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Thursday, March 17, 2022

Chapter Books and Empathy

I got into a debate with someone recently who told me that I shouldn't be reading chapter books to my 1st Graders because it's above their own reading level. I completely disagree. I think there are a lot of benefits to reading to students above their grade level. The vocabulary, the way you can apply comprehension stories and of course the way they develop a relationship with the characters in the story. It has been proven that these read-alouds help students develop empathy. They can put themselves in someone else's shoes more easily.

Right now we are reading:



I asked my students to think about the adjectives they would use to describe Melody the main character. If you haven't read the book, Melody suffers from cerebral palsy. She is incredibly smart but no one knows this because she can't communicate, until her parents figure out a way.

The students really like the story and they are able to picture what Melody's life may be like. Here are the bubble maps they made to describe her:
























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