Privilege, Want, Need and Grace

Fourth grade is talking about privilege, want and need. Students hearing Out of My Mind are thinking about all of the ways they can use their bodies without thinking about it, after hearing about how Melody needed help for everything, including dressing and eating. Since Melody can't talk, a chapter also shared how Melody could become frustrated with even relaying the simplest of messages, like "I would really like to go to McDonalds." After thinking around this for a few minutes as a class, students were invited to list in their journals at least ten things they could do without even thinking about it. Students were easily able to generate lists, cutting themselves off only because they wanted to check out books.

Students listening to Ghost are thinking about the difference between "wants" and "needs." We though about how it felt to want something so badly that we thought we needed it. Students are also discussing how some people have more than others in the world. During the read aloud, the main character, Ghost, steals a pair of running. Leading up to this part of the story, the author paints a scene of the constant heckling Ghost endures because of his poverty. His lack of clothing that fits him, (his mother buys clothes too big so he can wear them for longer times) his sneakers, even his lack of food. This all comes to a head when Ghost realizes that everyone on the track team not only have running sneakers but also running clothes. Ghost himself shows up everyday in jeans and a t-shirt, and his hightop sneakers. First Ghost tries to fix his shoes himself by cutting off the tops, but when he is laughed at in school for his sneakers he takes matters into his own hands and steals a pair. As a class we are unpacking the multiple layers around the choice Ghost made and the possible effects later in the story. Additionally, we are reading the picture book  The Lunch Thief, by Anne Bromley to further step back and think about why some people might steal.

This has given us the opportunity to have open and sometimes hard discussions on what it is like to be hungry and how some people have more than others.