Same, Same But

Different

By: Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

Presentation by: Camdyn, Sam, Esmeralda

Summary of the book:
Same, Same but Different is a book about two children in
different countries who become pen pals. Elliot lives in the
United States and Kailash lives in India. They write each others
letters back and forth and learn about their lives at home. They
come to find that even though their geography couldn't be
more contrasting, their not so different when it came to their
families, pets and hobbies.
Social Justice Standard: Diversity
Main Focus: We want to specifically focus on Culture. This
book talks about the cultural similarities and differences
between American and Indian culture. Books can be both a
mirror where a child can see their own lives reflected as well
as a window to outside worlds and experiences and Same,
Same but Different is a wonderful example of both.
ELA Standards and Connections
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7

Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to

what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood,
emphasize aspects of a character or setting)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3

Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or

feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence
of events
Lesson/Activity
1. Our lesson begins with prompting questions before reading.

Ex. “What are your initial thoughts on the cover of the book as well as title?
What do you think the story will be about?”

2. We will read the book out loud.

3. Draw your world- Make a drawing/collage of your own
world/city/house/school in the style that the author uses.
4. Students will list people that live in their homes(Father, Mother, Sister,
Brother, pets, etc)?
5. Find a partner and explain how you guys are the same but different.
Assessment

The students will bring at the end of the week a piece that
will help us as a class understand their culture a little deeper
this could be, food , clothing, pictures, musical instrument
Etc. The students will have 3-5 mins to share what they
bought in.
Empowering
● Creating a drawing/collage allows students to reflect on their
culture and learn information about different cultures. This
understanding is the start for bridging multiple cultures in our
classroom.
● Reading the stories of the two boys will give students an
understanding that culture is different around the world, but
in some aspects we are the same.
● After students collaborate with one another, they will develop
empathy for their friends that are different than them.
 Walk through
a. Are you starting with a read aloud? Will you be asking questions in between the read aloud? What questions will you
be asking? How will you deal with distractions?

We would start with a read aloud and be asking questions throughout the story. The questions that will be asked is for the
students to make connections. We will ask the students how they are similar and different from the kids in the story. We will
deal with distractions by reading the book all together and by asking questions throughout the story we can check who is
following along and engaged.

b. How are you going to END your lesson plan?

After every student has shared we will end the lesson plan by going through reflections questions such as “Did you find any
similarities between some cultures your classmates shared?” or “What is something new you learned today?”.

c. How will you teach students who aren’t able to go online?

Students are able to bring things from home or draw pictures along with using the internet if you are able but, it is not
required. Every student will have supplies to at least draw because we will make sure our students have all the supplies
needed to be successful throughout the year. If a student needs access to the internet we will also give students time
throughout the week to work on it in class so they have more tools.