For social studies we have been exploring similarities and differences among people.  We have focused particularly on children, with emphasis placed on similarities among children all over the world.  We began by reading the book One World, One Day by Barbara Kenley, which takes readers through a day on Earth, moving from place to place as time passes.  While the children in these books can have vastly different lives depending on what part of the world they live in (zip lining across a river to get to school!) the focus on simple routines that are common to most people (waking up, eating breakfast, going to school, playing) makes it easy to see commonalities and make connections to our own lives.  After reading this book, children worked in pairs looking at a variety of books that depict the daily lives of children around the world.   They  were given sticky notes to mark pages that they could connect to in some way.  Many of these connections are quite simple, but help reveal how much we have in common with people all over the world, despite our differences.

Last week we read the book To Be A Kid, by Maya Aimara and John D. Ivanko (with a forward by Marin and Chris Kratt, familiar names to many in the class!)  This book carries the message that children all over the world have much in common, with the repeating phrase "To be a kid means..."  No matter where they live  most children spend time with families and friends, go to school, play, and dream.  We followed the book with a project illustrating our own "To be a kid" page.