"Toothpaste Activity"

Today we did an "experiment" with toothpaste and it didn't involve brushing our teeth! I gave each child a small tube of toothpaste and a paper bowl.  They were all allowed to squeeze all of the toothpaste out into the bowl.

When they were done I asked them if they thought they would be able to put all of the toothpaste back into the tube exactly the way it was before.  They all agreed that that would be impossible!  I explained that the same thing is true with our words and actions towards other people.  Once we say or do something it is out there.  Just like with the toothpaste, we can try and clean it up, say we're sorry, etc. but we can't unsay the words or undo the actions.  Mistakes happen and apologies are important.  But it is also important to think about how our words and actions will affect other people before we say them.

Then I read the book, Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco.  The main idea of the story is about a little girl (Patricia Polacco) who struggles to learn how to read.  In the end her teacher helps her become a reader.  There is a very powerful picture in the book of when other kids are making fun of her. 

 

After reading the story we talked about the power of our words.  We can either use our words to hurt each other or we can use them to support, encourage, comfort, etc. each other.  I explained that we are like a family.  Just like in a regular family, you can't choose who is in your classroom or "school family," but we can choose how we treat each other.  We talked about doing our best to protect each other, stand up for each other, encourage each other, help each other, etc. 

We will continue to work on building up and strengthening our classroom family!