International Literature- You Hold Me Up

You Hold Me Up

Written by Monique Gray Smith and Illustrated by Danielle Daniel

Orca Book Publishers, 2017

International Literature

     International Literature is a great way to teach your students about different cultures, perspectives, and countries. In this book, children are encouraged to "hold each other up" through many different ways. This book teaches children the value of friendship, kindness, and encouragement. The author does a great job of conveying a sense of accountability among students. This book gives many examples of how we can hold each other up in the good times and bad. Check this book out if you want to build a strong community of encouragement in your classroom!

     The illustrations in this book have very bright and colorful drawings. The pictures are very simple with many straight lines and circles. The illustrator used watercolors and acrylics for the pictures in the book. Each picture promotes diversity by including children from different countries. These illustrations showcase different cultures by portraying a family meal in a different country. Each pictures focuses on one person helping another person. The illustrator did such a wonderful job of promoting empathy and support through every single picture.

     I would read this book to Kindergarten for an English lesson. This would be a great book to read at the beginning of the school year to help create a safe and supporting learning environment. The students could learn about concepts of print or retelling of story details. This would also be a great lesson on ways to support each other in the classroom. The bright and touching pictures captivate the children and let them think about the way they treat others. You could let your students come up with ways to hold each other up in and out of the classroom. Also, this book allows the students to see a new culture and how to accept those different cultures. This book is a great way to introduce inclusion to your students.

Here is a picture of the book! I encourage you to read it to your students!

Diverse Perspectives- The Name Jar

 The Name Jar

Written and Illustrated by Yangsook Choi

Dragonfly Books, 2003

Diverse Perspectives Book

       Many books today are promoting diversity and inclusion in the classroom. In this book, Unhei is a new student from South Korea. She is nervous that her Korean name will be too difficult for her fellow classmates to pronounce. She decides that she is going to wait to tell her new classmates her name until she creates a new name. Her classmates help Unhei try to find an American name by creating her a name jar. Unhei is trying to find her place in her new class, and her classmates are welcoming her with open arms. Check this book out to see what name Unhei chooses!

       The illustrations in this story includes many straight lines and muted colors. There are lots of shapes such as squares, rectangles, and circles. The characters are all colored with pastel and watercolors. There are a variety of light and dark colors. The illustrations are in various locations like the school yard, classroom, at home, and in Korea.

      I chose Social Studies as my content and 2nd grade for the grade level. I think this book is a great way to spark the discussion on different cultures, diversity, and inclusion. For this lesson, we could talk about different countries and how they have different cultures. We could discuss how even names are different in other countries. Students could learn about different cultures and how to embrace their cultures in their own society. This will also help promote inclusion and break down cultural barriers in the classroom. I definitely would encourage you to read this heart-warming book to your students one day!

Here is a picture of the cover!

Picture Book Blog- Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Written by Carol McCloud and Illustrated by David Messing

Ferne Press, 2006

Picture Book

     Did you know that you had an imaginary bucket that you carry with you everywhere you go? In this heartfelt book, children are being taught about their imaginary buckets and how this bucket affects their daily life. This book is all about promoting kindness and how kindness can fill up not only someone else's bucket, but how it can fill your own bucket as well. This book teaches children ways to be a bucket filler but also ways to be a bucket dipper. Do you want to learn new ways to be a bucket filler? Check out this book to learn how!

     The illustrations in this book are very bright and colorful. The pictures promote diversity and inclusion by using many different ethnicities, cultures, ages, and abilities. The pictures are from many different places such as the classroom, bus, soccer field, and neighborhood. The illustrator used cartoon drawings with many different drawing utensils.

     I chose English as my content area and Kindergarten for my grade. I actually read this book to my kindergarten class for practicum last semester and they LOVED it. For that lesson, I used this book to teach my students about friendship, kindness, and positive relationships. You could also use this book to help Kindergartner's practice directionality, left to right progression, and the return sweep. This could be a reading lesson and friendship lesson combined into one. Overall, this book is perfect for this age group. The bright and fun pictures mixed with the many examples of bucket fillers are a perfect way for students to learn about concepts of print. Plus, they will learn some valuable life lessons and skills. You definitely get the best of both worlds!

Also, here is a picture of the book in case you wanted to check it out!