This week, EC and Lower School students participated in a multisensory storytelling experience. Parents’ Association Book Fair Chairs Kathy Yang and Nina Norwood invited award-winning author and illustrator Kathryn Otoshi to speak with students.
Otoshi brought colors and numbers to life with lively readings of her books One, Zero, and Two. Otoshi’s books teach children about accepting each other’s differences, as well as finding value in themselves and others, while they learn about numbers and colors.
Otoshi had students up and moving along with her stories as she read them, forming circles over their head for Zero and holding up their index finger for One, bringing to life Gaynor’s multisensory approach to learning. Students showed how they could grow into kind and caring people by expanding their circled arms from their stomachs to their heads until they overflowed with good qualities.
Otoshi travels around the country to help children develop strong character traits. Her books help kids better understand their emotions and how to manage them, which coincides with Gaynor’s integration of RULER into the curriculum. RULER is a social-emotional program that helps students learn how to cope with their feelings, make decisions, and get along with others.
The students actively participated in the reading and discussion, and they left the reading with the promise to help lift each other up and be kind every day.