I Am Enough

Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

Grade Level 1st Lesson Duration 30 - 60 minutes:

depending on grade
level, ability of
students, number of
activities assigned

LessonTitle I Am Enough- Based on the book by Grace Byers

Content/Topic: SEL Self-Awareness (personal strengths, feelings)

Relationships Skills (accepting others)
Social Awareness (others have feelings, perspective taking)

Lesson 1. Using literature and discussion students will identify

Objectives/Outcomes positive attributes of the character and understand
differences do not need to be divisive but rather, positively
add to the collective whole.
2. By identifying their own strengths, emotions, preferences
and attributes, students will begin to develop an
appreciation of self (Self- Awareness) and how being who
they are creates a basis for asset based relationships and
belonging in their class and school community.
3. Given differentiated activities, students will be able to make
connections and share who they are with their class forming
a basis for a positive class community (relationships with
others).

Content Standards Gr 1:
Addressed (2020) ● Comprehensive Health
● Writing, Communicating (Oral Expression and
This may not be an Listening)
exhaustive list.
Performance/Behavior
Criteria
Ideas for extensions
Differentiation ideas for
students with special
needs (including those
with 504’s, IEP’s and ELL)
Culturally Responsive
Education Strategies
Credit: Dr. Adeyemi Stembridge
Lesson Resources/
Materials
Students will listen to I Am Enough by Grace Byers and
complete a learning activity.
● Activities Choice Board
● Discussion Questions (Before, During and After
Reading)
● I Am Enough Extensions by Harpercollinschildrens.com
● Restorative Circles
● Courageous Conversations
For some students:
● ELL- partner with your ELL coach/instructor in your
building to make sure the language support needs of
the students in your class are met. This lesson may
also need further differentiation if the student is Not
English Proficient (NEP) or has Limited English (LEP).
● For students who are identified DHH- consider
partnering with your DHH teacher/interpreters to read
aloud the text and directions.
● For learners with special needs there are differentiation
options in the lesson but given the specific needs of
each individual learner, the teacher may need to further
differentiate or play with the accessibility features.
Guiding Questions for Lesson Planning with Equity in Mind:
How does this lesson engage students behaviorally,
affectively, cognitively and further leverage relationships in the
classroom? In what ways does this lesson support bridging
their social/cultural identities with their academic identities?
(Relationships, Engagement, Cultural Identity)
Other guiding questions to consider:How might the 6 themes
of CRE outlined in the Guiding Questions for Lesson Planning
with Equity in Mind support your students in this lesson?
● Book or Video: I Am Enough by Grace Byers
○ Hardcopy (if you own it) - ***This will not be provided
to you by the district.
○ Video - Read Aloud Video: I Am Enough by Grace
Byers .
● I Am Enough Activities and Choice Board
● Student response cards
○ Student response cards (thumbs up/down)
○ Student response cards (smile/frown)
○ Student response cards (yes/no)
● Vocabulary Cards
○ I Am Enough vocab WITH pictures
 ○ I Am Enough vocab WITHOUT pictures
● Optional Discussion Questions from Harper Collins
● Discussion Questions (Before, During and After reading)
● Supplies needed depends on activities students choose:
○ Pencils
○ Paper
○ Crayons, markers, colored pencils
○ Paint
○ Computers
○ Scissors
○ Glue
○ Building materials

*** If students are engaging in remote/online learning, they can

use their electronic devices and/or what they have around their
home to complete many or all of the activities. This lesson
and activities can be adapted and uploaded into our district
virtual platforms (Seesaw, Schoology, Google suites).

Vocabulary Teacher should do a vocabulary plant and discuss the

meaning of the following words before reading to aid in
comprehension. Which words to cover will depend on the
ability and language acquisition levels of each student.
Teacher should use his/her discretion.

Words - air, bird, burn, champ, climb, cry, disagree, dictate our
worth, dream, drip, Earth, eyes, fall, fear, fight, fire, fly, frame,
get along, grow, hair, ladder, learn, moon, mountain, pour, pull,
push, rain, rise above, rope, shine, sing, skin, soar, stand,
student, sun, swell, tree, voice, water, win, wind, winner

● Vocab Cards
○ I Am Enough vocab WITH pictures
○ I Am Enough vocab WITHOUT pictures

Instructional Sequence
Anticipatory Set/ 1. Connect to prior learning:
Background
● Teacher should refer to learning from previous lesson,
Spot in the World. For example:
○ “When we read Spot in the World, we learned
how each of us have things that are the same as
others and things that are different. Those
differences might even stand out from other
people. We learned the world NEEDS
differences. We need to be able to have new
 ideas, new perspectives and new actions.”

2. Connect to background:
● Sample script with students to help them connect to
their individual backgrounds and experiences:
○ “Sometimes, when our differences stand out, it
can make us feel uneasy. People can say things
that make us feel bad or that cause us to say to
ourselves, we aren’t enough.”
● Some possible questions to spark student feedback,
inquiry, input. (Depending on the age of the child, you
may need to alter the language in the questions to
make it more concrete for little learners, learners with
special needs or who are just learning english):
○ “Do you ever have times when you don’t feel so
good about yourself?”
○ “Has anyone ever said things about you that
make you feel sad? Maybe they talked about
the way you look, your hair, your skin color,
your culture, your family, the way you talk, the
language(s) you speak, the way you learn, the
way you do something, the way you are
different… anything like that?”
■ Teacher should use their discretion in how
many examples to discuss with their class.
○ “How did that make you feel?” Students may say:
sad, angry, hurt, etc...
● Students can verbally engage, raise their hands or use
the student response cards to respond to the questions
above.
○ Student response cards
■ Student response cards (thumbs up/down)
■ Student response cards (smile/frown)
■ Student response cards (yes/no)

NOTE: These questions (above) may spark a longer conversation

about their time at home and experiences during COVID and the
historical and current racial tensions in society. This is important to
allow them to talk about their experiences and validate their
thoughts and feelings but also balance that with keeping the pace of
the lesson. If a child appears to need to process- please validate,
take note and tell the student you’ll circle back with them when
everyone gets started on their work. You will need to determine at
that point if you need additional support for that child provided by
you, school based MH and/or admin, if needed. Please remember,
you don’t have to agree with someone to validate them.

3. Teacher validates and segues into the book:

● Sample script:
○ “Yes, when things like that happen, it doesn't
feel good. It feels so much better when you can
 be proud of yourself no matter what anyone
else says or does because YOU are enough.”

4. Picture walk and set up for active listening and learning:

● Teacher will take students through a picture walk and
vocabulary plant (talking through and defining key
vocabulary for the students). Teacher can use
vocabulary cards to assist.
○ Vocab Cards
■ I Am Enough vocab WITH pictures
■ I Am Enough vocab WITHOUT pictures
● Teacher can use Discussion Questions:
○ Discussion Questions (Before/During/After
Reading)

Direct Instruction and 1. Teacher sets students' expectations as the story is read
Procedures aloud.
● “As you listen to this story, think about you.
Listen for things that are like you and think about
other things you bring to the world that are
different from the person in the book. When we
are done reading the story we are going to do an
activity to share with the class about who we are
and how you are enough.”

2. Teacher reads story aloud or plays video: Read Aloud

Video: I Am Enough by Grace Byers
● Students listen to the story. (Teacher may consider
having students give a thumbs up, use response card
or use sign-language for ‘I agree’ when they make a
connection and then debrief the connections after the
read aloud).
○ Student response cards (thumbs up/down)
● Teacher may consider using Discussion Questions
(Before, During and After Reading)

3. After the story is read:

● Teacher should lead a discussion about the character
and who she is that makes her enough. Have students
verbalize what makes them enough (due to social
distancing, this may look a variety of ways).
○ Possible questions: Discussion Questions
(Before/During/After Reading)

4. Student activity
● Activities and Choice Board
● Teacher could use this in a variety of ways.
○ Teacher chooses one of the activities on the board
to do with their class.
○ Teacher gives students options using the activity
 board.
○ Students can select an activity off of the board to
do.
○ If students finish early or teacher would like an
extension, they may choose to do more than one
activity on the board.
**********Depending on the activity chosen, the teacher may
need to model how to do the activity.

Student Activity Choice Board:

Practice/Independent
Activity I am Video: I am I am Pictures/
Poems/Writing Enough using Art
computer video
Early learner I Am Art
example (Teachers could Examples
use: Flip Grid,
Seesaw and
Primary Schoology to
Elementary have the students
Example 1 upload their
videos if we are
Primary remote)
Elementary
Example 2

3-5 Elementary
Example

Act (or FREE (Make an Circle Map:

demonstrate), agreement with Use Path to
Dance, or Sing your teacher) Proficiency to
Differentiate for
Write a song, ELL’s and
write a skit, create others with
a dance. special needs
who need that
level of support.

Younger kids
may need a
template to do
this:
Circle Map
 Older kids can
likey draw their
own.

Build/ Create: Self- Portrait Rainbow

Students can use
materials around 1.Draw self and Rainbow
their homes or the label/write. example
classroom to build
something that Self-Portrait
shows who they example Rainbow
are (lego’s template
boxes,sticks,
rocks etc.) Self-Portrait
template

2.Use/Take
photo and label.
Photo example

Wrap Up, Closure, ● Teacher should review big concepts.

Reflection ○ Sample script for wrap up.
■ “What a beautiful group we are. This year, we
will experience many things together but I
want you to always remember you, who you
are and all that you are. YOU ARE ENOUGH.
When you need a reminder of how incredible
all the things are that make you who you are,
we will come back here and remind you that
you are enough.”

● Teacher could consider displaying the I Am Enough work

samples in a class book, a bulletin board, or digitally in
schoology, a board or seesaw class journal, etc..

● Teacher should consider coming back to this throughout

the year and can have additional focus on self esteem,
positive self talks, etc.. This lesson is a base lesson you
can build on all school year:)

Post Assessment ● Link back to objectives.

● Completion of work samples
● Share work with class, partner, teacher
● Did the student participate/engage in lesson and
discussion (appropriate to his/her ability level)?
***Please keep in mind, we do not know how our students will be coming back to us with the
pandemic and racial tensions. We do know they are experiencing many different things. We do
not know what may trigger a child and/or how they may respond to these lessons. Please do not
make assumptions or assign meaning to a particular student’s behavior without further
information gathering. If a child in your classroom is triggered or shows signs of distress,
please reach out to your school based mental health professionals and/or admin for guidance.