What Do You Do With a Chance?

Title: What Do You Do With a Chance? 
Author: Kobi Yamada  
Illustrator: Mae Besom 
Publisher: Compendium Inc 
Publication Date: January, 2018
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: This is a story of a child who isn't sure what to make of a chance encounter-then discovers that when you say yes to new experiences, amazing things can happen. 
What I Think: I'm a fan of having a growth mindset and discussing what it means to have a growth mindset...but that doesn't mean living a growth mindset is easy. Doing something new and taking a risk is actually really hard. In fact, I don't think we talk enough about how difficult it actually is. I love how What Do You Do With A Chance? gives readers the opportunity to think about how hard it is. 

I blogged recently about using my voice to speak up and how hard it was because it's important to see how hard it is. I hope people recognize when they have a chance and that they take advantage of any chances that come their way, but I completely understand how hard it is. 

As a mentor text, I would use this book as an opportunity to brainstorm ideas for personal narratives with kids. Sometimes we don't see how important our experiences are in writing. If students can see how their memories are valued, it helps them see themselves as writers. But also, we don't always want to write about a struggle or how it felt. And guess what? Most often, writing honestly about struggle makes the most interesting stories. 

Snatch of Text: "Then I thought, 'Maybe I don't have to be brave all the time. Maybe I just need to be brave for a little while at the right time.' 
Writing Prompt: Write about at time in your life when you took a chance. How did it go? How did it feel? What did you learn from the experience?