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American Booksellers Association Kids Pick of the Lists, 1999 1999 Read America! Collection 2000 Early Childhood News Directors Choice |
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There are also .pdf format coloring book pages available at The COLORING BOOK link below. Look for pages 1, 2 and 3. The link to obtain a free copy of Acrobat Reader is also at this link. CLASSROOM OUTLINE OF DIFFERENT JUST LIKE ME I start off with a question. I say “Raise your hand if you think we are all the SAME in SOME ways. Now raise your hand if you think we are all DIFFERENT in SOME ways. Ok let’s test that out. Who has hair on their head? (all hands go up) So that means we are all the same, right?” (Some of the younger ones say “yes”) We then look around and point out some of the different kinds of hair (long, short, curly, straight, brown, blond,...) and we come to the conclusion that we are all the same and different at the same time. I then tell them this is basically what the book is about and I read the book. After the reading I go back over page by page. I try to make the connection that we are all the same and different as often as possible. On the first page (showing April getting ready for bed) I ask who brushes their teeth each night before bed. Most raise their hand, some just giggle. Next spread. The objects on the left can be found in the illustration of April’s room. You could ask “Does your room look a little like this one? Do you all have a bed? Is your room this clean?” Next spread. The fish can be found in April’s room on the previous page. I ask the kid’s to tell me how these things (the fish) are all the same, then how are they all different. I try to limit it to one difference and one similarity for my talk due to time restraints, but this could be a fun class project. Each child could try to come up with the most similarities and differences for each page. They can get pretty creative. Example: Same = fish, have an eye, fins, swim in water, scales.....Different = color, shape, size.... It seems all the kids have fun with this one. I wasn’t sure about some of the older kids. They start out slow but by the end of the book they are competing to see who can name the most. Next. If you have a sign language chart this is a great time to use it. The kids love to figure out their names in sign language. First, I ask if they know what signing is and why they need it. Sometimes we put our hands over our ears to show what it would be like to be deaf. The boy and girl on the bus are real people. Kaylee learns sign language because her brother is deaf. Michael has been deaf all his life. The other people on the bus are friends and family that helped to pose for me. Show the kids that sign language is based on the same alphabet that we use. Next. Notice all the different kinds of food. Ask if they like pollo (chicken), Sushi (raw fish), Irish stew (beef, potatoes, carrots, peas), Lox (Smoked salmon) and bagels, Kiwi...See if they can think of something different that they don’t usually eat—that they have tried before—or ask them if maybe they eat something that most others do not. Here’s another opportunity to do the same and different game with the fruit. Next. I let the kids feel the braille when I’m done with the talk. First I ask if they know what braille is and why do blind people need it. Have them close their eyes. Now ask them how they would find their way around, order at a restaurant, or read a book. We talk about the fact that all elevators have to have braille next to the buttons and they can feel it the next time they are in an elevator. Tell them to try to feel the difference between the one and the two when they have a chance to feel the braille. Let them know that blind people have to learn their numbers and letters just like we did. Practice and repetition. Point out that their numbers and letters are based on our numbers and letters. Jeannie is the blind woman and Snuffer is her dog. (the kids really relate to the dog; be ready for some dog stories) Ask the kids if they know whether they can pet a seeing eye dog. Some think they shouldn’t because the dog could bite. They are trained to be very nice around a lot of people, but they have to ask the owner because the dog is working and should not be distracted. If the owner says “no”, don’t feel bad, the dog is just on duty at the time. Another interesting thing I like to tell the kids about is Jeannie’s bible. I tell them that she showed us around her house and it looked just like yours or mine except that she got to have her dog in the house at all times. She also showed us her bible. I say “Does anyone have a bible at home/ how thick is yours? Mine is about two inches thick. Do you know how thick her bible was? It took up the whole top shelf of her bookcase.” Then I hold my hands apart as wide as I can to show them. I explain that because the braille is printed on very thick paper and the braille bumps make it that much thicker that it takes up a lot of room. Also the words can’t be printed in itty bitty type. The braille is always the same size in order to be read well. They also have books on tape and they can even get magazines in braille. Next. This is really April’s Dad, Dean, and the people he works with. He really does do graphic design. The chairs on the opposite page can be found in the big illustration. It’s also another opportunity for the same and different game with the chairs. Next. This is Uncle Bob. He’s a big guy. Ask if any of the kids know someone like him The cups and glasses can be found in the bigger illustration. You can also ask them to do the same and different game. Next. Ask the kids if they know what a marathon is. Ask if they think this woman could be in a marathon. This is Mary Thompson. She has been in a wheelchair for over 8 years due to a car accident. She not only does marathons, she WINS them all over the world. The chair she is in is not her racing wheelchair. Her racing chair has slanted back wheels and comes up to a small wheel in front and it’s made of a beautiful pink aluminum. She let April sit in her chair and tool around her house. Explain that she does a lot of the same things we do just a little differently. She can wheel up under her sink and stove in the kitchen. She has ramps and we have steps and so on. The first sign is from Mexico, the second is Chinese ,the third is American and the forth is from Russia. Of course you can do the same and different game with these too. Next. On this page you can just point out the different sizes of buildings and how that looks more interesting than a strip mall where everything is the same. Next. The train station has all sorts of interesting people. My Dad is the big tall guy wearing the blue shorts. See if the kids can find the woman with two colored skin on her elbow. She has vitiligo. That’s what my daughter has. It’s just a loss of pigment and does not effect her in any other way. Now if they see someone with what looks like clouds going across their skin they will know it’s vitiligo.( Pronounced: Vittle-Eye-Go.) Next. That’s my sister Judy and her kids, Devon and Paige. You can ask if they think the woman is their Mom. Why or Why not? Once again same and different with the houses. Next. That really is my Mom. I also know the cats. The kids may notice (depending on their age) that the illustrations have now turned to full color. If they ask you, pose the question right back to them. Ask “Why does the illustrator only have the PEOPLE in color?” The reason for this is to really show what is important. They really stand out next to the black and white backgrounds. It is also to show how very different our colors can be. Once we get to Grammies beautiful garden full of flowers I wanted the reader to make the connection between all the beautiful flowers and all the beautiful people. Next. This is really April's friend Andy Wong. Next. Another same and different with the flowers. Kids love animals so I tell them a little about my Moms cat Pumpkin. Pumpkin really weighs about 20 pounds so I tell them I had to take a few pounds off just to get him in the picture. They get a big laugh out of that. Next (last). You can ask “What do you think she is thinking about”. One question I get asked is “Why doesn’t April have vitiligo in the book?” My answer is we wanted as many kids as possible to relate to her at first sight. I tried to make her as generic as possible so lots of kids would say “Yes, I’m like her so maybe I’m like all those other people” and after reading the book when they see someone that looks different maybe they would think they were just like them as well, whether they have vitiligo or something else that makes them look different. GAMES TO PLAY IN THE CLASSROOM Can you add to the story? Can you come up with a place where you would be doing the same thing as someone else? Think of what the page would look like, then write about it. It should end in “just like me”. Then draw a picture showing where you would be and what you and the other people/person would be doing. Start by looking at all the small illustrations under the type in the book. Ask the class to name all the things that are the same, then all that are different about each group. Example: The Fish. Same...All fish, all have fins, all have eyes, all can swim... Different. All different colors, different shapes... Can you think of some things that can be the same and different at the same time? (Like the fruit, fish, chairs, cups, flowers, etc. ) Draw a picture of what you came up with and show how they are the same and different. Show your neighbor. See if they can name one thing the same and one thing different about what you drew. How are you like April? How are you different from April? Make a list with two columns. List all similarities and differences in the proper column. Do some overlap? (For example, you both have hair but it may be a different kind of hair or color; you both have eyes but they may be a different shape or color.) Or have them pick someone else in the book to compare themselves to. Did they come out equal? Did everyone have more in the same or different column? Did anyone compare themselves to the woman in the wheelchair or the blind woman? How did they compare with everyone else? Before the next exercise you may want to talk about how our feelings are so much alike. Ask who likes to be called bad names? Who wants to be left out while playing? Have the children line up in a row. Start with yourself (the teacher) and say one thing that makes you DIFFERENT from the student next to you. Now go down the row and have each child say something that makes THEM different from the next child. When you get to the end, turn it around (start at the end) and have them say one thing that makes them the SAME as the child next to them. Remind them before you start that you want to try to come up with as many different ideas as possible and try not to have any repeats. Make sure that when they are saying what is different they say “I am different because......” not “YOU are different because........”(the same goes for when they are saying what’s the same) Try to pair up kids that seem very different from one another. Have them interview each other to see what they have in common and what is different. Have the kids come up with their own questions or as a group the class can come up with questions. Then they can pair off to interview each other. You could also have a list of questions all made up for the kids to answer. Take a plain brown bag. Crumple it up and fill it with lollipops then tie it with some old rope. Now take a gift bag. Fill it with toilet paper and tie it up with ribbons and bows. Ask the kids which bag they would pick. Once the bags are opened ask them how they think this experiment relates to people. COLORING BOOK ACTIVITY Go to the CHARLESBRIDGE, COLORING BOOK link below and you can download 3 different coloring pages from the original drawings for the book. These are actual copies of the illustrations that are in the book that I copied before I painted them. Look for Additional Information and listed there you will find print and color activities pages 1,2 and 3. |
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