All About Me: My Body, My Family, My World

Big-Picture Goals

By the end of this four-week unit, RoseElla will be able to:

• Name and describe several body parts and explain that bodies deserve care and respect.
• Notice and describe similarities and differences among people using kind, neutral words.
• Share something about her own preferences, family, traditions, or community.
• Create and talk about a project showing what makes her herself.

Success looks like: RoseElla can share at least three details about herself, use respectful language about differences, and tell or show one way people can care for themselves or one another.

Materials for the Unit

• Library books chosen from the suggestions below, plus any books RoseElla selects
• Paper, crayons or markers, washable paint, child-safe scissors, glue, and stickers
• A hand mirror, washable play dough, and a doll or body outline (optional)
• Family photos or pictures of people from magazines, with permission where needed
• Construction paper or a small notebook for a “Me Book”
• Everyday objects or photos connected to family routines, foods, music, or celebrations

Library book ideas: Look for Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, and Isabel Roxas; Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard; The Colors of Us by Karen Katz; All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold; and Saturday by Oge Mora. Availability varies, and librarians can suggest other age-appropriate books about bodies, families, and community. Read Fry Bread as a story about one family and its connections; explain that Native peoples and traditions are diverse, not all the same.

Week 1: This Is Me—My Name, Likes, and Feelings

Focus: Build a warm foundation for talking about identity, preferences, and feelings.

1. Day 1: Ask, “What makes you you?” Let RoseElla answer with words, gestures, or drawings. Start a “Me Book” and add her name and a self-portrait.
2. Day 2: Read a library book about a child or family, such as Saturday. Pause to ask, “What do you notice?” and “What does the character enjoy?”
3. Day 3: Make a “Things I Like” page with drawings or pictures of favorite foods, games, songs, or places. Invite RoseElla to choose what to include and explain her choices.
4. Day 4: Name a few feelings using faces, a mirror, or pretend play. Ask, “How might your face or body show happy, worried, or excited?” and remind her that all feelings are okay.
5. Day 5: Revisit the “Me Book” and invite RoseElla to tell someone about one page. Add a favorite activity you do together, such as a song, walk, or game.

Simple check for understanding: Can RoseElla share or show two things she likes and name one feeling?

Week 2: My Body—What It Can Do and How I Care for It

Focus: Learn body-part names, celebrate different abilities, and practice body care and boundaries.

1. Day 1: Read Our Skin or another body-diversity book. Name visible body parts with accurate, simple words, and say, “Bodies come in many colors, shapes, and sizes.”
2. Day 2: Use a mirror or draw around a body outline on paper. Invite RoseElla to point to or label parts she chooses and describe something her body can do, such as reach, dance, or rest.
3. Day 3: Play a movement game: stretch, balance, clap, or move like an animal. Offer seated or small-movement options, and say, “People’s bodies move in different ways.”
4. Day 4: Sort picture cards or everyday items into body-care groups: food and water, sleep, washing, movement, and comfort. Talk about how a trusted grown-up can help keep a child healthy.
5. Day 5: Practice a simple body-boundary script: “My body belongs to me,” “I can say no,” and “I can tell a trusted grown-up.” Keep the discussion calm and brief; answer questions honestly in age-appropriate language.

Simple check for understanding: Can RoseElla name or point to two body parts and share one way to care for her body or ask for help?

Week 3: People Are Similar and Different

Focus: Notice human variety with curiosity, kindness, and respect.

1. Day 1: Read The Colors of Us or Our Skin. Invite RoseElla to notice different skin tones, and explain that skin color is one part of who a person is.
2. Day 2: Look at family-approved photos or book illustrations. Ask, “What is something alike?” and “What is something different?” Model observations without ranking people as better or worse.
3. Day 3: Mix paint or crayons to make colors for a self-portrait. RoseElla can choose the materials and describe her picture; avoid treating any one skin color as the “right” color.
4. Day 4: Read All Are Welcome or another book featuring a varied community. Talk about how people may look, communicate, move, or live differently and still deserve welcome and respect.
5. Day 5: Play a “same and different” noticing game using favorite foods, games, or sounds. Keep it voluntary: RoseElla may pass on any question and can say, “We’re different in this way, and that’s okay.”

Simple check for understanding: Can RoseElla name one way two people are alike and one way they may be different, using kind words?

Week 4: My Family, Traditions, and Community

Focus: Explore the people, routines, foods, stories, and places that are meaningful to RoseElla.

1. Day 1: Read Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story. Notice how the story connects food, family, and community, and explain that families and Native nations have many different traditions.
2. Day 2: Invite RoseElla to choose a family photo, object, or drawing that tells a story about her family. Ask, “Who is in this story?” or “What do you enjoy doing together?”
3. Day 3: Explore a meaningful food, song, greeting, or routine from RoseElla’s life—or choose something new to learn about together. Say, “Families celebrate and spend time together in many ways.”
4. Day 4: Make a simple map or picture of people and places that help RoseElla feel connected, such as home, a library, a park, or a trusted person. She may draw, dictate, or arrange pictures.
5. Day 5: Review the “Me Book” and choose favorite pages to share. Ask RoseElla what she would like others to know about her, and let her decide what she wants to share privately or publicly.

Simple check for understanding: Can RoseElla share one family, community, or personal tradition and explain why it is special to her?

End-of-Unit Project: My “All About Me” Book

Help RoseElla create a small book, poster, or digital slideshow with pages about her name, something she likes, her body and a way she cares for it, people or places important to her, and one thing she has learned about how people can be alike and different. She can draw, dictate words, choose photos, or use a mix of these formats. Invite her to present the project to a chosen listener—or keep it just for herself.

Assessment: Use the project and RoseElla’s conversation to check whether she can share three details about herself, describe one body-care or help-seeking action, and express one respectful observation about human similarities or differences. Offer specific feedback, such as, “You told me what makes that tradition important to you,” and ask, “What would you like to add?”

Adaptation: Keep sessions short and follow RoseElla’s interest. Offer choices, breaks, and different ways to respond; accept pointing, acting, drawing, or home-language responses. For an extension, invite her to choose another library book and compare what its characters share with or do differently from her own life.