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Educate Against Hate

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As we witness an alarming rise in antisemitism worldwide, we’re reminded of the important role parents and educators play in pushing back against violence, intolerance and hate. 

Now, more than ever, it is imperative for us to lead by example and instil compassion in our students’ hearts, an essential ingredient for a healthy, morally driven society. As our children’s most powerful influencers, we are their conduit to the world. The way we interact and talk about others, what we say, or don’t say, becomes vital in their understanding of the world. By reinforcing kindness, tolerance, and compassion, we embolden our children with the skills to live peacefully and comfortably in a diverse world.

Equally imperative is that while we teach our students to be accepting of different views, ideas and thoughts, a hard line must be drawn to disallow tolerance for destructive ideologies based on hate. Violence and its glorification should never be the end result of differing viewpoints. Nothing but destruction awaits there. Teachers can counteract learned biases and attitudes of intolerance that children may learn elsewhere. Stereotypes and lies must be challenged and rooted out through education. 

When we explicitly teach our students to respect those who are different from us, the cycle of hate is challenged and disrupted. This is especially important in today’s world where we see hostility based on national and religious differences. We must prepare our students to live in a diverse world, with people that may have different beliefs and experiences than them. We must teach our children to look at the world from different perspectives and challenge the notion that differences make us enemies. Simply put, diversity means we have more partners to learn from. It is this uniqueness that enriches the world.

Most importantly in today’s world, we must teach our children not to tolerate hate. We must encourage them to counter evil with acts of kindness and love, with the inner light they all have.

 With that in mind, I would like to share some of my poems from the book, A Sackful of Poems. It is my hope that they can be useful in starting important conversations with our students – discussions about tolerance, peace, empathy, kindness, diversity, acceptance, appreciating differences, and recognizing how our words and actions can hurt or heal. 

With hope for a more compassionate future,

Lora

To download a free copy of the poems for your personal use at home or in the classroom, please click HERE.

A World Gone Awry

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I’m at a loss.

On October 7th, 2023, Hamas, an internationally recognized terror group, invaded Israel and committed unspeakable, inhumane atrocities against innocent Israeli civilians – an act that has left the global community in heart-wrenching shock.

Babies snatched from their mother’s arms, shot and beheaded.
Children axed, murdered while sleeping, tied and piled, burnt alive.
Girls raped and maimed, paraded as trophies.
Parents and children, bound, beaten, tortured in each other’s sight.
Men and women, young and old, kidnapped to a fate unknown.
Families terrorized as they answered calls, witness to their loved ones’ execution.

Pure evil.

All of this, while civilians in Gaza cheered and celebrated, proudly waving their flags and antisemitic placards. All the while, here in Canada, on our streets and school campuses, terrorist sympathizers celebrated the massacre of innocent lives, echoing vile sentiments of Jewish genocide.

Vicious. Heartbreaking. How on earth did we get here? Here, where rape is celebrated by other women. Here, where shooting Holocaust survivors is cheered post a Never Again era. Here, where slicing a mother’s womb and taking a life not yet born is glorified.

While most of the world came together in love and support, heartless human beings celebrated; celebrated the shooting, burning and beheading of children and babies!
There are simply no words.

In times of heart-wrenching tragedy and chaos, it is often educators who find themselves at the forefront of efforts to make sense of a world gone awry. I often reach out to you to recommend books for kids, enlighten you on important people in children’s literature and sometimes comment on how we see the world and how it could make sense for kids. Today, I’m reaching out to you for something completely different. Today I seek your support to help change this devastating trajectory, where the global moral compass has gone askew, where young minds can no longer decipher truth from corruption, where the media infects to breed a heartless society, while others yet, sit silently and watch.

The ensuing celebrations by terrorist sympathizers is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable. It is indicative of an ethical decay permeating our “woke”, yet morally adrift world. While Jewish communities worldwide mourn the death of their loved ones, Hamas supporters taunt and inflict more pain to the wounds, chanting, Gas the Jews, holding signs that call to wipe Israel off the map, handing out sweets, dancing, cheering, celebrating. How on earth did we get to a place so callous and vile, a world so detached from what it means to be human? A world where the barbaric slaughter of innocent Jews is met with a call to murder all Jews worldwide? Where is the outrage?

Regrettably, this horrifying call for genocide echoes a dark and haunting chapter in history. It is a disturbing reminder of the sentiments and principles that once facilitated the systematic extermination of six million Jews during the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. This malevolent ideology thrives on vilification, dehumanization, desensitization, and unwavering justification, shamelessly parading on our streets still today, infiltrating school campuses, dominating news outlets, and permeating social media platforms.

The relentless indoctrination of young minds has left an indelible mark, grooming them with an onslaught of hate-filled propaganda directed at Israel, and by extension, Jews across the globe. This prolonged exposure has reached a point where distinguishing fact from fiction, discerning good from evil, has become an overwhelming challenge. Tragically, this distorted reality finds its expression in the odious rallies that endorse terror and violence. We witness a disheartening culmination of toxic messaging, misleading teachings, revisionist history, fake news, biased media narratives, celebrity endorsements, the intersectionality of minority groups, and the exploitation of a victimhood mentality.

In the dynamic realm of social media, words are powerful, capable of building or destroying with precision. As educators, we bear the responsibility to ensure that our students understand the gravity of their digital expressions, not falling prey to the insidious influence of memes, hashtags, likes and facile buzzwords. Words fired without comprehension are akin to firing bullets oblivious to where they land, an action both reckless and harmful.

It is our role to guide students in comprehending the impact of their words. We must equip our youth to resist the allure of the herd mentality, to withstand social pressures that may lead them to parrot ideologies they do not fully understand. The path to moral literacy in our present world necessitates the ability to discern and sift through propaganda and bias, in pursuit of what is genuine and truthful. Our mission is to raise a generation of critical thinkers, not keyboard warriors whose words aim to hurt and destroy from a detached distance.

As teachers, we must ask ourselves, where have we lacked? Where do we need more education? Is it science or math, or perhaps the injection of emotional intelligence and a sense of morality? We’ve seen this before, we’ve lived through the horror, yet the world is sleeping. The murder of six million Jews did not begin with gas chambers, it began with a wicked idea and people turning a blind eye. It began with finger pointing and blaming. It began with lies. What we see today is a new oppressor, but an old propaganda.

I remember the terror attacks on 9-11. It was 22 years ago and my first year teaching. I had a grade two class. The announcements came on and I froze as I tried to digest what I was hearing. How would I explain this to my students? After our lessons about love, respect and kindness, how would I make meaning of something that lacked all of that? Then driving home that day I heard someone on the radio quote Mr. Rogers, “Look for the helpers”. And so after the questions and digesting the facts, we focused on rebuilding with the love that poured out.

Twenty two years later, another evil has crept on our doorstep, this time targeting Jewish communities worldwide. I can only hope that my students remember my words today, and look at the massacre in Israel with nothing but compassionate eyes. I pray that today they are the helpers. This gives me hope in a world gone awry.

I’d like to end with an excerpt from a book by Dr. Chaim Ginott’s, “Teacher and Child.” It speaks to our role as educators, and what the world needs more of right now.

I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no person should witness: gas chambers built by learned engineers. Children poisoned by educated physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses. Women and babies shot by high school and college graduates. So, I am suspicious of education. My request is this: Help your children become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths or educated Eichmanns. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more human.

As Remembrance Day approaches, we are reminded of the sacrifices made for a better tomorrow. This moment of reflection serves as a poignant reminder of our duty as educators to steer our students away from moral decay. Let this day inspire us to embrace our role, engage in meaningful conversations, and cultivate empathy in the young minds we nurture. As we remember the past, let us also shape a more compassionate and ethical future, where the values that underpin our society are not commodities, but pillars of our shared humanity.

With deep empathy and hope for a kinder future,

Lora

Bear – New Picture Book About Love, Loss and Connection

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I’m excited to announce the release of my latest picture book, Bear. This one is especially close to my heart! Almost two years ago I lost my father to ALS. Through the heartache I found peace in Bear, a story about love, loss, and connection after losing a loved one.

Bear was the name of Grandpa’s favourite chair. It was big and brown and furry. It had buttons that made the chair go up and down, and even helped you stand. But what made it really special was the memories that lingered long after Grandpa was gone. Bear is a tender and comforting tale for young readers that celebrates life and the significance of the moments we hold dear when a loved one passes away. Bear explores themes of love, loss and connection in a life-affirming and uplifting tale, reminding us that those we cherish are never more than a memory away.

Publication Date: November 22, 2020
Available in major retailers including Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Diversity in the Classroom

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Whether it be in your classroom or your home, it’s not always easy to start difficult conversations or clarify confusing times for children. But the best conversations can begin with a story. They are a great way to expose children to different narratives and teach them about people outside of their immediate family. Having a diverse range of books can be a powerful tool in teaching children about tolerance and acceptance, all the while celebrating uniqueness and individuality. With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of books to help begin important discussions, not only about race, but also about inclusion, diversity and the differences that make us special.

Follow a group of children through a day in their school, where everyone is welcomed with open arms. A school where kids in patkas, hijabs, and yarmulkes play side-by-side with friends in baseball caps. A school where students grow and learn from each other’s traditions and the whole community gathers to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

 

 

Lily and Salma are best friends. They like doing all the same things, and they always eat lunch together. Lily eats peanut butter and Salma eats hummus-but what’s that between friends? It turns out, a lot. Before they know it, a food fight breaks out. Can Lily and Salma put aside their differences? Or will a sandwich come between them? The smallest things can pull us apart-until we learn that friendship is far more powerful than difference. 

 

Big, small, curly, straight, loud, quiet, smooth, wrinkly. Lovely explores a world of differences that all add up to the same thing: we are all lovely! The simple, minimal text shows opposites: “black”—represented by a white woman in all black, “white”—a black woman with white hair, but includes them all under the umbrella of “lovely.”

 

 

With her new backpack and light-up shoes, Faizah knows the first day of school is going to be special. It’s the start of a brand new year and, best of all, it’s her older sister Asiya’s first day of hijab, a hijab of beautiful blue fabric, like the ocean waving to the sky. But not everyone sees hijab as beautiful, and in the face of hurtful, confusing words, Faizah will find new ways to be strong.

 

“Like the sun, I’m here to shine,” the rhyming text begins, and each page that follows offers an affirmation of all the strength, talent, and promise that young girls have within them. While praising their inherent strengths and virtues, the text also encourages girls to show kindness, to be fighters, and to accept their fellow female for who she is and embrace all the unique qualities that make her that way. And no matter what, to know that no matter what the world expects of her or tells her she must be, she needs only to remind herself of the truth: “I am enough.”

Skin Like Mine is a fun and creative way to address and celebrate diversity among young children. It emphasizes the importance of not only accepting others, but accepting and loving yourself. This story compares skin colors with foods instead of with other people. From brownies, cakes, and caramel, this book is a lighthearted way of breaking the barrier down when talking about different skin colors and loving the body we were given.

 

The story of the beautiful relationship between a little girl and her grandfather. When she asks her grandfather how to say something in his language – Cree – he admits that his language was stolen from him when he was a boy. The little girl then sets out to help her grandfather find his language again. This sensitive and warmly illustrated picture book explores the inter-generational impact of the residential school system that separated young Indigenous children from their families.

Nate has a tough decision to make. Purim, a Jewish holiday, celebrated in part by the wearing of costumes, is coming up, and Nate has to decide between being an alien, his all-time favorite thing, or being a superhero like the rest of the boys in his class. He wants to fit in with his friends, but he really wants to be an alien. With the help of his two dads and his sister, he comes up with a costume that works for him. One of his dads shares the story of Queen Esther to help Nate see the value in being who you really are, even if it’s different from other people. Through the support of his family, Nate decides to be both brave, like a superhero, and original, like himself, to become a “super alien.” A really nice picture book about self-expression.

Zuri’s hair has a mind of its own. It kinks, coils, and curls every which way. Zuri knows it’s beautiful. When Daddy steps in to style it for an extra special occasion, he has a lot to learn. But he LOVES his Zuri, and he’ll do anything to make her, and her hair happy. Tender and empowering, Hair Love is an ode to loving your natural hair and a celebration of daddies and daughters everywhere.

 

 

Henry Brown doesn’t know how old he is. Nobody keeps records of slaves’ birthdays. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. Henry grows up and marries, but he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do: He will mail himself to the North. After an arduous journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday — his first day of freedom.

Elliot lives in America, and Kailash lives in India. They are pen pals. By exchanging letters and pictures, they learn that they both love to climb trees, have pets, and go to school. Their worlds might look different, but they are actually similar. Same, same. But different!

 

 

A neighborhood cat observes the changes in German and Jewish families in its town during the period leading up to the Night of Broken Glass – that becomes the true beginning of the Holocaust. This cats-eye view introduces the Holocaust to children in a gentle way that can open discussion of this period.

 

The new kid in school needs a new name! Or does she? Being the new kid in school is hard enough, but what about when nobody can pronounce your name? Having just moved from Korea, Unhei is anxious that American kids will like her. So instead of introducing herself on the first day of school, she tells the class that she will choose a name by the following week. Her new classmates are fascinated by this no-name girl and decide to help out by filling a glass jar with names for her to pick from. But while Unhei practices being a Suzy, Laura, or Amanda, one of her classmates comes to her neighborhood and discovers her real name and its special meaning. On the day of her name choosing, the name jar has mysteriously disappeared. Encouraged by her new friends, Unhei chooses her own Korean name and helps everyone pronounce it—Yoon-Hey.

These children and animals are all very different to each other. Some are big, some are small. Some are gentle, some are rough. Everyone is playful, but who’s the best at hiding? One thing’s certain: they all love a good bedtime story! The perfect picture book for little ones who are just beginning to make sense of their place in the world.

 

A timely book about how it feels to be teased and taunted, and how each of us is sweet and lovely and delicious on the inside, no matter how we look.The boy is teased for looking different than the other kids. His skin is darker, his hair curlier. He tells his mother he wishes he could be more like everyone else. And she helps him to see how beautiful he really, truly is.

 

 

Once a skinny and weak child, Gino Bartali rose to become a Tour de France champion and one of cycling’s greatest stars. But all that seemed unimportant when his country came under the grip of a brutal dictator and entered World War II on the side of Nazi Germany. Bartali might have appeared a mere bystander to the harassment and hatred directed toward Italy’s Jewish people, but secretly he accepted a role in a dangerous plan to help them. Putting his own life at risk, Bartali used his speed and endurance on a bike to deliver documents Jewish people needed to escape harm. His inspiring story reveals how one person could make a difference against violence and prejudice during the time of the Holocaust.

By the door there is an umbrella. It is big. It is so big that when it starts to rain there is room for everyone underneath. It doesn’t matter if you are tall. Or plaid. Or hairy. It doesn’t matter how many legs you have. Don’t worry that there won’t be enough room under the umbrella. Because there will always be room. A timeless picture book about acceptance.

 

Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don’t own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn’t he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty—and fun—in their routine and the world around them.

Noah is different. He sees, hears, feels, and thinks in ways that other people don’t always understand, and he asks a lot of questions along the way. Noah loves science, especially the weather. His books usually provide him with the answers he needs, until one day, there’s one question they don’t answer—and that is where Noah’s windy adventure begins.This book celebrates the inquisitive nature of all children, including those on the autism spectrum, who cannot stop asking a question until an answer has been unearthed. The book contains a page of information for parents, caregivers, and educators about the importance of helping children feel good about their differences and know that being different is okay.

A young boy dreads his visits to his grandfather. They don’t share a language, so their time together is strained, awkward, and silent. Until they discover a shared love of drawing. Together, they find a common language through art. Drawn Together shows that meaningful relationships are possible even across communication barriers, and as their illustration styles start to blend together, it shows the connections they’ve made without words.

 

The Family Book celebrates the love we feel for our families and all the different varieties they come in. Whether you have two moms or two dads, a big family or a small family, a clean family or a messy one, Todd Parr assures readers that no matter what kind of family you have, every family is special in its own unique way.

 

 

The journey starts on a sunny day in New York City and ends on a beautiful San Francisco night, with stops in Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Cape Town, Cairo, Beijing, and Tokyo. These friendly babies welcome us to their cities with delightful greetings in their original languages (with English translations) in a simple narration that will appeal to any global mini citizen.

 

Lucky Me invites readers on a journey around the world to explore life’s simplest, yet often overlooked treasures. Pages come alive with a series of evocative, gratitude-filled messages, accompanied by Thank-yous translated into various languages, emphasizing global diversity.

 

Is there anything more splendid than a baby’s skin? Cocoa-brown, cinnamon, peaches and cream. As children grow, their clever skin does, too, enjoying hugs and tickles, protecting them inside and out, and making them one of a kind. Fran Manushkin’s rollicking text and Lauren Tobia’s delicious illustrations paint a breezy and irresistible picture of the human family — and how wonderful it is to be just who you are.

 

Seven-year-old Lena is going to paint a picture of herself. She wants to use brown paint for her skin. But when she and her mother take a walk through the neighborhood, Lena learns that brown comes in many different shades. Through the eyes of a little girl who begins to see her familiar world in a new way, this book celebrates the differences and similarities that connect all people.

 

 

With its heartfelt message and colorfully whimsical illustrations, “Our Class is a Family” is a book that will help build and strengthen that class community. Kids learn that their classroom is a place where it’s safe to be themselves, it’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s important to be a friend to others. When hearing this story being read aloud by their teacher, students are sure to feel like they are part of a special family.

 

 

Carl is an earthworm. He spends his days happily tunneling in the soil until a field mouse asks him a simple question that stops him short: “Why?” Carl’s quest takes him on an adventure to meet all the animals of the forest, each of whom seems to know exactly what they were put on this earth to do, unlike the curious Carl. But it’s not until the world around him has changed that Carl begins to realize everyone, no matter how small, makes a big difference just by being themselves.

Today is Pet Club day. There will be cats and dogs and fish, but strictly no elephants are allowed. The Pet Club doesn’t understand that pets come in all shapes and sizes, just like friends. Now it is time for a boy and his tiny pet elephant to show them what it means to be a true friend. A sweet story of friendship, acceptance, and inclusion.

 


Celebrating all that makes us unique and different, Skin Again offers new ways to talk about race and identity. Race matters, but only so much–what’s most important is who we are on the inside. Looking beyond skin, going straight to the heart, we find in each other the treasures stored down deep. Learning to cherish those treasures, to be all we imagine ourselves to be, makes us free.

Connection During Social Isolation

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So we’ve been cooped up at home for quite some time now due to the pandemic. For us adults, the use of technology plays a pertinent role in maintaining our social connection to the outside world. But for the little ones whose main form of socialization stems from the school environment, this can be especially difficult.

Social distancing keeps our children physically safe but how do we ensure they don’t socially wilt during this era of isolation?

Here are some simple ways to help your child stay connected to family and friends and develop important skills while doing so:

  • Phone conversations – This form of communication seems to have gone by the wayside with the increase of smartphones (talking has been traded in for texting) but it can be quite beneficial for our little ones who are still developing their oral communication and social skills.

Talking over the phone helps children learn how to start (and end) conversations, engage in a back and forth dialogue (understand the reciprocity of communication), improve attention span, increase vocabulary, build empathy, give insight into other’s lives, develop oral language skills (speaking, listening, questioning, clarifying, rephrasing) as well as build and maintain friendships.

  • Video chatting (i.e., WhatsApp, Zoom, Meet, Skype) – Just like speaking over the phone, this form of interaction is quite valuable as well. The added bonus here is the ability to see the other person’s expressions and reactions during the conversation. Reading body language is very important in understanding non-verbal communication. Learning to read gestures, tone of voice, posture and facial expressions can tell us a lot about our listeners. Are they attentive, bored, relaxed, happy, excited, confused? This can help young ones navigate the conversation better as they start to understand the give and take of communicating with others.

Video chatting can also allow children to introduce another branch of topics into their conversation. We all know from Show and Tell that children love to talk about their favourite toys and share their work with others. Video chatting allows for this kind of engagement more readily (and gives you a bit of a break).

  • Social Games (Roblox, Fortnite, Mindcraft, Maker 2) – Although you may to limit the amount of time your child spends on video games, certain games can provide your child with the opportunity to interact with friends virtually.

Just as physical exercise helps in improving and strengthening muscles, cognitive games can help with cognitive functions. It can help improve coordination, memory, attention, concentration, as well as problem-solving and social skills.

  • Writing Letters – Despite the prevalence of emails and text messages, everyone has to write letters at some point. Encouraging children to write letters from an early age will improve their communication, social and handwriting skills. It will also teach them how to structure letters. Letters can be valuable keepsakes as well.

Letter-writing does not only help children stay connected, but also reinforces important literacy skills and concepts. Writing letters can also be a lot of fun, especially if you can include different kinds of stationary, writing material, decorative stickers, stamps, and photos. The more creative children can get, the more they will gravitate toward this form of communication.

To introduce my students to the format of letter-writing, I wrote and shared a new poem with them, titled I Wrote a Letter. 

The poem highlights the five elements of a friendly letter in a fun and lyrical way. If you are interested in downloading a copy for your personal use at home or in the classroom, please head over to my TPT store HERE to get the complete package. It includes three letter-writing templates (to accommodate different writing stages) and a sample page with headings.

Everyone loves to get mail, especially a nice note addressed just to them. Introducing this form of communication to your child will open up a new world to them, especially in today’s technological age where this is becoming a rarity.

Be well, stay safe and stay connected!

 

Lora

Creative Commons License
I Wrote a Letter by Lora Rozler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Words on a Limb Bookshelf

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Here are some amazing books to have on your bookshelf at home.

Fantastic book introducing kids to the concepts of discovery, relationships, the need to belong, bullying and adventure. Available in French as well.
Amazon

Cute story book about a little girl and her conversation with a pie. Kids will love the delightful illustrations and the engaging story. Never has examining rules and consequences been so much fun.
Amazon

This dynamic, beautifully illustrated picture book explores how the world says Thank You. Kids will discover the importance of gratitude in their everyday life.
Amazon

A charming and gorgeously illustrated adaptation of the old time favourite. Kids will enjoy the engaging conversations between the clever goats and the fearsome troll.
Amazon

This inspiring collection of poems for children range in topic from educational to humourous, from seasonal to downright heartwarming. With over 90 pages of poems that will become timely treasures.
Coming soon …

You can listen to these storybooks on our YouTube Channel.

Enjoy your reading!
Lora

The Three Witty Goats Gruff – book reviews

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Using your MIND over your MIGHT: Take-a-ways and a book review by Lian Wright at Reese Speaks. Click on image above to read.

Using your MIND over your MIGHT: A book review by Barbara Fanson at Readers’ Favorite. Click on image below to read.

I would love to hear your thoughts on my take of the classic Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Lora

I can’t do it – YET!

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Nurturing a Growth Mindset in the Classroom

Hello everyone – happy Monday! I wanted to share my latest poem with you.

Yes, I Can! was inspired by a lot of self-defeating comments I’ve come to hear over the last 18 years teaching. Truthfully, if I had a nickel every time I heard a student say I can’t do it, I’d be off on a yacht somewhere right now (nah, maybe not – I get sea sick). Joking aside, the reality is that none of us are perfect. None of us can do everything. And sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we still don’t master various things – and that’s okay, at least we tried.

It’s when students give up before they even try that it’s NOT OKAY. That’s the point I’ve been trying to make with my students last week. Yes, some things are hard. Some tasks will challenge us. But the attitude we have toward challenges is what determines the outcome. It is this mindset, over time, that will shape and condition our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves. Our mindset consists of our thoughts and attitudes toward ourselves and the world around us. These beliefs shape how we perceive and handle everyday situations. Do we look at challenges as opportunities to grow or do we fall prey to self-defeating thoughts? 

Yes, I Can! is a poem I wrote that celebrates what children can do, as well as embraces that which they cannot, yet, do. Teaching children to have a “Growth Mindset” is crucial in helping them become better learners. After all, in order to succeed at anything, we must persist and push ourselves forward, despite the challenges. Positive self-talk is what helps children persevere and not give up. Yes, I Can! encourages children to adopt positive self-talk. Instead of focusing on ‘I can’t do it!’, it re-frames their thinking, ‘I can’t do it, yet!’

Along with the poem, I created a follow-up worksheet (rehearsing high-frequency word can) and a mini-book that is co-authored with me (my students were thrilled with the idea). It invites students to fill in a missing high-frequency word, as well as add a skill or task they can complete successfully, as well another skill they aspire to learn, reminding them that their mindset is the only thing in the way.

Yes, I Can! by Lora Rozler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on work found at www.lorarozler.com

In all the excitement to teach children that our mindset is not a fixed state, I created a visual anchor for the classroom. Feel free to download a copy for your personal use by clicking on the image below.

To download a copy of the poem, Yes, I Can!  along with the follow-up activities, click on the image below. 

Wishing you a fabulous week ahead!

Lora

Story Monsters Interview Lora Rozler

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Hello everyone! I was delighted to be featured in
Story Monsters Literary Magazine this past week.
I’d like to share my interview with you.

♥ Lora

Where did you grow up?
I was born in Israel and moved to Toronto when I was 11 years old. My family had just emigrated from Russia when I was born. I grew up weaved into a mix of cultures which taught me to have an appreciation for differences. But I can honestly say, having lived in Canada most of my life, I feel very much Canadian at heart.

What were some of your favorite authors and books?
I loved (and still enjoy) Shel Silverstein’s color-outside-the-lines style of poems and stories. One of my absolute favourite books by him is The Giving Tree. Also, I’ve always enjoyed fairy tales (but didn’t we all?). Charlotte’s Web, The Babysitter’s Club series and The Outsiders were some of my other favourites when I was growing up.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was 5 years old. At some point that changed to wanting to become an interior designer, a lawyer, and even a psychologist. I finally opted for my first love and chose a career in teaching.

Tell us about some of the jobs you’ve had before you became a writer.
Some years into my teaching career, I began writing poems and stories for my students. I guess you can say that writing became a calling after I began to see how important storytelling was as an educational tool. But then, I also learned that books added a fun element as well. I’m delighted that I had a built-in audience before I even published my first book!

How did you get started writing?
I wrote quite a bit as a teenager (mostly poetry) but found an audience for my writing in the classroom, writing mainly to support areas of study at school. I eventually discovered a terrific outlet to share my work with others—on my blog (wordsonalimb.com) and associated social media. This allowed me to create a digital library of some of my classroom content. In fact, several years ago, I wrote a poem to teach students about the power of words and their impact. It began to receive positive feedback from students, parents, colleagues, and online subscribers. It soon took a life of its own as an animation and eventually as my first a picture book, Words. This was the breakthrough that marked the beginning of my writing journey.

Why do you write books?
I love taking an idea and molding it to life with words and images. I also love being able to convey important messages through literature. These notions shine through in my book Freshly Baked Pie. It is a simple story, based on a poem that I wrote, that, through effective illustrations and whimsical writing, both gently teaches a lesson and entertains readers.

What do you like best about writing?
I love the creativity and flexibility that writing offers. Anything and everything can exist in our imagination. Real life may have boundaries, but stories, not so much. I revel in seeing a concept, that exists only as a mental sketch, come alive through words and images. I also appreciate the way an author can arrange letters, words, and sentences into a composition that evokes strong emotions—joy, sadness, surprise, wonder or inspiration. I also feel that picture books give me the freedom to take a lyrical form of writing, like poetry, and transform it into a story that can be enjoyed at bedtime. There is something unique about being able to create art from a simple idea.

What do you find the most challenging about writing?
Writing requires commitment, dedication, and most of all, discipline in order to take it beyond a hobby. So I have learned to carve out time from my busy schedule to meet self-imposed deadlines. Sometimes I find that ideas flow through my head faster than I have time to devote to them, and that can be quite frustrating.

What do you think makes a good story?
I think a good story has a redeemable value, something the reader can take away, all the while being entertained. Also, a good story has an element that the reader can relate to, whether it be a character or an event. That connection between literature and real life experiences make the story more meaningful to the reader.

Where do you get your inspiration?
My inspiration comes from working with kids,
my students, and my children. Sometimes an idea strikes amid a busy, noisy day. Other times a vision sneaks up in quiet moments of contemplation. My book, Lucky Me, stemmed from a theme we discussed in school. It was around the time of Thanksgiving and we had a great conversation about gratitude and things we felt blessed to have in our lives. This inspired me to write a poem for my class, and eventually I wanted to share this message of gratitude with a wider audience. Regardless of where in the world we each came from, and what stories we each had to tell, we had one thing in common—a sense of gratitude. This element inspired me to incorporate thank you in many languages. Several arduous months later, we published a truly global and memorable, sweet picture book. It was a hop, skip, and a jump from conversation to message-filled pages.

Tell us about your latest book/project.
My most recent title, The Three Witty Goats Gruff is a modern adaptation of the fairy tale, Three Billy Goats Gruff. Once again, the idea came from a simple math lesson about measurement and patterning. My students loved learning math through this story of the three goats! The math unit became my best-selling teacher resource package on a website I love to contribute to, called Teachers Pay Teachers. Once again, I felt compelled to transform this simple lesson into a book that can both teach and entertain kids all over the world. In my remake of the story, I proposed an alternative way for the goats to solve their dilemma—rather than using force to subdue their bully, they use their wit to outmaneuver the greedy old troll. As well, I incorporated a female goat as the heroine of the story as girls are seldom depicted as the hero, and I felt it was time to turn the tables! The book also contains plenty of fun learning opportunities for young children. I am so pleased to have completed and published this title.

What’s next for you?
I am currently working on a compilation book that features many of my poems and short stories that I composed throughout my writing and teaching career. Obviously not all of them can make it into a full picture book! But I wanted to share them in the shorter format just the same. I feel this book will be a landmark piece on a personal and professional level. Sometimes writers can feel vulnerable when they compile an anthology of personal thoughts in words. For me, it is especially the case since I will be sharing work that spans from my early years as a writer to some of my latest poems and short stories. We are currently deciding on the illustrations and book design, but it won’t be long! I am also working on converting my published books into a digital format so parents all over can swipe through my stories on their tablets before bedtime.

Is there anything we didn’t ask that you’d like people to know about you and/or your books?
I want your readers to know that, like many authors, my books are very personal to me, creations that I have nursed from their infancy until they are shared with the world. Readers will find that they can enjoy my stories on many levels: as literal stories, symbolic allegories, educational tools, and of course, bedtime treats.

For more information about Lora Rozler and her books, visit www.lorarozler.com and www.wordsonalimb.com.

Lora’s author page on Amazon.

Thank you Story Monsters for the time in the spotlight!

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The place to keep up with the latest news, interviews, and happenings.

♥ Lora

New Picture Book by Lora Rozler

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NEWLY RELEASED

Three hungry goats need to cross a bridge to get to a luscious field of green grass. But a greedy old troll stands in their way and threatens to devour anything that sets foot on its path. So how can the goats safely cross the bridge?

They must get clever, of course!

The Three Witty Goats Gruff preserves the fun and charm of the beloved original, Three Billy Goats Gruff, while adding a new spin to this cautionary tale. With plenty of repetition and exciting dialogue, young readers are sure to join in on the adventure. Perfect for shared reading at home or in the classroom.

Published by Words Publishing
Publication Date September 9, 2018
Available in all Major Retailers including:
Chapters-Indigo | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

The original tale of Three Billy Goats Gruff came to us from Norway where it was first published by Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Engebretsen Moe in the early 1840’s. Prior to television and radio, oral storytelling was the most effective way to entertain people. Asbjornsen and Moe’s collection of folk tales brought many of these stories into a written form still shared today.

Three Billy Goats Gruff is a tale about three famished billy goats (male goats) who desperately want to get to a fresh field of grass that grows
on the other side of a bridge. In most incarnations of the story, the three goats are brothers – youngest to eldest. In others, they are youngster, father and grandfather (Gruff is used as their family name).

As the story goes, under the bridge lives a greedy troll that threatens to eat anything that dares cross it. The first and second billy goats manage to outwit the troll and cross the bridge by convincing him to wait for their bigger brother, a classic eat-me-when-I’m-fatter folk tale plotline. The eldest goat eventually knocks the wicked troll off the bridge with his mighty horns. The troll gets carried away by the stream and alas, the goats live happily ever after.

Since its initial publication, there have been many different versions of this folk tale. When people retell a story, they sometimes make changes to bring it up to date or make it their own. In my adaptation I incorporated a female goat (nanny). Although female goats have been used in previous editions of this tale, they have seldom, if ever, been featured as the heroine in the story. As well, I proposed an alternative way for the goats to solve their dilemma – instead of using force to subdue their bully, they use their wit to outmaneuver the greedy old troll.

From an educational perspective, my book strives to enrich young readers in the area of literacy (vocabulary-building) and mathematics (concepts of patterning, number sense and measurement), as well as encourages discussions about various themes, including overcoming obstacles, problem-solving, teamwork, unity, courage, greed and bullying.

I hope you enjoy reading The Three Witty Goats Gruff as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Feel free to share your comments and thoughts below.