in the front cover of madonna's story, mr peabodys apples, is the following lesson from her kabbalah teacher that served as the basis for the book: "it is about the power of words. and how we must choose them carefully to avoid causing harm to others."
the book is about rumors spreading in a small town, and just how hard it is to make them go away. the butt of the rumor has the "wordy" child cut open a pillowcase of feathers and shake them out all over the baseball field. he then tells the child that in order to fully repent, and make the rumor get to the point, d. gotcha. one night last week, i think i chose my words more carefully than i ever have in my entire life. a tad dramatic? maybe. but also pretty true. i am impulsive and incredibly temperamental. so catch me on a bad day, and i promise youll be forever scarred by the sheer power of my word vomit. because of this, i want to share the inner success im feeling in reigning in the sometimes vocal demon and just flat out expressing myself honestly and kindly with my
to pay it forward... i read the book to my new fourth grade summer school students monday, as i do to my incoming seventh graders on the first day of each school year. the response was overwhelming, as always - and surprisingly similar. my lesson, however, has changed - with mad props going out to pinterest, facebook, and hollie. in the past, i have put the quote on the board and asked students to respond to it before reading the book aloud. this year, i used the above quotes and a few more ive found. the kids had much more to say, and their thoughts went further. and theyre only in fourth grade! cant wait to see how it goes with my seventh graders. ill be on the hunt for more forms of the lesson before the school year begins. here are some, as a teaser:
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