Shy Me

Display photographs or illustrations showing children with different facial expressions and body language. Ask students to identify which children may be feeling shy and explain what clues they notice. Encourage students to discuss body language such as folded arms, avoiding eye contact, hiding behind an adult, quiet voices or nervous smiles.

Create a class anchor chart titled “Signs Someone May Feel Shy.”

Discussion Questions:

• How can we tell someone might be shy?
• Is everyone shy for the same reasons?
• How can we be kind to someone who feels shy?

Present students with various scenarios:

• Raising your hand in class
• Meeting someone new
• Speaking in front of the class
• Asking to join a game
• Performing in a concert

Students sort each situation into three categories:

• Comfortable
• Sometimes Shy
• Very Challenging

Discuss how every person’s comfort level might be different in each scenario or experience and that there are no right or wrong answers.

Before reading the text, complete a picture walk using only the illustrations. Encourage students to carefully study each page and describe what they notice about the child’s facial expressions, body language, and surroundings.

Ask students to predict:

• Where is the child?
• What might be happening?
• How do you think the child feels?
• What clues helped you make that prediction?
• What might happen next?

Record student predictions on chart paper. After reading the story, revisit the predictions to determine which were confirmed and which changed after learning more about the character’s thoughts.

Extension: Students draw one illustration from the book and write a sentence explaining what clues helped them infer the character’s emotions.

Write the word “SHY” in the center of a large chart.

Invite students to brainstorm words connected to shyness.

Possible responses include:

• nervous
• worried
• quiet
• unsure
• embarrassed
• scared
• cautious
• brave
• excited
• lonely
• curious

Discuss how some of these feelings may happen at the same time.

Explain that emotions are often mixed together. Someone can feel shy and excited, or shy and happy, at the same time.

Students choose three words from the web and use them in complete sentences.

Example:

“I feel nervous when I meet new people.”

Ask students to imagine a brand-new child joining the class tomorrow. Working in small groups, students brainstorm ways to help the new student feel comfortable.Ideas may include:

• smiling
• introducing yourself
• inviting them to play
• sitting beside them
• explaining classroom routines
• asking friendly questions
• including them during recess

Record ideas on chart paper titled: “Ways We Help Someone Feel Welcome.” Finish by creating a classroom pledge that everyone signs.

Example: “In our classroom, everyone belongs. We help others feel safe, included and respected.”

Pause after each page where the child experiences a new situation. Invite students to identify:

• What is happening?
• What makes the child feel shy?
• What clues show those feelings?
• Have you ever felt this way?

Create a three-column chart:

Complete the chart together throughout the story. This activity helps students recognize that different situations can create similar emotions while different coping strategies may be helpful for different people

Challenge students to become “illustration detectives.” Instead of focusing only on the words, ask them to study the collage artwork carefully. Questions to ask students include:

• Where is the character looking?
• How does the artist show nervousness?
• Which colors help create the mood?
• What details help tell the story without words?

Students discover that illustrations communicate emotions just as effectively as text.

As you read each new situation in the story, pause and invite students to make personal connections. Use sentence stems such as:

• “I feel shy when …”
• “Something similar happened to me when …”
• “One thing that helps me is …”
• “I noticed the character …”

Encourage students to share with a partner before discussing as a class. Remind students that everyone experiences emotions differently and that all feelings are valid. Finish by adding student ideas to a class chart titled “Things That Help When We Feel Shy.”

Throughout the story, identify every strategy the child uses to cope with shyness. Record each strategy on a paper “tool.” Examples include:

• Going slowly
• Remembering good memories
• Taking a short break
• Asking a buddy for help
• Practicing first
• Trying even when feeling nervous

Place each tool inside a paper toolbox displayed in the classroom. After reading, discuss:

• Which strategy would work best for you?
• Would different situations require different tools?
• Can more than one strategy work at the same time?

Students draw their own personal toolbox and choose three strategies they would like to use in their own lives.

Create a large timeline across the board.

As the story progresses, students place picture cards or sticky notes showing how the child’s feelings change. Possible sequence:

• Feeling uncertain
• Feeling nervous
• Taking a deep breath
• Trying something new
• Feeling proud
• Still a little shy — but more confident

Discuss how emotions often change over time instead of staying the same. Ask students:

• What helped the character move forward?
• Did the shyness completely disappear?
• Can someone be both brave and shy at the same time?

Emphasize that courage often means trying even while uncomfortable.

Explain that everyone experiences situations that feel challenging. Students create an individual Brave Plan using the following organizer:

When I feel shy …

1. I notice …
2. I can remind myself …
3. I can ask ________ for help.
4. One strategy I will try is …
5. Afterward, I will celebrate by …

Students illustrate their plan and keep it in their desk or take it home.

Working in small groups, students receive different classroom scenarios. Examples:

• A new student arrives.
• Someone is sitting alone.
• A classmate is nervous before presenting.
• A child doesn’t know anyone at recess.
• Someone is afraid to answer a question.

Students role-play respectful ways classmates can offer encouragement without forcing participation. After each role-played scenario, discuss:

• Which actions were helpful?
• How did kindness make a difference?
• What else could classmates do?

The goal is to help students understand that small acts of kindness create welcoming communities.

Invite students to reflect on how the character learns that being shy does not mean they cannot participate or be brave. Explain that everyone experiences moments of uncertainty, and those moments do not define who they are.

Provide each student with the sentence frame:

“Sometimes I feel shy when ____________, but I can ____________.”

Encourage students to write two or three complete sentences describing a situation in which they have felt shy, and a strategy they could use the next time they encounter a similar experience.

After writing, students illustrate themselves successfully using their chosen strategy. Invite volunteers to share their writing with the class, emphasizing that listening respectfully helps create a supportive classroom community.

Discussion Questions

• What strategy would work best for you?
• Why is it okay to feel shy?
• How does practicing courage help us grow?

Just as Ashley Barron’s collage illustrations communicate emotion through color, texture and shape, students will create their own mixed-media “Courage Collage.”

Provide magazines, construction paper, patterned paper, tissue paper, markers, crayons and glue.

Students divide their paper into two sections: When I Feel Shy and When I Feel Brave

Using words, pictures, colors and collage materials, students illustrate how their feelings change when they use healthy coping strategies.

Once complete, students explain one element of their collage to a partner, describing why they selected particular colors, textures or images to represent their emotions.

Display the finished artwork around the classroom as a reminder that courage looks different for everyone.

As a culminating activity, create a collaborative class book inspired by Shy Me.

Give each student one page with the prompt: “I feel brave when …” or “One way I help someone who feels shy is …”

Students complete the sentence, illustrate their page and sign their work. Assemble the pages into a classroom book titled Our Courage Book. Read the completed book aloud and place it in the classroom library so students can revisit it throughout the year.

Discuss how everyone’s ideas are different and how every strategy has value because each person experiences emotions in unique ways.

Include vocabulary such as brave, friend, teacher, practice, crowd, sharing, courage, feelings and kindness.