As part of our unit of inquiry, we began thinking about how our actions affect our shared space and our friends. We read Llama Llama Mess Mess Mess and noticed how not keeping the house tidy impacted Llama Llama and his home. This led us to reflect on our own classroom. Looking at photos of our room in disarray—with toys and materials scattered everywhere—the children agreed it would be “not nice” to arrive to such a scene. They said we might lose things, get hurt, or have no room to play. We then discussed how we can keep our classroom tidy. The children talked about putting things away and cleaning up at the end of each day. In small groups, they explored specific areas such as the library and construction corner and showed how we care for each space. We took photos to document these shared responsibilities and turned them into small posters, now displayed in each area as reminders for everyone. You can see these posters below.
Later in the week we also thought about how we can stand up for ourselves and others. Once again, we began with a book for inspiration—this time a wordless story called I Walk With Vanessa. In this gentle story, a young girl notices someone being unkind to a new, shy classmate named Vanessa. Feeling sad for her, the girl decides the next day to walk with Vanessa to school. Along the way, more children join them, showing kindness and support. The bully stays away, and Vanessa makes many new friends. We then reflected on how we might advocate for ourselves or others if someone is being unkind. The children suggested kind and thoughtful responses such as saying “Come and play with me,” “Stop!” to the unkind person, walking away, or telling a teacher. Wise words indeed!
