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Moravian Academy in Action
Believing in Yourself: Fourth Graders Explore Disability, Empathy, and Identity
This week, fourth grade students are wrapping up their fourth Fishtank unit, Believe in Yourself. At the heart of this unit was The Wild Book, a novel in which the main character uses poetry to express what it’s like to live with—and eventually overcome—dyslexia. Using this story as an anchor text, students explored how people with disabilities view themselves and how they are perceived by others.
They then sampled three additional novels featuring characters with a range of disabilities. Through reading, discussion, and writing, students reflected on how disabilities impact daily life and relationships. Central to each of these stories was the powerful theme of believing in oneself. Students wrote persuasive letters on the importance of early intervention and continued one of the sampled stories through narrative writing. One of the novels, A Fish in a Tree, also connects to their work in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) with Ms. Helene.
Throughout the unit, students deepened their understanding of how common disabilities are and how to approach these experiences with empathy. In a culminating discussion, they used text evidence to thoughtfully answer the unit’s essential questions: How do disabilities impact how people see themselves? and How do disabilities impact how others see people with disabilities?
This meaningful unit invited students to think critically, read compassionately, and express their ideas with both heart and clarity.
