Interestingly, using quality children’s literature in classrooms is nothing new. In fact, it is considered best practice. In our third grade reading class, the classic picture book Is There Really A Human Race? co-authored by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell was read aloud. Amidst student comments that they were too old for picture books, the teacher continued her reading. Soon silence enveloped the room—only, the soothing voice was heard. I could almost see the wheels in the little heads turning, as they were making sense of the words they heard and relished the pictures that went along with them.
Looking at the sea of faces, I found myself thinking about the truth that lurked behind the innocence of those words:
Is there really a human RACE? Is it going on now all over the place? When did it start? Who said, “Ready, Set, Go”?
I wonder:
Are we in the name of education going too FAST and to what END?
Is speeding up childhood REALLY contributing to social-emotional health of our kids?
OR
Are we successfully creating generations who will FINISH life like a RACE?
Brakes on…THINK….
suedas 
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