What Does It Mean To Be Big?

By Anonymous
Kindergarten Students Ponder: 
What Does It Mean To Be Big &
 How Do You Know When You are Big?
October 2017

By Stephanie Rotsky


Thank goodness for books like Big by Coleen Paratore, especially when you are the youngest students at school! The message of this powerful story paints an empowering picture of what it means to be big that takes away from the equation your age, your size, your grade and how much stuff you have... It is so much "bigger" than that.

When kindergarten students were asked: What does it mean to be big and How do you know when you are big - here were some of their initial responses:

As we read the story, students were introduced to the notion that "being big" is connected to being bright, healthy, imaginative, kind, being a friend to the earth, being a friend to yourself, helpful, valuable, an active citizen...no matter your age!

And...we were reminded throughout the story that Big is being the biggest YOU that YOU can be!

Finally...we loved the idea that "each and every year, every person on the planet gets 365 presents - 365 brand new days." And being big is actually a CHOICE  that can we make every day according to the author.

Do kindergarten students need to wait until they are older or taller to be big and make a difference in the world? Absolutely not! Their "bigness" is always evolving - happening little by little - and our world needs every little bit of their "bigness" right now and in the future!

As a family...
talk about times when you are...

 BIG healthy
BIG in your family
A BIG friend
BIG in your community
BIG kind
BIG to the planet
BIG peaceful

Following up on the story, students worked on different activities that connected to the traditional meaning of "big."


build a BIG structure

write your name BIG


create a BIG pattern


draw a BIG peace sign


illustrate a time when you were BIG kind

show the process of a seed growing BIG




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