Social Justice for Little Learners

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Topic: Refugees/Immigration

Book Title: “One Green Apple”

Author: Eve Bunting

Link to Purchase: https://a.co/d/hFVQp9c

Link for Online Read-Aloud : https://youtu.be/5-ud9HOe3Bg?si=IrhFQAstxQ22kF4i

Discussion Prompts/Questions:

• Before Reading
  • “How did it feel to start school on the first day, and be around all the big kids who knew where to go and where to play?”
  • “Who are important people to know in school?”
  • “If you were going to a new school, what are things you would like to know?”
• During/After Reading
  • Encourage students to look at the expressions on the faces of students, throughout the book. and make guesses about what they are feeling.
  • Page 5- “Why do you think that boys and girls didn’t sit together at her old school?”
  • Page 6- “How do you think that Farah feels when she knows the kids are talking about her meanly, but she doesn’t know why or what they are saying?”
  • Page 11- “Why do you think that Farah didn’t bring her dog, Haddis, with her to her new country? Sometimes when people move to a new country they choose to move because they want to move. Sometimes, they don’t have a choice. And sometimes they have to leave important things, or animals, or people, in their first country.”
  • Page 16 – “Have you ever felt alone, and like you don’t belong?”
  • “They got to be a team, making the juice! How did Farah feel about being part of the group? How did her new friends feel?”
  • Page 31- “Look at the picture on this page. What feelings is Farah feeling?”
  • “How can we help children who are new to our school, or our city, or our country, to feel safe and happuy and welcome?”

Follow-Up Activity:

• Extend your dramatic play house centre to include a travel centre. Encourage students to pretend that they are moving to a new place, and that they have to decide what to take with them.
• Set up an apple orchard play centre, to allow students to retell and extend the story.
• Make apple juice or apple sauce! Allow students to be part of the group, each contributing to the process.

BC Core Competency Connections:

Personal and Social

• Positive Personal and Cultural Identity
  • I am aware of myself as different from others.
• Social Awareness and Responsibility
  • I am aware that other people can be different from me.
  • In familiar settings, I can interact with others and my surroundings respectfully.
  • I can identify when something is unfair to me or to others.

Thinking

• Creative Thinking
  • I get ideas when I play.
• Critical Thinking
  • I can explore materials and actions.

Communication

• Communicating
  • In a safe and supported environment, I respond meaningfully to communication from peers and adults.
  • In familiar settings, I communicate with peers and adults.
• Collaborating
  • In familiar situations, I can participate with others.

BC Curricular Connections:

• Understand (Big Ideas):
  • Stories and other texts help us learn about ourselves and our families. (ELA K)
  • Everyone has a unique story to share. (ELA K)
  • Through listening and speaking, we connect with others and share our world. (ELA K)
  • Our communities are diverse and made of individulas who have a lot in common. (SS K)
  • Learning about ourselves and others helps us develop a positive attitude and caring behaviours, which helps us build healthy relationships. (Physical and Health Education K)
• Know (Content):
  • Ways in which individuals and families differ and are the same. (SS K)
  • Rights, roles, and responsibilities of individuals and groups. (SS K)
  • Cultural and social awareness, achieved by exploring self-identity, acknowledging cultural differences, honouring indigenous traditions. (Career Education K)
  • Caring behaviours in groups and families. (Physical and Health Education K)
• Do (Curricular Competency):
  • Comprehend and connect (reading, listening, viewing)
    • Engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers, as appropriate, to develop understanding of self, identity, and community. (ELA K)
    • Recognize the importance of story in personal, family, and community identity. (ELA K)
    • Use personal experience and knowledge to connect to stories and other texts to make meaning. (ELA K)
  • Create and communicate (writing, speaking, representing)
    • Exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding. (ELA K)
    • Use language to identify, create, and share ideas, feelings, opinions, and preferences. (ELA K)
  • Recognize causes and consequences of events, decisions, or developments in their lives. (SS K)
  • Acknowledge different perspectives on people, places, issues, or events in their lives. (SS K)
  • Identify fair and unfair aspects of events, decisions, or actions in their lives and consider appropriate courses of action. (SS K)
  • Share ideas, information, personal feelings, and knowledge with others. (Career Education K)
  • Develop and demonstrate respectful behaviour when participating in activities with others. (Physical and Health Education K)

FPPL Link:

• Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors.
• Learning involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions.
• Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story.
• Learning requires exploration of one’s identity.

BC ELF Link:

• Early years spaces are inclusive.
• Play is integral to well-being and learning.
• Relationships are the context for well-being and learning.
• Learning is holistic.

TFT Through-line Link:

• Justice Seeking
• Community Building