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by: Alex Gino

This book can be used to help raise awareness for the LGBTQIA+ community, transgender kids specifically.

"She [George] had genuinely started to believe that if people could see her onstage as Charlotte, maybe they would see that she was a girl offstage too."

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by: Thanhha Lai

This book an be used to focus on the social challenges of immigration and of being a racially diverse refugee trying to find safety and acceptance in a completely new and foreign country.

“Our lives
will twist and twist,
intermingling the old and the new
until it doesn't matter
which is which.”

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by: R.J. Palacio

This book focuses on physical disability and the trials that that can create in middle school. It can be used to help students understand that just because someone has diverse physical characteristics does not necessarily mean that they are different on the inside.

“Here’s what I think: the only reason I’m not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way.”

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by: Marilyn Hilton

This book focuses on racial and gender inequalities of the 1960s-70s. It can be used to make students more aware of racial minority experiences and women's rights.

“Our dreams are a serious matter. When you take them seriously, everyone else does too.”

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Activity Ideas for Incorporating this Collection into Curriculum

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Activity Ideas for Incorporating this Collection into Curriculum

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George
1. This book is really important to have class and group discussions about what it really means to be transgender so that students do not form any misconceptions. As a class, have a discussion with students about what it means and even about the rights of transgender people. You can have students get into groups with discussion questions such as "Have you ever known or seen any transgender people in the media?" or "Have you ever had a secret that you couldn't tell your friends or family? What did that feel like?"
2. Have students write the next chapter in the book. The book ends with George dressed up as a girl for the first time out in public with his best friend Kelly. Have students write what they think would happen once George gets back home and goes back to school.
Full Cicada Moon
1. Have students create a poetry notebook about their life just like Mimi where they write an entry every day for a year long project.
2. Have students research dominant minority figures of the 1960s-1970s and have each individual student present one figure to the class emphasizing how that person challenged the norms of the time just like Mimi did.
Inside Out & Back Again
1. Find refugee students either within your own school or around your area and create a sort of pen pal system so that your students can learn more about what it means to be a refugee in America and refugee students will have a friend/peer guide to help them transition into their new environment.
2. Have students write a poem about what they imagine it would be like if they were a refugee in a foreign country. Have them write their poems on papayas (they were the main character's favorite) to create a papaya tree.
3. Have a Vietnamese culture day where the class brings in food, plays games, listens to music and watches videos that are all created by or about the country of Vietnam.
Wonder
1. Have students create a Beecher Prep yearbook where they can summarize the book and all of the characters. Have students create different sections of the yearbook where they both draw and make captions for each character and for events that happened throughout the year. Have students write messages in the back of the yearbook from the perspectives of the characters. To emphasize overcoming bullying, have students include a page of your own class and a sentence underneath each picture of one reason that each classmate is a wonder.
2. Have your students come up with their own precepts just like Mr. Browne had his students do. Create a class book of precepts.

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How to Use This Collection in the Classroom 

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How to Use This Collection in the Classroom 

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The age group that I had in mind for this particular collection could be anywhere from 3rd grade all the way up to 8th grade students. The selections would just have to be tailored differently depending upon which age group you are working with, and I believe that how you use this collection would be very different depending upon which end of the spectrum you are choosing to use it with.
For the younger age band (3rd-5th grade), I would say that you should read the books with them, or at least discuss the books after students read small sections independently. Especially with Full Cicada Moon and Inside Out & Back Again, which are written in verse, I believe that younger students will need instructor guidance to fully understand and pull out the meaning of each selection.
I think that the main concepts that need to be highlighted throughout these novels for students to fully grasp the main themes of bullying and diversity are reviewing with your students exactly what makes each main character (and you can even include supporting characters) so diverse and unique from the main society that they are living in. You should discuss with your students what their defining characteristics are and all of the implications that come with that. Furthermore, you should make sure that all students understand how each character's trials and adversity directly relates to their diversities, and most importantly, how each character handles their specific challenges.
(Examples of how to use individual books above)

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Hi! My name is Taelor Hartley, and I am a future elementary school teacher! I currently attend the University of Florida, and I will graduate with my Masters in Elementary Education in Spring 2020!  The books in this collection are some of my favorites, and I really hope that you enjoy them as much as I do!

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The Importance of Teaching about Bullying and Accepting Differences 

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The Importance of Teaching about Bullying and Accepting Differences 

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The theme that I am presenting across this literature collection about overcoming bullying and social adversity through learning to accept diverse differences is really important because it is an aspect that all elementary school students experience in some way or another. It does not necessarily mean that all students will know what it feels like to be bullied. However, they could be the kid being bullied, they could be the bully, or they will at least see bullying at some point in their school career, and because of this fact, I believe that it is very important to demonstrate to students at a young age what is the proper way to handle bullying from all sorts of perspectives. I also think that this collection is very important because it supports students in whatever situation they are in by letting them know that everyone feels different at some point because we all have defining features that make us unique from the majority. This collection will develop empathy, sensitivity, cultural awareness, and maybe even validation of identities in every elementary school class.