Sunday, April 30, 2017

We're all wonders by RJ Palacio



Several years ago we had a disabled boy in our school. He had fingers missing on his right hand.  His school friends did not comment on this because they had known him since Kindergarten but children in other classes would often stare or ask questions or worse.  One day I read The Mouse with the too long tail to his class.  I will never forget the way this boy responded to this book.  For the mouse  his tail begins as a burden but then he changes his outlook and realises it is an asset. The little boy smiled at me and said he felt the same way about his hand.



I wish I could show We're all wonders to my student.  He would be all grown up now but I think it would make him smile.  Wonder by RJ Palacio is a moving book which is very popular with our senior students.  I feel it is a book that is the perfect way to demonstrate the importance of the saying "walk a mile in my shoes."

We're all wonders is written for a younger audience.  The boy is not named but it is Auggie from Wonder. even though the text is quite spare the power of the message is retained.   "Sometimes they stare at me. They point or laugh. They even say mean things behind my back."

This is the third book in the series which began with Wonder.  Here is a teaching idea.




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