Less Than Half, More Than Whole

In the classroom/library:

Less Than Half, More Than Whole is most appropriate for students in third and fourth grades.

This book integrates with classroom curriculum in the areas of language arts (literacy), art (illustrations), and social studies (Indian culture).

The theme is discovering the benefits to diversity among one another and learning more about who we are inside and out.

I shared this book with a fourth grade class who had been working on "heritage projects" for a couple of weeks. The students were discovering where they came from, their family trees, and the characteristics of the countries their ancestors lived.

Before reading:

• Students talked about their heritage projects and the differences among everyone.

After reading:

• Students got into pairs and brainstormed a skit.
• The skit had to be an example of when someone would feel different.
• In the skit, the students had to come up with a resolution to the problem.
• The students performed their skits in front of the class.
• After the performances, the students discussed what the book meant to them.

Follow-up:

• I learned that the skits did not have to be elaborate to get the point of the story across to the students
• I feel that all of the students did an excellent job coming up with ideas, and we all had a great time watching the performances.

About the Book | Book Review | Children's Voices | Lesson Plan | About the Reviewer