Folks,

Please take the time to read this all the way through. When I say THIS is THE resource and book that are a MUST in your classroom or even at home with your children, I truly mean it! You won’t regret taking the time to read.

Mr. Peabody's Apples

SEL: The Power of Your Words- Resource & Activities

The Power of Your Words_ Mr. Peabody's Apples

Link to purchase it on TPT: Mr Peabodys Apples| SEL Worksheets on The Power of Words, Gossip and Rumors (teacherspayteachers.com)

Link to purchase it on this site: SEL Picture Book: Mr. Peabody’s Apples – The Bright Cookie

Here is the resource description:

Description

This SEL picture book companion, by Madonna, is full of SEL concepts: The Power of Your Words, Not to Judge, Empathy, Kindness, and more! This resource has 17+ pages and 12 engaging and differentiated activities and is perfect for back-to-school or anytime your students may need a refresher on being kind to one another and ultimate lessons of The Power of Your Words, The Golden Rule, respect, kindness, not to be too quick to judge someone, gossip, and rumors.

It helps students distinguish how to treat one another and to set boundaries within your classroom from Day 1.

The lesson in this book is SO powerful, that it is worth buying this resource even if you don’t have the picture book! You can watch the read aloud version online with your students and hold discussions during or after the book is over.

 

GREAT DISCUSSION POINTS:

– In many ways, this realistic fiction story offers a beautiful way to open critical conversations regarding feelings, connections (text-to-self, text-to-world), and thinking before you speak.

– This story points out that we all hold the power within us to not be a part of unkind behavior that other peers/classmates/people may be participating in.

– Discuss what gossip and rumors are by giving examples and having the students come up with examples themselves. Within this resource, students are given the opportunity to come up with a definition in their own words.

–

This SEL resource includes:

An opportunity for students to analyze and give their own meaning of a quote.

Make real-life connections to discuss/write about.

Recall facts from the story.

Decide whether certain statements are positive (kind) or negative (unkind) for one person to say to another.

Given a chance to explain his/her thoughts of the book.

Brainstorming ways to respond activity.

(2) coloring sheets that remind students of the power of their words and to THINK before they speak.

Comes in a printable and digital version.

Overview and Activity to do along with the book:

 

It IS a fantastic book! I read it every year for YEARS to my class. I will also include some pictures in this email of another lesson I did with it. (Along with the toothpaste lesson that is within the resource.)  I had (2) apples. (Before the students got to class, I threw one of them on the floor quite a few times…. (This seems so mean! Ha!) The other apple I left alone.

After reading the book, I went around and had students speak kindly and compliment the apple that I had left alone. I had other students say (appropriate) unkind things to the apple that I had thrown on the ground. Once that was complete, I cut both apples in half and showed the class the inside of each apple.
The apple they spoke kindly to was white, crisp, and clean. The apple they spoke unkindly to was bruised, discolored, brown.

Lesson being, when you don’t control your words and speak unkindly towards another person, you don’t know what it does to them on the inside.
So, it was another lesson on “the power of your words”, but also The Golden Rule, Kindness, Friendship, etc.

The book is SO good, however it is a bit pricey on Amazon these days. I am a true believer in purchasing the book and reading it to my students myself. Since the book is priced high at this time, this link is a read aloud from YouTube that is done well.

Here are some pictures of me doing the apple lesson with my class over the years. 

This picture shows when I was going around to each student having them speak kind words/compliments to one of the apples, and unkind words to the other.

  

I then cut the two apples in half to show what was on the inside.

Students quickly realized that speaking kind words to someone makes that person feel good inside. (The clean white crisp apple)

Next, we voted on which way was the best way to use our words…. kind towards others….or what was on our mind no matter how it made the other person feel.

This is the FINAL product:
   

The KINDNESS apple came out on top. This lesson taught that our words are more powerful than we may even realize.

 

I promise you that this resource is WORTH the purchase! If you do any of the activities with it, please send pictures to http://www.kristen@thebrightcookie, and as long as the student faces aren’t showing…I will post them to SPOTLIGHT your class and the activity!

 

This book, resource, and lesson are all so critical in elementary classrooms today! “The Power of Your Words” lesson can be a good reminder for ALL people. Children and adults alike.

#engaginglearning

#socialemotionalconcepts

#charactereducation

#makelearningfunandrelatable

Kristen Eason