Thursday, October 25, 2018

Be Kind

Be Kind 

Author: Pat Zietlow Miller
Illustrator: Jen Hill
Grade Level: 1-4
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Awards: none

Summary: This sweet story follows the journey a young girl goes through to figure out what being kind actually looks like.  One day at school, another student, Tanisha, spills grape juice all over herself.  The narrator tries to make Tanisha feel better, but ends up making things worse.  She if left to wonder what kindness should look like.  In the end of the story, the narrator sits next to Tanisha and gives her a picture of grapes she painted.  Tanisha smiles and begins to feel better about her embarrassing moment. 

Evaluation: I loved this book!  It was neat to see the way the author shows what different acts of kindness can look like.  I definitely plan to use this book in some way in my classroom.  Kindness is something that all students should work on - elementary and secondary.  Kindness is shown is such simple ways throughout the book.  Towards the end, it mentions how those small acts cause a chain reaction.  You could dig deeper into this concept with older students.

The readability is between first and fourth grade.  The sentences are simple and short, yet powerful.  The theme of kindness is appropriate for these grade levels as well (and older grades!).

You could use this book to teach cause and effect.  From there, students could brainstorm and create a story of how one small act of kindness spread and made a huge impact, taking the micro-setting to the macro-setting.  Even though the sentences and words are an easy read for middle school students, the message is powerful and necessary.  

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