How do the stories and lesson plans work? Is there research behind this approach?

Written Stories

Real world "problem solving" (we think of it as joyful learning) that makes Social Emotional Learning feel natural, meaningful, academic, and fun — while reinforcing math and literacy learning in a cross-disciplinary way!

Each Wordless Video is paired with 2-4 written stories about our new friend’s family, backstory, and work. 

Each of those stories has multiple word problems that tie to SEL, math, reading, and written and verbal communication goals you have.

You can easily find a person’s set of stories and lessons by typing the person's name in the search bar. 

If you see multiple stories with the same title, it is because they are written in a slightly different way for various math grade levels. 

Teachers often recommend starting with the person’s “I Am” story to get a big-picture overview of who the person is, and then exploring the person's other stories to dive deeper into the person's life. Though there is no one set way to engage with a human's story! 

Here we begin to challenge our assumptions, and we learn to further understand a new person’s unique perspective.

We all know it’s healthy to flex our empathy and curiosity muscles. Engaging with these real world situations makes it a natural, organic, authentic experience. No prescription. No instructing learners on how to think or what to think. 

The only prescription is curiosity and wonder. To build our desire for learning about self, others, and our world together. Learn more on how and why here.

The best part?

Every story not only makes SEL real-world, relatable, and engaging — these stories help students see the “why” behind the math and literacy we’re learning!

And story is such a powerful tool rooting back to so so so long ago in human history. 

It's such a great way to learn, engage, and immerse. Our stories are often called mini-ethnographies (a bunch of us studied sociology and anthropology in school) because youth get the chance to immerse in new cultures and learn about new people in a really dynamic, whole way. 

From an early age. To build the practice of loving learning about self, others, and our world. Imagine what our world will look like when every human grows up with a love for learning about our world, one another, and ourselves in a meaningful, wholehearted way.

We don't think of it as story "telling", as much as stories to learn and understand, and then share alongside those we share stories of. A collaborative thing. Listening and learning together. Story sharing.

Lesson Plans

Creative ways to bring together social, emotional, and academic learning — in the classroom, at home, and in our community!

Each written story comes paired with unique lesson ideas to help you engage your students, make an impact in their lives, and meet your academic goals -- at the same time.

• Made with love and with educator guidance: We love adapting these resources based on classroom feedback.
• Cross disciplinary: After learning about percentages at Shantanu’s stall, students can write essays about what building community means to them in their life. Pick your subject, and there’s a way to integrate it!
• Take the learning beyond the classroom: Our lesson plans have all kinds of classroom, home, and community project ideas to bring classroom learnings to the dinner table and into local communities.