Ursula Fokine Grade – 2
P.S. 217 Literacy

Little Mouse’s Painting
By Diane Wolkstein
Illustrated by Maryjane Begin

Synopsis of Story:
Little Mouse paints a picture. She paints a landscape. However, when she shows this picture to her three friends they all believe that it is a picture of them. A conflict develops. Little Mouse remains true to her vision of her painting but acknowledges and is receptive to the ideas of her friends. In the end, she is able to reconcile the conflict amongst her friends and to accommodate the various points of view.

SEL Understandings

• Accepting the merit of other points of view
• Knowing one's own mind while accepting the merit of other views
• Expanding one’s own worldview by acknowledging and accepting the ideas of others
• Persevering despite setbacks
• Remaining flexible when handling criticism or challenges

Objectives

SEL:

• Students will practice active listening
• Students will verbalize different perspectives while looking at an inkblot.
• Students will learn how to acknowledge another point of view and express their own affirming or conflicting point of view in a positive way.

Literacy: Students will recall dialogue that represents the different perspectives of the main characters.

Pre-Reading

Before reading the book, show the class several optical illusions and ask them to first think silently about what they see and then to share it with a partner. For example, there is the famous picture of the Old Lady/Young Lady and students can share which one they see and what visual clues they are using.

Look at these and tell your buddy what you see.
Do you both see the same things?
Do you see something else?
Do you think there is a right or wrong answer to that question?
What did you notice first?
What did your buddy notice first?
How would you describe what you see?

Discussion Questions

How do you think little Mouse felt about her work after she painted it?
How do you think she felt after she showed her work to each of her friends?
Do you think she listened to what they were saying?
Do you think they were looking at her painting or listening to her?
How do you know if Little Mouse thought what her friends were saying was important?
How did they think the friends and little Mouse felt about each other throughout the story?
How was the thinking about mouse’s work different from the feelings about mouse’s friendship?

Activity- What Do You See?

Tell the class that a good book is like the painting in the book because readers can see different things in the same book. To be a good reader or a good writer or painter it is important to try to see different things from different points of view. This activity will give them practice at looking that way.

Students will make up their own "Rorschach" inkblots. Have children drop a drop of ink on the middle of a sheet of paper and fold the paper in half when still wet. Have the open the paper when still wet. Ask the students to pair up and discuss with their partner all they see in the inkblot. Review active listening strategies (see Glossary).Give them examples of active listening and dialogue:
I can understand how you might see that, but I also see…
I can’t see that right now, but I want to keep looking … some things I see are…
I want to add…
I disagree because…

Have them record what they see. As they work, move about the room to facilitate the process. At the end, bring them together in a large group and process the activity. Processing questions:
1. What was it like to try to find different images in one inkblot?
2. What either helped you or made it difficult?
3. How did your partner and you deal with times when you could not agree?
4. What could you do differently the next time someone does not understand your point of view? When you do not understand theirs?

Class Extension

• Hang inkblots and written observations so that all students can see inkblots and find their own interpretations.
• Role-play dialogue in the story between Little Mouse and friends for another class. Have volunteer "teachers" help the other class to learn what POV is.
• Integrated Learning- Use this lesson in a unit on illusions. Study the eye and the science of why we see images. In art and social studies lessons, show images of abstract contemporary art and ask about images or feelings they may project. In language arts, students can read other books and use the handout below to write down the characters' points of view.

Home and Family Connection

Have students bring home inkblots to "test" their family members.

Teacher Reflection

Listening to the opinions of others is valuable
Thoughtfulness and care in expressing one point of view enables learning to take place.
Differing points of view need not hurt feelings or jeopardize friendships; they can increase the depth of understanding and respect for other
Student’s efforts are valued and treated with respect.