Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School Written and Illustrated by David McIntosh

Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School Written and Illustrated by David McIntosh

Marshall is a new kid to school and the other students think he is a little strange because he is so different. It is not until they are invited to his birthday party that they realize Marshall is a very interesting person who is a lot of fun to be around.  

Target Age: 2^nd grade

Springboard for lessons: Ice breakers--The purpose of the ice breaker activity is to illustrate to students that we cannot always make correct judgments about people without first getting to know them.

Teachers will read the book Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School by David McIntosh. After reading, teachers will point out important themes within the book such as: how we should get to know someone before making judgments, how sometimes we might think we know something about a new person but later on find out we are incorrect, and appropriate ways to greet and get to know new students, etc. Students will be put into pairs and given ice breaker worksheets with two columns of 8 questions. Each student will fill out the first column “What I think my partner’s answers are” on their own. Afterwards, they will take turns asking those same questions to their partners to find out what their partners’ real answers are. Teachers will reconvene the class and ask students to introduce their partner by modeling the dialogue “This is my partner Jane. Her favorite color is blue but I had thought it was green. Her favorite food is pizza but I had thought it was… etc”. Once all students have introduced his or her partner to the classroom, teachers will ask them how they felt making guessing about what their partner’s preference might have been. Teachers will prompt students to discuss the benefits of finding out accurate information about other people before making judgments. Additionally, teachers will ask students to consider what happens when we make assumptions that are wrong; how does this affect other people? How would students feel if they were judge or if other people made assumptions about them without first getting to know them?

Rationale: This activity serves the dual purpose of community building in the classroom as well as illustrating to students that we cannot always make correct assumptions about other people. By allowing students to work in pairs, this activity helps to foster a constructive dialogue that may help students find previously unknown common ground (such as discovering that both students share the same least favorite subject). Additionally, the class discussion that follows filling out the worksheets illuminates the faults of making assumptions—though some students might have been able to accurately intuit their partner’s answers, it is likely that several of their guesses would be incorrect. Such an activity and discussion helps to underscore the importance of getting to know one another and opens the conversation towards what kinds of pro-social behavior we can utilize in the classroom so that we treat one another respectfully.