PROJECT EXSEL

Pat Hunter

Grade – Kindergarten
P.S. 130 Literature

Synopsis of Story
Eggbert is forced to leave his home in the refrigerator due to a cracked shell. He tries to find a place for himself by disguising his crack and trying to blend in. His real self is always discovered and he finally realizes that he must be true to himself. He learns to love his crack and realizes that we live in a world full of "imperfection" and that our flaws add rather than take away from our lives.

SEL Understandings

• Knowing and accepting who you are.
• Knowing how to bounce back from negative situation
• Knowing that others do not always know the true you
• Knowing that your opinion matters more than anyone else's opinion
• Knowing how to stand up for yourself when others are trying to bring you down
• Knowing you can make yourself happy

Objectives

• SEL: Students will be ale to verbalize that a belief in yourself (ie. the emotional competence of self confidence) can help you when faced with a problem.
• Students will be able to make appropriate switches from oral (role playing dialogue) to written (text) language styles.

Pre-Reading
Talk about how an egg can be both fragile and strong. Use a half eggshell to demonstrate it's strength (it can support books placed on top) and its softness (ask a volunteer to "peck" a hole in the shell)

After Reading

Have students identify the feelings that Eggbert experienced.

Activity - Interactive Role Play

Take a scene from the book where Eggbert is interacting with another character. Use two puppets to play Eggbert and the other character (sock puppets work great). In the first stage, set up the situation and tell your students that Eggbert will not only talk but will also say out loud what he is thinking and feeling. Say, "Sometimes what we think and feel can help us or hurt us when we have a problem. That's why it is good to be aware of what we are thinking and feeling. But sometimes we may need help to be aware. In a moment, my puppets will act out a little play and I want to guess what Eggbert is thinking and feeling."

Conduct the role play making sure that Eggbert puppet's thoughts and feelings reflect a lack of self confidence. Freeze the action and ask students to describe what happened and how Eggbert is acting, thinking and feeling. Interact with the puppets to get them to reveal more and to be more aware. Say to students, "Now pretend that you are Eggbert's friends. What would you like to say to him to help him think and feel differently in this situation?" Elicit suggestions.

Role play again but, this time, make the Eggbert puppet more self confident. End the role play and process the learning experience.

Class Extension

• Have students care for an egg. Give a hard boiled egg to each child. Give them a box to keep it in. Have them keep the egg in the box for three days without cracking the shell. (they have to carry it around with them). After three days the children share their results. Have each student write about their experience and feelings as they protected their egg.
• Read the poem, Celebration, by Lindamichellebaron (Linda Dudley, 1988). Children can write a celebration poem about Eggbert or themselves.
• Have children create their own sock or paper bag puppets. Children can name them and make up their own role plays. Keep puppets for other SEL activities.
• Give students a picture of the cracked egg worksheet and allow them to draw a face on the egg that corresponds to a time they felt like Eggbert. Allow them to share their stories.
• Integrated language perspective: Eggs can be part of the theme of "Beginnings." Students can use an incubator to hatch eggs and learn more about how living things begin. Also they can look at how other things begin such as books, games in gym and machines.

Home and Family Connections

Invite parents to join the egg "adoption" experiment with their children. They can treat the egg as a grandchild. Invite families in to join the class for an official egg graduation day. (no eggnog can be served)

Teacher Reflection

When have you been left out or felt different? Was it because of physical characteristics or values and beliefs? What did it feel like? Did you try to blend in? How did it feel? Did it last ?

Teacher Evaluation

I was amazed to see how kindergarten children could relate to Eggbert's feeling of rejection. It was also a revelation to me that most children thought Eggbert should not allow the other characters to push him around. The student's ability to show empathy towards Eggbert even before Eggbert started to accept himself made me realize that our children are making progress in developing social and emotional skills.