Karen E. Carazo
"Brown eyes.
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Blue eyes.
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Big nose.
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Little nose.
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Straight hair.
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Curly hair.
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Different-
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Mm-mmm,
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but the same,
Ah-ha!" 2
I will follow this book with three short poems from Eloise Greenfield's
Honey, I Love and other love poems
: "I Look Pretty", "Honey, I Love", and "By Myself". In the poem "I Look Pretty", a little girl plays dress-up in her mother's clothes. "Honey, I Love" is about all the things the main character loves. "By Myself" is about a girl's realization that she can be whatever she wants to be. It lists different things she likes to be, such as a twin, a gospel song, a leaf turning red, and ends " I'm whatever I want to be/ An anything I care to be/ And when I open my eyes/ What I care to be/ Is me." 3
Mari Evans' poem "I Can"from Pass It On: African-American Poetry for Children will be used next to further demonstrate that children can be whatever they want to be.
I CAN
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"I can
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be anything
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I can
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do anything
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I can
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think
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anything
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. . .
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because I
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CAN
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and
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I
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WANT
TO!"4
We will then read the book,
Amazing Grace
by Mary Hoffman whose main character shows students that with determination and hard work, they can be or do anything they put their mind to. This is the story of a little girl named Grace. Grace loves stories and often acts out the stories she's told. Of course, Grace always gives herself the best parts. Grace is finally able to show her talents when she plays the role of Peter Pan in the school play.
The book
Life Doesn't Frighten Me At All
written by Maya Angelou celebrates the courage within each of us. It challenges us to fight our fears. Once our fears have been overcome, we can achieve anything in life. The book reinforces once again that children can be whatever they want to be if they believe in themselves.
Nikki Grimes' poem, "Sweet Blackberry", from the book
Meet Danitra Brown
, is about a young girl who is teased because her skin is so dark and the advice given to her by her mother about how to handle the constant teasing. I've chosen this poem because my students are at an age where their bodies are beginning to change and physical appearance is becoming more important to many of them. At this age, students may be quite self-conscious both about their appearance and performance. During this stage, children often judge themselves and others as too fat or too thin, too tall or too short, too pale or too dark. Bloch states that "during the elementary years, children often compare themselves with peers in order to evaluate abilities. In the process, they learn about ways in which physical appearances differ. All too often these differences are put-down and ridiculed by other children and/or adults."5
Possible activities for this section include drawing a portrait of a fellow classmate, creating "Wanted" posters where students identify a special quality, writing "Personality Poems" (see Lesson Plan#1) as well as writing essays entitled "What I Want To Be When I Grow Up". This section will also tie in nicely with the following Project Charlie lessons from the Primary Self-Awareness section: #1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 23.
