Mommy's Khimar

We are in a period where it is critical that we expose our students to people who may look and live differently than themselves.  I found that the best way to do this is through literature.  I think that the basal has a place in the curriculum and that would be as a supplement (smile). 

Why not use a good picture book that can cover character education and diversity along with the reading strategies you teach?  

I was so excited to find the picture book Mommy’s Khimar written by Jamilah

 Thompkins-Bigelow and illustrated by Ebony Glenn!  It’s about a young 

Muslim girl who loves her mother’s khimar.  She’s full of imagination!  We have 

discussed the character traits Creativity and Appreciation of Beauty with this

 book.  

Students walked around the grounds to write or draw
what they thought was beautiful.

  

We also learned about Ibtihaj Muhammad who was the first woman to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab.  Many of my students had never heard of the sport fencing and thought it was extremely fascinating.  We read a biography about Ibithaj and the students wrote four facts in their reading journal about her.  They were able to put the little reader inside their personal libraries to read at a later date. 

I think most kids at this age love to draw and color!  They look forward to the directed drawing with each picture book we complete.  I usually have them write what they thought the theme was in the story or a summary.  It’s great practice for writing our response to literature pieces. 

I taught possessive nouns previously, but we needed a refresher.  We did a few activities where they had to identify the possessive noun and use an apostrophe to create a possessive.  They also wrote sentences with possessive nouns.

I LOVE teaching from a diverse picture book!  I can cover a variety of standards when I plan the lesson!  

You can check out the full unit here!

Happy teaching and dive deeper with diverse books!