WONDER.
Every school year, I begin by reading my students a book called “Wonder.” Wonder is about a little boy named Auggie Pullman who was born with a facial deformity that left him home schooled for most of his life. He and his parents decide to send him to a private school when he’s in 5th grade.
Wonder is about his journey navigating through a new school, making friends, and teaching others about kindness even though he looks a little different than they do. Throughout the book, the author challenges students to choose to be kind. I have taken this challenge on in my classroom as well. It’s something I have always been incredibly passionate about. I believe that we can make our world a better place if we’re just a little kinder to each other.
In the front of my room, I have a quote from Ellen that says, “Be kind to one another,” and on my door it says, “Always choose kind” from Wonder. Those quotes serve as constant reminders to my students. We are also in the middle of a kindness challenge. Each day they are completing a task to make our world a kinder place. Some are as simple as smiling when they walk by another person, and others are drawing a picture for a local nursing home resident that I will deliver.
Wonder has been made into a movie. I went to the website and discovered they were having a kindness campaign where I could get my classroom to be certified kind. I downloaded the necessary information which entered me into a contest. We won a private viewing of the movie at a nearby theater, and the chance for us to chat with some of the shows stars in a Skype session, including the little boy who plays Auggie. We are still waiting to get more information…but, until then, we’re just continuing to spread kindness throughout Heritage Elementary School. In fact, this year at Heritage, we have decided to include the entire school in our kindness campaign. We will be doing several activities throughout the year to encourage being kind to one another.
#MarionMade #WeAreWonder #WeAreKind
