten the entire class to feel like a community that rejoices when their members receive a response.

Getting ready for a short holiday break:

In one of the classes I attend at UC Davis the conversation about being grateful evolved into one about building community. I love the idea of having a place in the classroom where students can write about something or someone that they are grateful for. I think making this a part of the daily routine will set the tone for being mindful and truly grateful for what we have and relationships that tie us together. I'll have more updates when I get this going in the classroom, but feel free to add comments if you have tried this in your classroom or have ideas for how this might work.

Sending good thoughts your way and thank you for reading!

Mrs. Dailey

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Narrative Input Charts (GLAD)

Image
 I'm so grateful that I was able to become a GLAD certified educator early in my career. This week long training I took several years ago has really changed the way I teach and stuck with me. While I have a lot to learn, there are some strategies that I use regularly in my classroom. Narrative Input Charts are one of my favorite strategies to get students excited, connected, and thinking to our learning material. Top Tips For Narrative Input Charts: 1. Choose a powerful text  Whenever possible use texts from perspectives that might be missing in your curriculum. At the beginning of the year I use Narrative Input Charts to show the perspective of the Indigenous People in Pre-Columbian North America. A Boy Called Slow by Joseph Bruchac is a great text to help students connect to what it was like to live in the great plains. 2. Include interesting pictures Students are hooked by good pictures in stories. Teaching the upper grades it is especially important to include images that ...
Read more

Primary Source Gallery Walk

Image
To get students engaged in learning about the Road to War (American Revolution), I had them do a gallery walk with primary sources. This is one of my favorite ways to get students to look closely at primary sources. These dynamic images really lend themselves to sparking questions and interesting observations. Students start with a stack of sticky notes and then silently walk around the room. They make observations, infer what the creator's purpose or intention might have been, and write any connections that they can make with background knowledge. I adore how students were fully focused on the primary sources and thinking deeply. They were excited to share their thoughts and hear their peers' ideas. 
Read more

Grumpy Dragon

Image
When my students are working on independent tasks, I have a screen display of things they must do, may do, and what they might have missed (catch up). It usually looks something like this: I also like to have a cheesy joke or fun image on there to be playful. One day, I added a picture of a grumpy dragon and the students loved it. I found myself wondering where the picture had come from. A few minutes later I discovered that it was a statue available on Amazon. I displayed the listing and asked my students if I should buy it. They said, "Yes!" and $30.00 later my very own grumpy dragon was bought and paid for. Here are some things I noticed as we discussed if we should get grumpy dragon: 1. The dimensions were listed and students had no idea how big grumpy dragon would be (this was during trimester 2, so my teacher heart was panicking that they didn't recognize the measurements or relate it to the volume project we had done this year). 2. While students were unsure how bi...
Read more