Wicked

This last weekend, College Girl and I went to the Big, Big City and watched:

It was terrific, it was great, it was fantastic, it was wonderful. 

And ever the thinking teacher, I started making some connections. 

Not to give too much of the plot away, but one of the main characters in the show is born green. {I really don't think that's giving too much away as it happens in probably the first 15 minutes of the show - so I think I'm good. No spoiler alerts needed!} 

And that causes a lot of Elphaba's problems. People who see her grimace and turn away. Or gasp and run off. And basically don't want to be around her. 

And I started thinking about some of my kiddos that are born "green" - different - and it's hard for them to fit in and have friends. It seems like there are two types - those that it bothers, and those that either don't care or don't notice. 

Last year, I had a little boy that it didn't seem to bother. He had one friend in class and found things to do at recess. 

But I had another little friend - she just couldn't figure it out - how to make friends. She wanted to - and I just couldn't find a way to help her. She is a nice enough little girl - a little bossy, but she's not the only one that's that way.

So along with the list of things I want to work on this summer, and my endorsement class, this is something I want to try to figure out - how do I help my class be more of a community? How do I help kids be friends?

I've tried to find ideas before and gotten stumped - so, I'm thinking... Maybe some of my readers have suggestions - ideas, websites, books, activities. I'd love to hear them.