To begin our inquiry, we read a wide variety of books (picture books, chapter books and non-fiction) to get us thinking and to allow thoughtful conversations. I was very selective with the books that I found to help anchor our study. I wanted the message of the text to connect to citizenship; however, I also wanted the writing to be excellent. 

I decided to read aloud the picture book, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson. The story is about a little girl, Chloe, who misses her opportunity to be kind to a new student. In fact, she chooses to be unkind. The new student moves away and Chloe misses her chance to repair her unkind actions. As a class, we found the ending to be very powerful because it wasn't your typical "happy ending". Instead, Jacqueline Woodson forces us to realize that people can be unkind to one another. There is a part in the book where Chloe's teacher says: "Each kindness makes the world a little bit better."

This was the perfect opportunity to invite students to write about a moment of kindness they received from a family member. I didn't want students to miss their opportunity to share their appreciation for a loved one.

To support students, I wrote a piece showing my appreciation for my mom's weekly visits when she volunteers in my classroom. Students were then asked to create their own written pieces, which were given as gifts at parent conferences. They also published this writing on their individual blogs and parents were able to comment on them as well. It was wonderful to see the reactions of parents and the students loved receiving their comments.

Here are some samples from student blogs:

Sample 1                                       

Sample 2                                        

Sample 3

We charted our thinking about the question - "What does it mean to be a good citizen?"

This is a passage from Wonder with student thinking all in the margins.

This is a passage from Ryan and Jimmy with student thinking in the margins.

Analyzing a variety of texts over a period of time is one of my favourite things to do with my Grade 4/5 students. I specifically select texts that deal with "meaty" issues because I want discussions that are rich, meaningful and relevant to their lives.

Recently, I read the picture book, My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig. This is an excellent story dealing with the complex nature of bullying.  As I read this story, I was able to pause and share my thinking aloud with students. Students also shared their thoughts, questions and surprises. Sharing our thinking as a whole group allows students to hear multiple viewpoints. They begin to develop a "language of discussion" such as "I agree with", "I am piggybacking on that idea" or "At first I thought, but now I am thinking". These types of experiences will serve them well when they are talking about books in small group book clubs or literature circles.

Next, I had students work in small groups analyzing the same text. I typed up the story on the computer and students worked together to select passages that really tugged at their hearts. I instructed them to create a t-chart on a large piece of paper with "Text" on one side and "Reaction" on the other. They cut out these passages and then wrote down all of their thinking beside each passage. 

Students were able to write more critically about what they had read because of the rich discussion that already occurred as a whole class and because of the support of others in their small groups.

We gathered at the carpet again as a whole group so that each small group could present their thinking.