YEAR of the Girl Child (Love, Laugh, Live)

I’m reading Malala’s Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai as an Interactive Read Aloud to my 4th graders.

Have you heard of Malala?

“She’s the youngest person to win that peace prize,” said Teresa.

“Yes,” I said. “The Nobel Peace Prize. That’s one of the most honorable prizes to win in the world.”

“Hey,” blurted out Fallyn, “I want to win that award!”

If you know her well, you know she just might.

Well, if you know her, you know it probably won’t be the PEACE prize.

But she has all of the ‘be’ings and ‘do’ings inside of her to make her a future Nobel laureate.

Malala is a remarkable person.

She’s one of my heroes.

I’m a member of her ‘Fearless’ book club and love it!

She was shot by Taliban gunmen on October 9, 2012 in the Swat Valley of Pakistan for speaking and writing out for the equality of girls and boys.

She wanted girls to go to school the same as boys.

The powerful men in her country did not want that.

So they pulled over her school bus and shot her.

She recovered.

Those powerful men could not silence her.

They didn’t have as much power as they thought

.

She is now a major voice for human rights in our world today.

In the book, she wishes for a magic pencil to use to make the world a better place.

Then she commits herself to being that magic pencil.

I wish you could’ve heard my class echoing her words throughout the 4th grade hallway:

“ONE CHILD, ONE TEACHER, ONE BOOK, ONE PEN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!” they chanted in their endearing, sing-songy kind of way.

We said “WORLD” (very loudly, by the way) and froze.

We minded our LC’s.

We looked closely and listened carefully.

The room was silent.

Not quiet, but silent.

My fellow teachers can tell you how rare these moments of silence are during the school day.

It’s a magical moment, for sure.

There was Cintia

She’d told me earlier in small group reading that if she had a magic pencil the. She’d draw herself as a writer. (If you know me well, you know this made my heart smile)

There was Neveyah.

She’d told me hers is to be a dancer.

There was Nashly.

She’d told me that if she had a magic pencil then she’d draw herself as a helper of migrants from Honduras journeying through Mexico on their way to the US border.

On their way to us.

And in that moment of silence, a thought and a feeling struck me like a lightning bolt and shook me like a thunder clap.

Malala is right.

These children can change the world.

I get to walk alongside them.

I am humbled.

I am thankful.

All in a day in public school.