In this perceptive picture book, we are given a look at the life of a mouse who has a different kind of name than any of her other kindergarten classmates. Chrysanthemum faces some tough times with teasing and bullying, but when she meets the music teacher she ultimately comes to still love her name-and so do her classmates. I love this story, because it tells children that it is okay to be different and we will still support and love one another despite our differences. I would use this story at the beginning of the year to discuss how each student's name is special. I would have my students make a book all about their name. The pages would include: "My name is.." , "I love the way my name sounds when..", "I love the way my name looks when...", and "Just like Chrysanthemum, my name is..." I would provide them with the sentence frames and have them complete them. I think this would be so fun for children!
Lexile: 570L
Fountas and Pinnell: M
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