No one wants to feel left out. However, this happens to students every single day. For instance, students sit alone at lunch and play alone at recess daily. Additionally, there are students who do not have a partner when being able to work together. No teacher wants students to feel alone. Therefore, they work really hard to develop a strong classroom community. A powerful way to do this involves teaching the importance of including others with Strictly No Elephants.
The book and Read Aloud Activities are the perfect way to include Social Emotional Learning in the classroom!
Strictly No Elephants
Author Lisa Mantchev and illustrator Taeeun Yoo wrote a book that touches the hearts of all readers.
A young boy and his elephant have a special bond. They do everything they possibly can together and always help each other out. So, when Pet Club Day finally arrives, the young boy cannot wait to go! He knows there will be tons of animals for his elephant to get to know, such as dogs, cats, and fish. Sadly, he learns there is a strictly no-elephant policy when he arrives. The Pet Club doesn’t see that animals come in all shapes and sizes.
After having hurt feelings, the young boy decides to do something about the Pet Club policy. Instead of being sad, he forms his own! This one will be inclusive and accept pets of all shapes and sizes. Readers will love to see how happy the animals are to have friends!
Read Aloud Activities
As students get older, they will experience more conflict with classmates. This may be disagreements over who sits next to who on the bus. Or, it may be feeling like there is no one in class with similar interests. Truthfully, no one wants to feel left out! However, it is important to remember that many of our students do not mean to make classmates feel like this. It is an unintentional result of various situations. This is exactly why teaching the importance of including others with Strictly No Elephants is so meaningful!
Since teachers have so much to prepare as it is, there is a teacher guide to outline the entire unit. Specifically, this contains all of the lesson plans needed. Additionally, it includes an introduction to help prepare students and sets the purpose for the story. Likewise, it has essential vocabulary words.
When learning what it feels like to be left out, it is crucial for students to share their experiences. This allows students to see it has happened to everyone. Therefore, there are higher-level thinking questions and talking points to guide student discussion. Each question includes a page number, so teachers know exactly where to stop.
While discussion is essential to include in lessons, personal reflection is also critical. Thankfully, teaching the importance of including others with Strictly No Elephants has both aspects! There is a written response and activity sheet to help students learn ways to ensure every classmate feels included. There are even differentiated options to ensure every student knows this SEL skill.
Furthermore, there is hands-on craftivity! Students will love how the craft connects the story to their lives.
Application
Teachers work hard to ensure students understand how the material taught in the classroom relates to life outside of school. Therefore, there are task cards that provide scenarios or thought-provoking questions. Each task card will help students understand the importance of including others with Strictly No Elephants.
There are different ways to use the task cards. Honestly, they work great for whole class or small group discussions. They even work perfectly for individual work time.
No Prep Resource
Teachers have to handle so much. Thankfully, the Read Aloud Activities are all no prep! Teachers just need to print the resources.
Honestly, teaching students about including others with Strictly No Elephants will transform the classroom. Students will understand how important inclusion is and why they should always help others. This is a story students will never forget as they travel through different situations in life.
If you do not want to miss any of the upcoming lessons, join my email list to be notified of all the interactive lessons coming up! By joining the email list, you will also receive freebies for blog exclusive subscribers!
Free Read Aloud Lesson
If you do not want to miss any of the upcoming lessons, join my email list to be notified of all the interactive lessons coming up! By joining the email list, you will also receive a FREE Book List for Social Emotional Learning for blog exclusive subscribers!
Save This Read Aloud Lesson
Be sure to save this pin to your favorite read alouds board on Pinterest! You’ll be able to come back to this lesson plan when you are ready to read it aloud with your students.
