They can be used in my activity of introducing simple Japanese expressions to have students practice writing. I love the Japanese caligraphy that is added on each page of this book. I would talk about celebrating our differences instead of looking down on them.just like Wells does in this book!!! Students can learn a lot about accepting others no matter what differences they may have. It helps to put the story at a distance for the students. By having Yoko and classmates drawn as cats help to make students critque the book and what happens without feeling like it is highlighting their own behaviors. Yoko feels lows and highs when participating in school activities, and a lot of her feelings are based on how she is treated by those around her. ESL students would feel connected to this story even more because they may experience very similar situations as some people may not know how to act around new languages. A Kindergartener can relate to this because school is so unfamiliar to them even with having English as their first language.

Yoko shows us her Japanese culture and is more comfortable with writing in her Japanese language because she is not familiar enough with English. I am a huge advocate for making sure my classroom is always accepting and tolerant of everyone, and that everyone feels just as safe and open to expressing themselves and participating. I really enjoyed this story to introduce students to thoughts about tolerance. Have students respond to Yoko Writes Her Name, and include how they felt the teacher could have responded differently in the story?, How could the class have made Yoko feel more included into their classroom from the very beginning?

Yoko Writes Her Name by Rosemary Wells