One Book, One School

A Whole-School Community Reading Initiative

Why is Botelle doing One Book, One School? 
We started One Book, One School as a way to teach our students about diverse cultures and groups. Picture books are fun for all ages and also very informative. By reading books with diverse characters and topics, our students increase their understanding, appreciation and acceptance of others. We have much more in common with one another than we sometimes realize. Each month we will read a new book at school and invite you to read it at home with your family. At Botelle, we are preparing our students to be engaged participants in a diverse, global society! 

February - Black History Month  +  March - Women's History Month  
Featured Book: The Oldest Student

In this book, Mary Walker, a former slave, has a life long goal of learning to read. She accomplishes this when she’s over 100 years old! It’s a real-life story that shows them the importance of perseverance to achieve our goals. 

January - Poverty Awareness Month   Featured Book: Fly Away Home 

January is Poverty Awareness Month. After learning about the effects poverty has on individuals and families, Student Council created a Health and Hygiene Drive to support those struggling with poverty. Now through the end of the month, please consider donating new, unopened hygiene items like diapers, soap, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, wipes, feminine products, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bandaids, etc. 

November - Native American Month   Featured Book: We Are Water Protectors 

While you read the book, stop and discuss what is happening.  At the end, use some of the questions to discuss the book and what it is teaching about Native Americans.  Sometimes we think about Native Americans historically, but this book shows us how Native Americans today are still defending their land - for the good of all.  

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Questions for discussion

Before reading: What do the pictures on the cover make you think? Why is it important to protect water?

During reading: Why did the author compare the pipes to a "black snake"?

After reading: For what reasons did the girl and her people protect the "black snake"? What is important to Native Americans? How do you know? What's important to you too?

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October - Disability Awareness Month   Featured Book: Just Ask! 

Just Ask! is written by Sonia Sotomayor and illustrated by Rafael Lopez to our students. The author and illustrator both have Hispanic heritage, in honor of Hispanic Heritage month. We learned about where they are from, their interests as children and their accomplishments as adults. The book Just Ask is about children with differences and disabilities, which connects to Disabilities Awareness month. Children learned about differences like blindness, ADHD, dyslexia and Down syndrome. Students learned a little bit about these differences and how the children in the book managed them. We discussed what the author wanted us to learn and your children easily recognized a variety of themes from, “Don’t judge others before you know them,” to “Our differences make us special.”

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