Discuss the Story

How is Marcel like other kids? How is he different? What can we learn from Marcel? How do Marcel’s friends feel about his differences? Do you think Marcel’s parents are sad now? Why or why not? What did the doctors mean when they told Marcel’s parents that his path...

Interactive Read Aloud

Page 2-5: Ask students to compare what babies like to do to what Marcel likes to do. Ask the students, Are most babies like Marcel? Page 6-9: Ask students how Marcel is different. How do Marcel’s parents feel when he is born? Ask the students how could they be happy...

Make Connections

Tell the students that the story is about a baby that is born and how the doctors discovered that he has Down Syndrome. Explain that Down syndrome is a genetic condition, but that it doesn’t define a person’s abilities or personality. Emphasize that people...

Celebrate Differences

Looking through a collection of picture books, ask students to find things that are alike and things that are different about the people depicted. Discuss with them how our differences make us stronger as a community.  Encourage students to talk about all the ways...

Picture Walk

As a class, look through each page in the book. Ask students to predict what they think the book will be about. Ask students to predict who Marcel is.  What can they tell about Marcel by looking at the pictures? Record student responses on chart paper and confirm...