The Sandwich Swap

Authors:  Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah

Kelly Dipucchio

Illustrator: Tricia Tusa

Grade Level: Pre-K-3^rd grade

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Summary: 

Lily and Salma are best friends at school.  They enjoy doing everything together from drawing pictures, jumping rope, and playing on the swings to eating lunch together.  Lily and Salma realize they love doing all of the same things except-what they eat for lunch is a little different.  Lily eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Salma eats a hummus and pita sandwich.  Conflict arises when Lily decides to help Salma by blurting out insensitive thoughts and feelings about her sandwich.  Soon, the peanut butter vs. hummus story spreads throughout the school and the student body begins choosing sides.  The conflict escalates into students making rude remarks and insults about things that no longer had to do with peanut butter or hummus.  After an epic food fight in the cafeteria and a visit to the principal’s office, Lily musters the courage to speak to Salma.  Lily and Salma become best friends again after tasting each other’s sandwich.  Lily, Salma, and classmates learn that it is easy to dislike something new or different; but once you stand in each other’s shoes, you learn something great about someone else and about yourself. 

Element 2: Respect for Others

The authors provide an opportunity for readers to embrace and respect the diversity of two best friends from two very different cultural backgrounds.  On one hand, you learn the value of friendship from two best friends who love to do everything together.  On the other hand, you learn how two people who like the same things can also like things that are different.  The authors depict what happens when the relationship between two best friends is torn apart because of a difference as simple as the type of sandwich one chooses to eat for lunch.  Students learn empathy and the importance of putting differences aside in order to create the possibility of learning something new about someone else and about oneself.

How to Use The Sandwich Swap in the Classroom to Introduce Element 2: Respect for Others


Discussion: On the first day of school, a teacher reads The Sandwich Swap aloud to his or her students in a community circle or class meeting time.  Then the teacher facilitates a classroom discussion about Lily and Salma’s friendship and how their relationship falls apart.  The teacher asks his or her students think about a time when they were treated “unfair” by a friend, sibling, or any other family member because of a difference in point of view, interest, life experience.  The purpose of the discussion is to set the stage for students to openly share, have respect others, and embrace differences in a safe and welcoming place. 


Activity: All About Me Bag.  
A teacher fills a small brown lunch bag with items that best 'describe' him or her.  She or he pulls out each item and tells the children a short story about it. The bag might include things such as a baby picture, picture of pet, a food he or she does not like, something that represents their culture, an object from a collection, and so on. Then students are given brown bags to decorate.  For homework that night, the student must fill their bags with items that tell about themselves. Depending on the number of students in the classroom, the bags are shared throughout the first week of school in a community circle or class meeting time.  For homework the next night, the student must discuss the activity with their parents or guardian and share one thing they learned about another student in the classroom that is different from their own point of view, life experiences, or interests and discuss and why it is ok to be different.


Learning Opportunities for Teacher & Students:  This activity gives the teacher a great understanding of each student right from the beginning of the new school year.  In addition, this activity gives the teacher the opportunity to set the stage for each to student to safely share about his or her own experiences and feel embraced by his or her peers for their differences.  As the facilitator of the discussion and activity, the teacher is a model and also sets clear expectations for his or her students on how to learn and listen with kindness and empathy to other students’ experiences.  Lastly, the teacher has the opportunity to observe and give immediate feedback to students which will further their ability to implement Element #2.   

EJ AND THE BULLY

Author: Phillip Walton

Illustrator: Tom Oswald

Grade Level: 1-3

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Summary: The story EJ and The Bully is about EJ, a student at school who is running for class president. The only problem EJ is having is his competitor and bully, Warren. Warren does not respect EJ and is always putting him down and making fun of him in front of his friends. Warren will do whatever it takes to win! EJ's old friend, Izzi, believes in him and respects him. Izzi continuously gives him great advice and EJ becomes more confident and a stronger person. Being respectful to others can go a long way! I wonder who will win class president!

Element 2: EJ and The Bully is a wonderful book that shows two friends respecting each other. Not only does it portray respect, but it also displays an awful case of bullying. Having these two sides work against each other in the story truly depicts how giving respect to others is clearly the way two people can communicate positively with one another. In the story, Izzi is always encouraging EJ to not give up and to continue to fight for what he believes in. A great quote from the story that demonstrates element two is, "If you want to earn respect, all you have to do is use good manners, be considerate, and don't threaten or hurt others."

Activity: Izzi's words of encouragement and his respect for Warren truly helped him through his struggles in this story. A great activity would be to have your students begin to complement once another. This is a sign of respect and children need lessons on this at a young age. Once they have complemented three to four of their peers, they should then start a sentence with "I respect you because...." This activity is a great way for children to have positive communication and to understand the concept of respect for others.

Angelina's Island

Author: Jeanette Winter
Grade Level: K-2


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Summary: Angelina is a little girl from Jamaica who just recently moved to New York City with her family. She has trouble adjusting to her new American life. Angelina dreams about moving back to Jamaica, which she calls her “island in the sun”. She is constantly comparing her new neighborhood to her home country. She misses her Jamaican foods, games, weather and even animals. One thing that Angelina really misses from Jamaica is Carnival. Her mother discovers that New York has a similar parade, so she enlists friends from the neighborhood to help make Angelina a Carnival costume. Angelina has so much fun at the parade that she realizes that New York really is her new home, or as she puts it, her “island in the sun”.

Element Two: Angelina’s Island is a great way to introduce element two to students.  The book will help students learn more about their peers who have recently emigrated from other countries. Angelina’s Island shows the difficulty that immigrants might have acclimating to a new environment and culture. This book helps students sympathize with those individuals that have made the move to the United States. Finally, Angelina’s Island is also a good way of learning about the Jamaican culture and things found in Jamaica.

Activity: Like previously stated Angelina’s Island not only shows the struggle that some immigrants face, but it also shows aspects of the Jamaican culture. One major piece of the book was Carnival. Therefore alongside this book, students are to choose one of cultural traditions they celebrate. The students are to complete some research and write a brief summary about their chosen tradition. Students are to decorate their summary page with drawings of important elements of this custom. Once they have finished, the students will be divided into small groups where they will share their work with classmates.

How Many Days to America?: A Thanksgiving Story

Author: Eve Bunting
Illustrator: Beth Peck
Grade Level: 2-4



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Summary:   How Many Days to America? is a picture book that captures the immigrant/refugee experience of coming to America and several of the hardships that may ensue on such a pilgrimage. The narrator of the book is a young boy who describes how he, his little sister, his mother, and his father flee the country after the soldiers approach them one day. The father tells his young son that they must go because "we do not think the way they think," and they must leave everything behind except some money. While on board a crowded boat with many other refugees, the family experiences several obstacles on their journey including dealing with a broken sail, running out of food and water, and being robbed by thieves. When the boat finally reaches land, they are turned away, but given some food. When, the boat finally arrives in America, they are welcomed, and the family learns that it is also Thanksgiving a holiday that celebrates coming to America with a large feast.


Element:  This story covers Element 2 of Social Justice Education, which focuses on respect for others and allows students to share information about their cultural backgrounds with others. In addition, this element is often the element that discusses many types of oppression that occur within society such as racism, sexism, and classism amongst a few. In a time in which immigration is such a big issue, it is important for students to gain a better = understanding of the immigrant experience-- why immigrants come to America and what they experience on their journey here. This book allows students who many not understand immigration or may have misconceptions about the topic to gain a better understanding of such experiences. On the other hand, students who may have parents who have emigrated or may have emigrated themselves can connect with the characters in this book in terms of the difficulties in leaving ones country for another.  What is interesting about this book, is that it does not directly identify the ethnicity or culture of the main characters, and therefore individuals of all backgrounds who have emigrated to the US can relate to the characters in this book. After reading this book, students should be able to identify the reasons for which one may emigrate to the United States, and the obstacles immigrants may face when coming.

Activity:  This story can be used in a variety of ways across the curriculum. The story could be specifically used in a unit that focuses on immigration. The teacher should discuss with his or her students reasons why someone would leave for America or any other country from their homeland. The teacher should help make connections with the students by asking them if they know of anyone who has come to America from another country and to share what they know. Students should talk about how they would feel if they had leave their homes in order to go to a new place. For specific activities, students can engage in a variety of things. The teacher can invite guest speakers from the community, such as parents, to come and share their immigrant experience with the class. Additionally, students can set up an interview with someone they know, like a family member, who has emigrated to the United States. Students will be able to ask this person why they left their homeland, what they experienced on their journey here, and what life has been like for them since they arrived in America. Lastly, to gain a better perspective on the lives of immigrants, students can write five journal entries as a young person who is emigrating to a new country. They must explain why they are leaving their home, what their experiences are on their journey, and how they feel about going to a new place.

Information about the author
More books by Eve Bunting

The Colors of the Rainbow

Author: Jennifer Moore-Mallinos

Grade Level: 1st Grade




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About the Author

Summary: In The Colors of the Rainbow, author Jennifer Moore-Mallinos uses the analogy of a rainbow, with all of its different colors, to illustrate the idea that all children are unique. The book gives examples of how skin color, hair color, eye color and even the foods they eat, languages they speak and emotions they feel make them all unique.  Yet, the book also emphasizes that while they are all different, like each of the colors of the rainbow, they share many similarities. For example, they all have feelings, wear clothing, use language for communication and express emotions by laughing or crying. The lesson to be learned from the book is that, together, children of different race and cultural backgrounds represent a rainbow of different colors and those differences should be celebrated and respected all at once.

Element: This book corresponds with element two, because it teaches children to have respect for those that are different from them. The book gives many examples of different skin colors children may have, different foods they may eat based on their cultural background, different holidays they may celebrate and many other differences they may have.  The author uses the analogy of a rainbow to send the message that people from all different cultures around the world are unique, just like the colors of the rainbow, which is referred to as a beautiful and lovely sight. This serves to instill in children that their differences should be respected and admired, just as a rainbow would be admired. The ending gives children a message of encouragement to celebrate their differences and appreciate what makes them all unique. This is exactly what element two sets out to accomplish.

Activity: The students will gather on the carpet area while the teachers reads aloud The Colors of the Rainbow. After the story, students will be divided into groups, and each team will be assigned a different color of the rainbow. Each student in the group will be given a piece of constructions paper that is the same color as their assigned color. The students will work individually to write a sentence on their construction paper that describes how they are unique, whether it is the food they eat, color of their skin, and so forth. They will then write "I will respect people who are different from me." The students will then work as a team in their groups to form a layer of the rainbow in the same color of their construction paper writings.  For example, one group will form the red layer, one will form orange, etc. The teacher will hang up all of the layers on a bulletin board to form a giant rainbow. Above the rainbow, it will read "We respect all of the colors of OUR rainbow."

The Orphan of Ellis Island: A Time Travel Adventure

Author: Elvira Woodruff 

Grade Level: 3rd-6th 

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Summary:  On a class trip to Ellis Island, Dominic Cantori, an orphan, falls asleep on the trip. When he wakes up, there is no one there which leaves him scared.  When walking around looking for someone to help he picks up telephones in the display area and talks to the recorded voices of immigrants telling their stories.  To his amazement someone answers him.  Next thing you know he's traveled back into time, roughly to 1908 Italy.  He runs through a serious events which link him to his family's past.  Through these events he befriends two immigrants around his age and they try to make their way back to America.  The whole time trying to get back to America he goes through the struggles that Italian immigrants had gone through to come to America.  

Element:  The Orphan of Ellis Island displays Element 2: Respect for Others.  This element addresses respect others where classmates can learn about another's cultural background.  This book is about an orphan who didn't know much about his family and shows the hardships Italian immigrants had encountered on making their way to America.  When reading this in class, students will understand and learn to respect the cultural background that other students in the class may relate to.  Other Students can also relate to this and have a common ground with others because Italians weren't the only ones to come to America to look for better life.  

Activity:  You can use this book in your class if your unit or theme was about Immigration.  You can start off by giving a description of immigration and why immigrants came over to America.  Then after reading this book you can do a group activity with the class and you could be able to put it up in the class or outside on a bulletin board.  An activity you can construct would be to have your class draw up a big size ship that the immigrants came over from Italy to Ellis Island.  You can assign groups to your class and give them a specific parts of the ship to draw up.  You can start from the bottom of the ship and continue your way up to the deck.  With this assignment you can show the hardships they faced while being on the ship on its voyage to America. 

All Souls: A Family Story from Southie

Author: Michael Patrick MacDonald
Grade Level: 8



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Summary: A native of the Old Colony projects of South Boston, author Michael Patrick MacDonald shares the shocking contradictions of living in this fiercely loyal Irish-American neighborhood afflicted by poverty, racism, violence, and death. Growing up in the 1970s, MacDonald and his siblings battled the temptations of gangs and drugs, the politics of school segregation and busing, and the stereotypes of poverty and culture.

Element: Two - Respect for Others
All Souls provides a first hand look into a dynamic neighborhood rife with the issues of poverty and racism. For some students, regardless of ethnic background or location, the themes of MacDonald's memoir will hit home. For others, the text will expose them to alternative perspectives and force them to question their own beliefs or stereotypes about the rich and poor and the black and white. After reading, students will emerge with a new sense of respect and empathy for others.

Activity: All Souls presents a perfect opportunity for students to access prior knowledge before reading. Using an Anticipation Guide, teachers present students with a worksheet that includes several statements about key concepts presented in the text. Students can choose to agree or disagree with the statements. Statements for All Souls could include: "Busing was a fair way to integrate public schools." "People born into a culture of poverty are powerless to escape it." Anticipation Guides stimulate students' interest in a topic and set a purpose for reading. Throughout reading, students may return to the Anticipation Guide to see if their opinions have changed.