Mary Hoffman's story Amazing Grace would be a good book to read with kindergarten through third grade students. The books' main character is Grace, a girl who loves to become the main character of the stories that he reads or hears. When her class is putting on the play Peter Pan, Grace wants to play the part of Peter, but students in her class tell her she can't because she is black and she's a girl. At home, her mom and grandma tell her she can do anything she wants. Her grandma takes her to the ballet to see a young black dancer play the part of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. When Grace tries out for the part of Peter, everyone thinks she is perfect. I think this would be an excellent story to explore with my students to show the creativity that Grace expressed when she took on the characters of different stories and acted them out as well as how she overcame adversity of others telling her she couldn't do something.
We could discuss books students have read that they would enjoy acting out. We would focus on what Grace was told she couldn't do (that she couldn't be Peter Pan) and why (because she was a girl and she was black). We would talk about what it means when someone tells you that you can't do something and discuss the difference between "you can't do it because you're a girl/black/etc" and "you shouldn't do it because it will hurt you." I would ask my students if they had ever been told they couldn't do something for some reason. Students would be encouraged to share their experiences and what they did - did they give up and not try or did they try anyway. Students will be asked to choose their favorite book or story and find a way to tell that story to the class. They can act it out, draw a picture; they can share the story in any way they choose.
ME.
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