Each Kindness and I'm New Here get paired together to look at kindness in a school setting

We started our picture book month exploration of kindness in picture books by reading Each Kindness, written by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by E.B.  Lewis and I'm New Here, written and illustrated by Anne Sibley O'Brien. Both of these books take place in a school setting, which helped to place our thinking in our own school setting.

Reading Each Kindness always leads to powerful and interesting conversations. In the story, we learn how Chloe is unkind to a new girl in her class. The new girl eventually moves away before Chloe recognizes the impact of her actions. Inevitably, a student will say "Wait! It can't end like that."  -- A thought I know many students share. This allows us to talk both about the fact that many books have happy endings, but why it is important that not all books do because it makes readers really stop and think. We are also able to talk about making mistakes, which we all do, and how usually we have a chance to apologize, but there might be a time when we can't, so we should always try to choose kindness the first time. Each kindness, big or small, matters.

As in the book, the students had a chance to share their own acts of kindness and watch them ripple out into the world, making it a better place.

After reading and discussing Each Kindness, we read I'm New Here. 

This time we get the perspective of the children that are new to a classroom. We hear of their challenges to understand a new language, navigate recess, and adapt to a new school learning structure. In this story, the students are welcomed into their communities and supported by their classmates. We see role models for kindness here. The students shared what they would say or do to make someone feel comfortable and safe.

How are you celebrating?