October 13, 2023 Kaylee Oorthuis

Book Talk-Teaching Plan

Book Information
Book Title: The Boy with Flowers in His Hair
Written by: Jarvis
Illustrated by: Jarvis
Publication Date: April 26, 2022
Published by: Candlewick Press

Jarvis holding The Boy with Flowers in His Hair

Lesson Information https://www.mothermag.com/wp-content/
uploads/2022/05/Jarvis-The-Boy-With-Flowers-In-
Level: Grade 1 His-Hair-24.jpg
Subject: Physical Education and Wellness
Organizing Idea: Character Development: Exploration of life opportunities and virtues develops
resilience and personal talents and promotes lifelong learning.
Guiding Question: How can personal characteristics contribute to self-understanding?
Learning Outcome: Students examine personal characteristics, feelings, and emotions and
explore understanding of self.
Knowledge:
- Emotions show how an individual feels.
- People can experience a range of feelings and emotions, such as love, sadness,
frustration, joy.
- Thoughts, feelings, and emotions are connected to behaviour.
- Reflection and feedback on feelings and emotions can contribute to personal growth and
learning.
Understanding:
- An individual’s experiences can affect feelings and emotions.
- Reactions to feelings and emotions can be experienced and observed.
Skills and Procedures:
- Recognize how emotions can be expressed.
- Identify and communicate feelings in a variety of contexts.
- Identify responses to emotions.
- Reflect on feelings and emotions that result from various personal experiences.
Summary of The Boy with Flowers in His Hair
This children's book is told from the perspective of a little boy as he shares a story about his
best friend, David. David is sweet and gentle, incredibly unique because of the beautiful,
colourful flowers growing from his head. Everyone in the class loves playing with David,
especially his best friend, and they enjoy singing, running and puddle jumping together. The
bouquet of flowers atop David's head always seemed full of life until, one day, something
changed. The best friend noticed that the petals were beginning to fall, and David began not to
feel like himself, no longer wanting to play with others. Soon, all of David's flowers had lost
their petals, and he began to come to school covered in a hat. David was quiet and reserved, and
his best friend noticed that he seemed spiky, twiggy and brittle. The other children stayed away,
but not David's best friend, because he had an idea. The best friend began to create petals for
David out of paper and paint to help bring colour back to his life. Soon, the other children started
helping make flowers for David. They all worked together for a while to make David feel more
like himself until he was ready to grow his flowers. David no longer needed the paper flowers
created by the children, so his best friend stored them away in case he ever needed them again.

Lesson Plan Procedure:

Before Reading the Book:
Since this lesson is part of the Grade 1 curriculum, I plan on beginning by having my students
sit around me on the floor/carpet instead of at their desks. I believe that children at this age
would enjoy a more cozy reading setting, and it would be essential for them to see all the
beautiful pictures throughout the book.
Next, I would show the students the cover image and introduce them to the main character,
David, The Boy with Flowers in His Hair. The cover shows a picture of David with colourful
flowers on his head and a smile on his face. I’d ask the students some questions before beginning
to read, starting with "Grade One's, do you think David looks happy or sad in this picture? How
can you tell?". I would wait for their answer (happy, smiling, bright colours, etc.), and then I
would agree with them: "David does look happy in this picture, doesn't he? The emotion he is
showing is happy.". I’d follow up with, "Ok, Grade One's, can you name some other emotions?"
(i.e. sad, mad, silly, scared).
Then, I would explain that we will be reading a story about David and that I want them to pay
attention to his emotions and how his best friend treats him from the start to finish.
While Reading:
I would begin reading the book, pausing on each page and showing the children the pictures.
The book has a limited amount of text, and a lot of what is conveyed in terms of emotion is
shown in the imagery (i.e. sad faces, lost flowers). I would try changing my tone from upbeat to
more sombre at the point in the book where David begins to experience some hardship.
After Reading Discussion:
While still seated together on the floor, I would ask my students if they remembered what kind
of emotion David was experiencing at the start of the book. Then, I would turn to a page where
he began experiencing difficulties and show them a picture as a reminder. I would state: “David
was happy at the start of the book and had lots of fun playing with his best friend at school.”.
Then I would ask, “What emotion is David experiencing in this picture with all his flowers
gone?’ (they would answer sad, mad, depressed, anxious, scared, frustrated, etc.).
I would then take an opportunity to explain to them that David experienced something that
made him not feel good/made his flowers fall out, but we don’t get to know what it was, and
that’s okay. Sometimes, people go through things that make them sad or upset, but they are not
always ready to talk about it. Then, I would remind them of David’s best friend throughout the
story and how he remained by David’s side, even when he was unhappy. I intend to ask them a
final question, “What did David’s friend do to make him feel better when he wasn’t feeling
good?” – I would give suggestions here, too, like “He listened, he was kind, he did not make fun
of David, he made David special new flowers, etc.).
After Reading Activity:
After completing the reading and discussion portion of the lesson, I would invite students to
head back to their desks and take out their pencil cases (felt pens, pencil crayons, pencils,
erasers, etc.). I plan to hand out a worksheet (attached below) and have them work
independently. As the students worked, I would walk around and ask questions about what they
were drawing and help them where needed. At this point, the students should be able to
distinguish between happiness and sadness and consider things in their lives that make them feel
these emotions. I hope the story of David and his best friend would also inspire them to consider
(and draw) how a positive act of friendship and support might look.

Assessment
I plan to assess the students formatively during the discussion portion of the lesson by using
their responses to gauge their level of understanding of different emotions and how people
display them. I would start by mentally noting which students seemed most engaged with the
conversation and which ones were not. For the students who did not speak/were not comfortable
speaking in the group setting, I would walk over to their desks during their independent work
time and ask them questions about the book to ensure they were listening and understood the
premise. Their drawings are meant to be open-ended because we all experience emotions
differently, so there would not be any “wrong” answers. I would check the drawings for
completion and indications that the students understood the difference between happy and sad.
Reflection
I chose this book because it would incorporate well into the Grade 1 Physical Education and
Wellness curriculum about recognizing and understanding different emotions. Even at a young
age, Grade 1 students can see that people who experience feelings are beginning to associate
certain behaviours with how they or those around them are doing emotionally. The book, The
Boy with Flowers in His Hair, represents the change in David’s emotions in the beautiful
illustrations, showing the juxtaposition of when he is happy with a head full of flowers to when
he is unhappy, and his branches are barren. These clear visuals make it easier for the Grade 1
students to visualize the changes in David and how they affect him physically and mentally.
I also like this book for my lesson because it is a sweet story about supporting a friend through
a hard time. Although this point was not the central focus of my lesson, the themes of friendship
and unconditional love permeate throughout. David's best friend stays by his side from when he
is happy, through his hardship, and until he feels like himself again. Almost. We are never told
what exactly happened to David to make him feel different, and this teaches the students in a
roundabout way that you do not always need to know the details of a person's life to be a good
friend. This book is a fantastic resource to instill the beauty of treating your friends/others with
empathy and care, whether you know what is happening to them or not.
Finally, I chose this book from a more logistical standpoint because it is easy for me to read (as
the teacher) and easy for the Grade 1 students to follow. The author does not include any jargon
or fluff, making the book flow easier in a read-aloud scenario. The book is age-appropriate and
covers a heavier subject so that children will not feel overwhelmed while they work to find their
understanding. The images created by Jarvis are beautiful and colourful, hopefully capturing the
student's attention. Yet, they are also simplistic and straightforward enough that the children can
grasp the theme and recognize the shifts in emotions.
Note: This is a rough idea that I quickly made on Canva to give a rough idea of what I would
want my worksheet to resemble.