Acceptance & Belonging
A curated collection of 12 books exploring acceptance, each with discussion questions, activities, and printable lesson plans.
Targeted Learning Goal
Students will explore what it means to accept others and themselves, recognizing that everyone deserves to belong.
Standards Connections
- ELA: RL.K-7.3
- ELA: RL.K-7.6
- ELA: SL.K-7.1
- SEL
Books in This Unit
12 titles — each with a full lesson plan.
Self-Acceptance
The Loud Librarian
by Jenna Beatrice, illustrated by Erika Lynne Jones
4 learning goals · 30 minutes
Belonging & Courage
Bitsy Bat, School Star
by Kaz Windness
4 learning goals · 40 minutes
Being Yourself
Sneakiest in the World
by Ben Clanton
3 learning goals · 30 minutes
Acceptance
My Name is Wakawakaloch!
by Chana Stiefel, Pictures by Mary Sullivan
3 learning goals · 45 minutes
Home & Belonging
Penguin Flies Home
by Lita Judge
4 learning goals · 45 minutes
Self-Acceptance
Rot, the Cutest in the World
by Ben Clanton
3 learning goals · 45 minutes
Acceptance
Strictly No Elephants
by Lisa Mantchev
4 learning goals · 45 minutes
Acceptance & Belonging
All Are Neighbors
by Alexandra Penfold
3 learning goals · 50 minutes
Acceptance & Belonging
Welcome to Our Classroom!
by Alexandra Penfold
3 learning goals · 30 minutes
Acceptance & Belonging
Big Feelings
by Alexandra Penfold
3 learning goals · 40 minutes
Acceptance & Belonging
All Are Welcome
by Alexandra Penfold
3 learning goals · 45 minutes
Belonging & Adventure
The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest
by Aubrey Hartman
3 learning goals · 45 minutes
Pacing Tools in This Unit
2 tools from the Pace-Write-Read handbook.
Point of View
Who is telling the story, who is narrating it — create options that will make a huge difference. Memorable choices have included death itself, so how do you decide? The narrator you choose quietly rewrites every scene.
Details
Serve double duty and point to what a reader must not miss and help to build out your story in extraordinary ways. One well-chosen detail does the work of a paragraph of explanation.