Our Class is a Family (The Classroom Community Collection)

4.8 out of 5

14,826 global ratings

“Family isn’t always your relatives. It’s the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.”

Teachers do so much more than just teach academics. They build a sense of community within their classrooms, creating a home away from home where they make their students feel safe, included, and loved.

With its heartfelt message and colorfully whimsical illustrations, “Our Class is a Family” is a book that will help build and strengthen that class community. Kids learn that their classroom is a place where it’s safe to be themselves, it’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s important to be a friend to others. When hearing this story being read aloud by their teacher, students are sure to feel like they are part of a special family.

“Family isn’t always your relatives. It’s the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.”

27 pages,

Kindle

Hardcover

Paperback

First published May 22, 2020

ISBN 9780578629094


About the authors

Shannon Olsen

Shannon Olsen

Shannon Olsen was born and raised in Southern California, and obtained a B.A. in English and M.A. in Teaching from University of California, Irvine. She has worked in education for 15 years, primarily as a second grade teacher. Shannon also creates resources for elementary teachers and shares teaching ideas through her online store and blog, Life Between Summers. Her non-work related passions include traveling to new places, and being a wife and a mother of two girls.

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Reviews

Gloria morales

Gloria morales

5

Love the Message

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2024

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This book is a must in every classroom. I read this story to my class every year. The message is beautiful and creates a safe and welcoming environment.

Heather Craig

Heather Craig

5

Must have for littles

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2024

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Great book for a preschool and lower elementary level class.

Chelsey Schrantz

Chelsey Schrantz

5

Sweetest Read Aloud

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2024

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This book is a staple in my classroom. You will not be disappointed!

Kyla Turley

Kyla Turley

5

Small Group

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2024

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A great book for beginning and middle of the school year as a reminder.

4 people found this helpful

Gunnybunny

Gunnybunny

5

Great story for beginning the school year

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2024

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I like the simple, inviting story and will use this book to help build classroom community in the upcoming school year.

aprat13

aprat13

5

Perfect for back-to-school!

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2024

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We read this book the first week of school. It is great for building community! I buy this book for every new teacher / student teacher I work with.

7 people found this helpful

Stacey Lagrone

Stacey Lagrone

5

A Great Addition to your Classroom Library

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2024

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This book is such a great read for the beginning of the year. It touches on all of the things we want to establish at the beginning of the year--respect, differences, kindness. There are so many fun activities to do out there that go along with it, too. My class loved it, and it is now a permanent read aloud for my classroom year-to-year.

2 people found this helpful

Lindsey

Lindsey

4

Classroom

Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2024

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This book is great for the classroom. It engaged the whole class and the pictures were great.

Fits description

Fits description

4

Classroom family

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2024

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Great resource for teaching that all students are unique and important to the family dynamics of a classroom.

Jacqui

Jacqui

4

Great for discussion on inclusivity but could use more diverse representation

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2020

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The book “Our Class is a Family” by Shannon Olsen and illustrated by Sandie Sonke tries to demonstrate the importance of building classroom community and being inclusive of all students no matter their race or abilities. While I think this is a beautiful book that has a lot of positives and opportunities for discussion it leaves some things out. I think the story is really about modern-day American students from privileged neighborhoods. I think this because students seem to be wearing nice modern-day clothing, are put together, and have access to a school with many resources. It also mentions housing as being part of a family but fails to mention some students don’t come from or have nice homes. The book is also only available in English leaving out students who aren’t too familiar with the language. However, I think that itself could be a good learning activity for ESL or bilingual students and forming the story in their native languages. I think the illustration of the students are also representative of American features. They all have almond shaped eyes and button noses except for the teacher. It seems they just changed the skin colors and hair types for the student drawings. I think they also leave out students of different cultures. Like I mentioned earlier all the students are wearing modern-day American clothing, there’s no representation for students of different cultures and backgrounds that might wear different clothing such as hijabs or kippahs, despite the text implying inclusivity. I think that could be an excellent opportunity for discussion in the classroom about who and why certain people were left out. I think the story overall shows that students are valued if they are more representative of modern-day American culture. I think it also shows the idea of Americanization that is so prevalent in the U.S education system. This means being fluent in English and dressing like the rest of society. I think it also could’ve been more representative of more children with disabilities. I think when most people think of disabilities, they jump straight to someone in a wheelchair but there’s more disabilities out there that I think kids should learn and be more aware of. The child in the wheelchair is highlighted when the text mentions respecting one another but doesn’t elaborate how children can do that especially regarding students with varying abilities. I do like that at the beginning it represented both biological parents and stepparents as students with mixed families is normal. However, it didn’t show same sex parents or adoptees. One could argue the sentence “family doesn’t have to be who your related to” includes adoptees but I think that was included more to emphasis the point of the book that students in the classroom although not related are still considered family. Overall, I think this is a book that could use more representation but has a great start towards being more inclusive in the classroom. Finally, I think it could be great to have open discussion about inclusivity and diversity with our students.

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24 people found this helpful