In spring, 2022 - Cool Care Club excitedly gifted each 3rd grade child in USD 383 with a copy of the book My Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World by Malcolm Mitchell.
Mr. Chris stumbled across the story of Malcolm Mitchell in the CBS feature at the link below:
...and then a follow-up story:
Mr. Chris shared those links and the following message with Manhattan's 3rd-grade teachers at a Professional Development session in February:
As Teachers, Life-Long Learners, Lovers of Literacy, Supporters of Diversity, and Champions of All - we should be able to find much joy and hope in Malcolm's story.
In the "forward" of his most recent book, Malcolm addresses his audience with a note titled, "Welcome to the true story of my life as a reader." In it, he tells his story of being a struggling reader - fearing read-alouds, misreading labels in the grocery store, feeling lonely and inept - and then working hard to persevere and overcome. Perhaps most importantly Malcolm shares, "I'm not good or bad because of how I read. I figured out that comparing my way of reading to other people's is a waste of time. it's like comparing my name or my smile with someone else's. These are the things that make me who I am, and that makes me special."
What a fantastic message of hope and encouragement for struggling readers - and for those who nurture and support them!
Teachers were given enough copies of Malcolm's second book for each of their students and encouraged to share Malcolm's personal story too.
Even students who are reading beyond this level, will hopefully love the story and can be encouraged to share it with younger siblings and/or friends or maybe they'll be inspired to also author their own story. Perhaps it will motivate or encourage them in ways we may never know.
