Skip to main content

Wonder

Wonder is a heart-warming, love-filled, inspirational novel written by R.J. Palacio.  As a realistic fiction novel, you begin to understand why choosing kindness any day is the best option.  In the book, Auggie, the main character, is a child with a very rare birth defect who does not automatically enjoy going to school but with the help of his friends Summer and Jack helps them to understand why being kind to their friend goes a long way.  I would reccomend this book to be read to students in grades three and up when they begin to learn about kindness towards their peers.  This book can be used during national bullying prevention week as well. Learning about being kind and using literature to do so kills two birds with one stone and allows educators to reveal the secret that literature can be used for almost every situation. We're All Wonders was also written by R.J. Palacio.





Classroom Activities:

1.) Students can read the book and then watch the movie.  After doing both, have students discuss what they feel about reading what is happening to Auggie compared to seeing it played out on the big screen.

2.) Have students be artistic with writing the word WONDER.  Students can use paint, crayons, magazine clippings, markers, pencils, or any type of art they decide to use to make the word look as beautiful as they want.  Have students say nice things about each others paintings as a "be kind" gesture.

Goals:

  • These activities will help students understand what it means to be nice and how it can brighten the day for their peers and other people in their community.


Bibliography:

Palacio, R. J. (2012). Wonder. United Kingdom: Penguin Books Ltd.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Colors of Us

The Colors of Us, written and illustrated by Karen Katz, is about a little girl named Lena who wants to paint a self-portrait using brown paint for her skin tone.  The simple statement "brown is brown" leads Lena and her mother to take a stroll down their block to help Lena understand that there are a plethora of browns all around her.  The Color of Us can be defined as a type of memoir picturebook.  It gives an account of someone's personal life while adding pictures for likeness and representation.  The use of every color brown sheds light on the exact meaning of the title as well as providing visual examples for readers who may be just as curious to know why brown is not just brown and what "cinnamon" and "toffy" actually look like. This book allows the reader to fully grasp the concept of how many colors truly surround us all.  Karen Katz shows an exciting and creative way of describing everyday people that we always see to make them ...
1 comment
Read more

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl is based on the fantasy idea of a young boy named Charlie who won a golden ticket contest, hosted by none other than the famous Willy Wonka, to attend Wonka’s tour of his chocolate factory.  During his visit, Charlie experiences the children around him and how they react with their parents and is eventually the “last child standing” by the end of the tour.  Wonka eventually invites Charlie and his family to come live with him in his factory to which they agree.  This book feeds on the amazement of just being able to experience what happens in a chocolate factory where the world’s most desired candy is created.  Reading the book, you can automatically place yourself in this fantasy world making it seem so real.  This book was later presented as two feature films, one released in 1971 titled Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and the other titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, after the book.  Other books...
1 comment
Read more