Happy December All! Throughout the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I hope you find some way to take a moment and appreciate your school, students, and program. This time of year always makes me feel so happy, yet so sad at the same time; there are so many students who do not get to celebrate in the joy as we do with families at home, or there are hardships taking place that put extra stress onto the family. No matter what the situation, I hope you all find it in your hearts to take each day with a grateful heart and reach out to those students who may be struggling with the holiday season. In my counseling program, we feel December is a perfect time to discuss the topics of diversity and acceptance. There are so many different holidays and happenings taking place, no matter where you are from you will be able to find an event that can spur a classroom discussion. I am sure we all can agree that these can be very delicate topics, but that makes them all the more important in our schools. I have compiled a list of books and resources I turn to when I am working on my lesson plans for this time of year: 1. Lil' Rabbit Kwanzaa- by Donna L. Washington This book is a great way to introduce the basic meaning of Kwanzaa to younger students. I use it in grades Kindergarten, first, and second primarily, but you could use it with thrid graders as well. It gives some of the basic terms associated with the holiday, and the meaning behind the book is very sweet! 2. Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat: A Channukah Story- by Naomi Howland This is one of may all-tiem favorite stores to share with fourth and fifth graders. It gives a different way to introduce the holidy of Hanukkah, plus it is a great way for students to inference as we read the story. This book captures any audience; plus it make us all want to whip up a batch of latkes! 3. My Two Holidays: A Hannukah and Christmas Story- by Danielle Novack This story is a wonderful way to teach students how families can celebrate multiple holidays and combine the traditions of both seasons. I use this book with my second and third grade students, and they love it! They love learning about the traditions of both holidays, and it is also a great way to cross reference emotion recogntion and empathy. I highly recommend this quick, great story! 4. Throw a Tooth on a Roof-by Shelby Beeler This book is one of my favorite ways to kick off my diversity unit with younger students; what better way to start talking about outher kids around the world than what happens when you lose a tooth? My Kindergarten and first graders love this book, and I follow it up with an activity where they draw a picutre of what happens at their house when they lose a tooth. We discuss how some people have different traditions, and different is ok. 5. The Name Jar- by Yangsook Choi This year was the first time I read this book in my classroom, and my students loved it! The story of Unhei is a great way to bring up the topics if diversity, compassion, and empathy with students. Reading this story help ease the difficuly conversation of just because something is different than what we know doesn't mean it is "weird" or "bad", it is simply just different. There are also MANY different activities to do with students with this book! I hope these books help you teach your diversity lessons in your school counseling progream! This is truly the best season, and we can utilize it so much to help teach our students to appreciate diversity and be open to everyone.
Happy Holidays!
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