Whoever You Are, by Mem Fox

This book helps point out clearly that although we might be different in some ways; in many more we are all just the same. The colorful illustrations depict children and emotions that go along with the simple eloquent words of this book.

Materials

Paint sample chips in colors that reflect skin colors
Several bags of dried beans in various colors
Pictures of real children playing
Picture books that depict other ways of life then the one common to your children.
Emotion pictures

Vocabulary

Different (different from you or a group of objects)
Same (just like you or a group of objects)
Joy (something that makes you happy)

Before reading the Story;

Tell the children “I’m thinking of something that all of us have”. Let the children come up with things that are common to all if they can. Then tell the children the thing you are thinking of is covered by their skin and includes all the parts inside (a body).

Approaches to Learing/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Play Simon Says. (Stand on tippy toes, roll your knuckles on the floor, flip your ear lobe, touch your eyebrows, slap your thighs, etc.).

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and respect for their bodies and the environment

Reading the Story

As you read the book stop on each page to share some of the things that you see that are different from where you live and also things that are the same.

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; progresses in understanding similarities and respecting differences among people such as genders, race, special needs, cultural, language, and family structures.

After Reading the Story

In the story it talked about we all feel joy and love the same and also blood and pain. Show the children pictures of real children in a variety of situations that depict clear emotion. Ask the children to talk about the pictures. What is happening? How do you think the child feels? How would this make you feel? What else makes you feel this way? Who else feels this way? What makes you happy? What makes you laugh, cry, or be sad? Make sure to ask the children who else feels or would feel this way? The idea is to show that we all have feelings that are similar.

Discovery

Use paint chip samples to make a color matching game that has colors similar to skin colors.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; shows growth in matching, sorting putting in series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

Music and Movement

Sing It’s Love That makes The World Go Round. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icoNkyEjIVo

It’s love, it’s love, it’s love that make the world go round,

It’s love, , it’s love, it’s love that makes the world go round,

It’s love, it’s love, it’s love that makes the world go round,

It’s love that make the world go round.

It’s boys, it’s girls, it’s friends that make the world go round’

It’s boys, it’s girls, it’s friends that make the world go round,

It’s boys, it’s girls, it’s friends that make the world go round

It’s love that makes the world go round.

Creative Arts/ Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.

Blocks

Encourage the children to build homes today. Add interesting materials to embellish such as toilet paper tubes, scraps of cardboard, felt squares, sticks, etc..

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; growing in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

Art

Give the children finger paints in white, brown, yellow, and black to try to mix skin tone colors. Then encourage the children to draw people in their finger paint.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; shows increased awareness and beginning understanding of changes in materials and cause-effect relationships. AND Creative Arts/Art; gains ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.

Sand and water

If your center allows, add several varieties of beans to the table for the children to use for scooping and pouring. Tell the children that these are all beans but they are diffrent.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; demonstrates increasing capacity to follow rules and routines and use materials purposefully, safetly, and respectfully.

Library and Writing

Add any books with photos that depict life in other countries or life that is different from what you and the children understand as the norm.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest in reading related activities, such as asking to have a favoritie book read; choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; asking to take books home; going to the library; and engaging in pretend-reading with other children.

Dramatic play

Bring in any clothes that you might have that are common to other cultures. Add scarves to dress-ips as these can be used as capes, skirts, head dresses, baby carriers, etc..

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Math and manipulatives

Make a Memory Game using pictures of children at play around the world. Make 2 sets of pictures and glue them to index cards. Turn the upside-down and the children must take turns trying to make matching pairs. If they make a match, they keep the cards. Play until all the cards have been matched and count who has the most cards.

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games and using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive. AND Approaches to learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, projects, and experiences.

Outdoor play

Explain to the children that Soccer is a game played throughout the world. Set up a goal area and let the children practice their kicking and foot dribbling skills as you have soccer practice or a game.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; demonstrates increasing abilities to coordinate movements in throwing catching, kicking, bouncing ball,s and using the slide and swing.

Resources

Grover sings I am Special video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gms-Yk7mzv4

Pictures of children at play.

Emotion pictures

We All Sing in the Same Voice, by J. Philip Miller and Sheppard M. Greene

Anyone who has watched Sesame Street will probably recognize this song story. If you know the tune, please sing it to your children and definitely teach them the chorus!

(This would be a good book to use if you do have a student with a disability or disfigurement and you notice that other students are not playing or interacting with that student because they are different).

Materials

A globe or map of the world
A map of your state or county

Vocabulary

Alike (to be similar or to be the same)
Different (to not be similar or not be the same)
Unique (one of a kind)

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children if they know what it means to be unique? Help the children talk about some ways that they feel they are unique. (I am the only brother in my family, I have longer eyelashes than my friend Koko, I am the only one here with the name Michael).

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Ask two children; a boy and a girl (works best with more outgoing children) to come up to the front of the group. Tell the children that today you want to talk about same and different. Ask the children in the group to help name ways that the two children are different (he’s a boy and she’s a girl, she’s got a pony tail). Now ask them to name ways that they are both alike (they got eyes, they are both wearing shorts, they both have a baby sister) Explain to the children that everyone is different but also alike.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem-Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a problem, question, or task.

Reading the Story

Learn the tune or use the youtube song as you turn the pages to the book.

After reading the Story

Pull out your world map/globe and show the children where you live on it. Now see if you can find France, Texas, Mecca, and Peru. Point out the mountains and the ocean. Remind the children that people live all over the world. Their houses and clothes might look different but inside people all are the same; they need love, friendship, and food and water. If you have a more localized map, show the children where the school is located on it.

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; begins to express and understand concepts and language of geography in contexts of the classroom, home, and community.

Discovery

Bring in real pictures of people from around the world and how they live.

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; progresses in understanding similarities and respecting differences among people such as genders, race, special needs, culture, language, and family structures.

Music and Movement

Teach the children the chorus of the song/book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezAwndQ5FRs

We all sing in the same voice, the same song, the same voice.

We all sing with the same voice,

And we sing in harmony!

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

Sing The More We Get Together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYJS_xckWY0

The more we get together, together, together, together

The more we get together the happier we’ll be

Cause your friends are my friends and my friends are your friends

The more we get together the happier we’ll be

Put on music from around the world and add the instruments for the children to join in..

Creative Arts/Music; experiments with a variety of musical instruments.

Blocks

Add people to the block center today. Talk to the children about the kinds of homes they live in. Is it an apartment or single family home? Does it have one bathroom or more? Do you share a room with your sibling/s or do you have a room all by yourself? Challenge the children to build a house like theirs.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop follow through on plans.

Art

Draw self portraits.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Library and Writing

Ask the children to help you make a list of rules about being a friend. Write all their ideas down. You can make a book about this by having the children illustrate the pictures, or taking pictures of your children following their rules? Entitle it, How to be a Friend.

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions; and for other varied purposes. AND Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem-Solving; develops increasing ability to sind more that one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Sand and Water

Put water in the table today with boats that float and small bear counters. Tell the children that some people live in houseboats on the water. Ask them if they think they would like to live on a boat, why or why not?

Dramatic play

Put out any multicultural and fancy dress-up clothing you may have. Scarves work well for skirts, saris, turbans, and capes. Add any books or pictures of people from around the world. Use your globe or map to show the children where the individuals live.

Social & Emotional/Knowledge of Families & Communities; progresses in understanding similarities and respecting differences among people such as genders, race, special needs, culture, language, and family structures.

Math and Manipulatives

Use pictures of children from different cultures to make a memory game. Make 2 sets of each picture. Turn the cards upside down and the children take turns trying to match sets.

Physical Health & Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games and using materials; and to interact without being over directive or submissive.

Outdoor Play

Play Categories with the children. Think of a category such as breakfast foods, animals that live on farms, clothes that we wear. The children must name something in the category and can not repeat something already named. If they do, then start a new category. This is fun if you have a slide or climber where the children must answer before they slide or go up the climber.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem-Solving; develops increasing ability to sind more that one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Transitions

As the children are going to the next activity, call on two of them with an opinion question. (Kerry and Roger do you like spaghetti? Then point out if they are alike or different. “They are the same, they both like spaghetti!” “They are different because Roger likes spaghetti but Kerry does not”). Use the words either alike or different with each set of children.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Resources

Dear Parent-

We spent some time today looking at a map to see where our state and town are. Get out a local map with your child and show them the street that you live on. Or go to Google Map and see if you can find your house. Talk to your child about your address. Show them where the numbers are located on your house or mailbox.

Gathering the Sun; an Alphabet in Spanish and English Alma Flor Ada

This book beautifully illustrates and honors the people who work hard in the fields to bring food to our tables. Each letter of the alphabet is a poem in both Spanish and English

Materials

Many alphabet letters
White construction paper
Oil pastels/conte crayons
Several pieces of produce or recipes that are made with produce

Vocabulary

Harvest (to pick produce)
Produce (fruits and vegetables)
Farm Worker (person who works on a farm picking produce).
Customer (buys the produce and eats it)
Store Keeper (the person who cleans and sells the produce).

Before Reading the Story

Look through the book and decide which pages you would like to share with the children, this may not be the best suited book to read through complete with young children. When you pick the pages you want to read, or talk about, note the alphabet letter that is represented. Ask the children if they can think of other words that begin with the letter.

Literacy/Phonological Awareness; shows growing awareness of beginning and ending sounds in words.

Reading the Story

Use the book to promote conversations with the children. (Letter /D/. Ask the children if the can tell what the farm workers are picking. Have the children ever tasted peaches? What are those things that the men are standing on? What other kinds of fruits grow from trees? Etc.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas, and tasks. AND Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions; and for other varied purposes.

After Reading the Story

Make a note to the children on all the pages where people are working in the fields and they are wearing hats. Ask the children why they think the workers are wearing hats. Discuss with the children how important it is to protect your body from the sun when you are picking produce. What other ways do people protect their skin? When are other times when it is important to protect your skin from the sun’s rays?

Physical Health & development/Health Status & Practices; builds awarenss and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

Discovery

Bring in several produce or recipes that uses produce to prepare with the children. Try something using prickly pear, mango, or a salsa recipe to carry the theme of the story. Have a taste test and make a graph of those that liked the produce and those that did not like the produce.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; begins to make comparisons between several objects based on a single attribute. AND Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, or preferences.

Music and Movement

Sing Where oh Where are all the Children, sung to Way down yonder in the paw paw patch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LHZSPZZCWU which begins at 3.10 minutes into the video.

Where oh where are all the children,

Where oh where are all the children?

Way down yonder in the _____patch.

Picking ______, put them in the basket,

Picking ______, put them in the basket.

Picking _____, put them in the basket,

Way down yonder in the _____ patch.

(Have the children pick different produce and then pretend to pick it accordingly.

Picking strawberries, put them in the basket

Picking apples drop them in the bucket).

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Sing a song in English and Spanish such as Hello/Hola https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqx2phxn_cM

Hello, hello, hello and how are you?

I’m fine, I’m fine, and I hope that you are too.

Hola, hola, hola y como estas?

Usted es bien, bien, y__________

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.

Sing Dig a Little Hole, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOJLPw2WJtM

You dig a little hole

Plant a little seed

Pour a little water

Pull a little weed

Chase a little bug

Hey ho there he goes

Give a little sunshine

Watch it grow, grow, grow.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Blocks

At clean up have the children pretend that the blocks that they have built with are potatoes and have them pick the potatoes and put them in the boxes (the shelves).

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Art

Ask each child to name a favorite piece of produce. Draw a simple shape of their produce on white construction paper. Have the children color their produce in using oil pastels/conte crayons. After they have colored their produce in, have them use water colors and wash over the entire page. When it is dry cut out the piece of produce and mount it to a dark piece of construction paper. This can make a very stunning piece of artwork. Label the produce in both English and Spanish.

Creative Arts/Art; gains ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.

Sand and Water

Add magnetic alphabet letters into the sand today. Give the children small spades or spoons to scoop out the letters and name. (I have taken a cookie sheet and traced around all my magnetic letters so that the children can match them by shape). Ask your children to name the letters that they have found. Can they think of a word that begins or ends with that letter sound?

Literacy/Alphabet Awareness; shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shapes and sounds. AND Literacy/Phonological Awareness; shows growing awareness of beginning and ending sounds in words.

Library and Writing

Collage with alphabet letters. Can you find the letters in your name? Can you spell a word from the story?

Literacy/Alphabet Awareness; identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name.

Write a letter to a farm worker thanking him or her for all the good things that you eat. Find a local farm or produce stand where you can send it.

Literacy/Early Writing; develops understanding that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes.

Dramatic Play

Set up a produce stand. Bring in several baskets and have the children sort the plastic fruits and vegetables. Add some prices, paper bags, aprons, and a cash register.

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities. develops growing awareness of jobs and what is required to perform them.

Math and Manipulatives

Give the children alphabet letters. Make a large Venn diagram on a piece of paper. Ask the children to sort the letters by those with curved lines and those with straight lines. (If you do not have enough letters, you can make them by cutting out many 1/2 inch squares and writing the letters on them).

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in a series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

Outdoor Play

In Mexico parties often include a piñata. Bring in a piñata or hang a pillowcase filled with scrunched newspaper , a tether ball, or a stuffed animal from a tree . The children can practice hitting at it with a plastic wiffle bat or stick.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; demonstrates increasing abilities to coordinate movements in throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing balls, and using a slide and swing.

Transitions

Name a letter sound and ask each child to make a word that begins with that letter sound. Older children can be challenged to think of words that end with the letter sound.

Literacy/Phonological Awareness; shows growing awareness of beginning and ending sounds in words.