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“All these kids … you must be brave,” said the man in hiking gear. After a sunny but cold day on the beach punctuated by a trudge through sandpaper wind, I was plodding downhill with the stragglers from my hiking group. The more energetic among them galloped to the end, past the curious hiker.

"The Trouble with Tuck by Theodore Taylor,” I began to tell my class, “is an important book to me because it was one of the first that I read again and again.” I held up the 100-page paperback book for my students to see. A couple looked as if they might laugh at me, showing off a kid’s book. But I continued to tell them how the main character, Helen, trained a guide dog to lead her first dog, Tuck, when he went blind. Despite my fear that talking about books would create opportunities for put downs, I soon heard rumblings through the classroom as students dropped names of their favorite books.

Folklore invites students to explore the curriculum of "real life."

Teaching Tolerance director Maureen Costello reminds us that storytelling can conquer fears.

Grades: 9-12 Subjects: Reading and Language Arts, Social Studies, ELL/ESL, Science and Health Categories: Religion; Diversity and Inclusion; Bullying and Exclusion; Stereotypes and Bias This Teaching Tolerance story

With or without the latest headlines from the White House, immigration is worthy of class discussion, and teachers should be ready to facilitate that discussion.