I am so excited to host the School Counselor Blog Back to School Contest, which is 10 days of daily giveaways starting September 1st and ending on September 10th!Today is day seven of the School Counselor Blog Back to School Contest.
Today's giveaway for the School Counselor Blog Back to School Contest is The Secret Olivia Told Me
by N. Joy and illustrated by Nancy Devard.The Secret Olivia Told Me
is one of my favorite books of all times. It has special place in my office and in my heart. I learned about this book from an AMAZING artist and teacher, Alison Babusci, during one of my long-term substitute school counselor positions.The Secret Olivia Told Me
is about a secret between friends that turns into a rumor. The Secret Olivia Told Me is the whole package. The children in the book are multicultural, the pictures are engaging, it has a strong message, and it rhymes! I absolute love the artwork in The Secret Olivia Told Me
. The children pictured in The Secret Olivia Told Me are silhouettes, which could be a great collaboration between you and the art teacher at your school! Another artistic detail I love is the balloon in the book. The contrast between the silhouettes and white background make the red balloon stand out. The string of the balloon comes out of the child's mouth when they spread the secret. The red balloon keeps growing and growing each time the secret is spread. Students absolutely love The Secret Olivia Told Me and are quick to point out these details.I have used The Secret Olivia Told Me
with 5th and 6th grade for a lesson I call Rumors and Toothpaste. I often use this book during individual sessions and group sessions with students in 5th and 6th grade. 7th and 8th grade students tend to pick up this book too because the cover just draws you in. I would recommend The Secret Olivia Told Me for grades 4-6.The art teacher at my current school helped me to make a door decoration of The Secret Olivia Told Me
for an African American History Month door decorating contest we held at my school. I tried to save it, but I couldn't find a way to laminate it without cutting it. :(I am so excited to share The Secret Olivia Told Me
with a lucky winner! I hope it impacts your school as much as it has impacted the students I serve and me!
The Giveaway:
One lucky winner (U.S. only) will be chosen at random to win a copy of The Secret Olivia Told Me by N. Joy and illustrated by Nancy Devard. The contest for this giveaway will be closed at midnight and a winner will be announced on this item's contest page on September 8th.
by N. Joy and illustrated by Nancy Devard. The contest for this giveaway will be closed at midnight and a winner will be announced on this item's contest page on September 8th.
How to enter:
Add a relevant comment to this contest page about how you would use The Secret Olivia Told Me in your work with students. The comment must appear on this item's contest page (this page). 
in your work with students. The comment must appear on this item's contest page (this page). 
Want bonus entries?
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or your Blog, about the contest or a specific item's contest page. Make sure to provide links back to the contest page or a specific item's contest page. For each place you visit and do this, come back to the item's contest page and leave a comment explaining where you shared information about the contest!
Good luck everyone!
THE GIVEAWAY FOR THIS ITEM IS NOW OVER.
Congratulations to Rachel B!
Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest and shared great ideas of how you would use The Secret Olivia Told Me in your work with students!
Comments are now closed.
Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at School Counselor Blog, a place where school counselors share innovative ideas, creative lesson plans, and quality resources. Contact Danielle via email, follow her on twitter, and become a fan of the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page.
I am the first posting!!! It has been so busy starting a new school year in my first year as a school counselor. I really need resources and I would love to have this book. I would use it in classroom, group, and individual counseling. I like to think of a story my dad told me that a wise man was asked how to fix a rumor and he told the man to go to the top of the mountain and empty a bag of feathers. The man did and went back to the wise man. The wise man then asked him to collect all the feathers and put them back in the bag. That is the same thing with our words. Once they are out we can't put them back in.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds awesome! I see myself using this in a 4-6 grade girls friendship group. Possibly a classroom lesson about rumors too.
ReplyDeleteWow! I have never heard of this book before. It sounds like a great book that could be used a variety of ways including individual sessions, groups, and classroom guidance. At the middle school level, there are always a ton of rumors that a counselor has to help students with....it would be great to be proactive and read this book to the kids at the beginning of the year and be able to refer back to it throughout the school year. I know even my 7th and 8th graders would relate to it!
ReplyDeleteI would love to use this book with girls in the 4th and 5th grade at my school. I think it would really put into words what a lot of them are experiencing in their friendships with each other. It would also be a great book for No Name Calling Week activities!
ReplyDeleteThis is a book I want to add to my collection. Love, Love, LOVE your blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited about getting this book. Even if I don't win it, I'll buy it. I'd use it with my 4th and 5th graders in small groups and in classroom lessons. I love that it is very multicultural because the school where I work is very diverse. I love it when the students are able to see images that look like them. I also like your rumors and toothpaste lesson too.
ReplyDeleteShared the link on my facebook page also. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm always looking for new ways to work through the dynamics of girls in 4th and 5th grade. I'd love to use this book in groups or classrooms!
ReplyDeleteThis would be a great book to use with my small groups and larger classroom lessons. Our school does a one book, one school and I think this may be a solid choice! I would love to coordinate with the art teacher and then create a display based on the book that could be used for Open House.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great book! This would be great in either a small group or classroom lesson. I work at a very diverse school so I'm always looking for resources that are multicultural. This could be good in individual sessions too for students who don't quite understand the impact of gossiping. Thank you for sharing this great resource!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds like a must for my library! My 4th and 5th grade girls have skyrocketed in their relational aggressive acts over the past few years. They have a love-hate relationship with one another, and I always do at least 1 group withe these girls. This book sounds like it's just what I need! My school is very diverse, so the mulitcultural aspect will certainly add to the message. I am also doing a rumors classroom guidance lesson, and this book would be fitting!
ReplyDeleteThis book seems great! One of the biggest issues I've seen is relational aggression. It seems like it's something we deal with on an everyday basis! This book would be a great tool to help girls work on their friendship skills!
ReplyDeleteThis book seems a little misleading! I thought, strictly based on the title, that the book would be about abuse, either sexual or physical. However, once I read your comments about The Secret Olivia Told Me, it struck me, that "this is a book I need." I work with K-5 in 2 schools in a small county. I teach weekly guidance lessons with all 700 students. But, I also have opportunities to counsel with individuals and small groups. I have discovered over the last several years that around Grade 3, a lot of what I refer to as "girl drama", begins to become an issue. The Secret That Olivia Told Me might be just the right thing for me!! I could use this book with the kids when I talk to them about "if you didn't hear it with your own ears, it didn't happen." Hard concept for younger kids to grasp, but so important in their social/emotional development.
ReplyDeleteThanks for opening my eyes to a new literature resource!!
i just posted a link and a small piece about The Secret That Olivia Told Me on my blog. Check it out.
ReplyDeletehttp://sonasstories.blogspot.com/
I am an elementary school counselor and am always looking for books which teach about rumor spreading and relational aggression, since this seems to be a natural tendency among kids. I have used the toothpaste metaphor with kids and would use this book along with my rumor lessons to work with small groups and classroom guidance in 4th and 5th grade. My school is a diverse urban school in Philadelphia and the multicultural aspect of the book would be great for the kids. It would be great to have the kids draw pictures of the book and characters to see their perception, since the characters are silhouettes, and then discuss the differences in their drawings. Thanks Danielle!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely use this book with my 5th grade GIRLS group. Rumor spreading is rampant with this age group, and I am always looking for new ideas to address this issue! It could also be good in classroom guidance for conflict resolution.
ReplyDeleteI shared this on my Facebook page!
ReplyDeleteI shared this on Twitter as well! @kjohnson222
ReplyDeleteThis book will definitely be used with my JH girls. My office is in the JH building, although I'm a K - 12 counselor, so it is very accessible to the JH girls. This would be a great book to use with them as well as my 5th and 6th graders.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have this book to use with 5th grade girls. From the posts above, it seems a number of us have the same group in mind. This will be a great resource for any counselor.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a "Must Have"! As counselors, we all deal with 'girl talk', rumors, and gossip! What a unique way to teach the students - with red balloons and string - and using the non-discript multi-cultural silhouettes. Thank you for exposing this book to us! Sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteSeems like a great book to use with girls struggling with their peers! Thanks for the recommendation!
ReplyDeleteDanielle, I have been following your blog for over a year and get so many great ideas from it! Thank you for sharing... we all get better because of it. I would use this book in classroom guidance class as well as girl groups. I love the idea of incorporating the red balloon into a lesson.
ReplyDeleteI usually have the kids play the "telephone" game when leading into a lesson about rumors and positive communication. This book seems like another great way to emphasize the importance friendship, communication and confidentiality. Besides in the classroom, this book would be great for small groups, especially with 4th-8th grade girls. Thank you for sharing this great resource!
ReplyDeleteCurrently I use "Mr. Peabody's Apples" with my 5th graders during our lesson on gossip and rumors. However, I don't have a good book for my 4th grade lesson. This sounds like it would be perfect. I love the idea of the red balloon growing with each telling of the rumor. What a great visual for the kids and I'd have them create their own red balloons that they could attach to the tops of their desks to remind them of our lesson all month!
ReplyDeleteI am the only counselor in my building for grades 4-8. I am trying to build up my grade 6-8 curriculum. I am always looking for new ways to engage my 6th graders to help them better understand the repercussions of rumors and how devastating the results can be. I show them the video "Feathers in the Wind" to show how you can not take back what comments you say or post on the internet. I think this and the toothpaste would also be a good activity for the same message. Thanks for doing this. It is awesome the way you are sharing your ideas.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had known about this book before! Coming out this November, I wrote a book called Friendship & Other Weapons: Group Activities to Help Young girls Aged 5-11 to Cope with Bullying. It is designed for teachers, counselors, Girl Scout troop leaders, parents--and anyone else working with groups of elementary school aged girls--to use games and activities to teach girls to recognize social exclusion, rumor-spreading, and other tools of girl bullying, and to know how to cope effectively with each. I would love to have included The Secret Olivia Told Me in my session on Stopping Rumors. At minimum, I will mention the book on my own blog, www.signewhitson.com Such an important subject--glad to see so many great counselors addressing it!
ReplyDeleteAs an elementary counselor I am always in search of quality read alouds for classroom guidance lessons and small groups. This book seems to have it all....meaningful story line and multi-cultural pictures. Thank you for sharing your ideas and generating a community of professional counselors.
ReplyDeleteWorking in an elementary school, relational aggression is an ongoing challenge. Most people have the perception that most bullying occurs between boys but I have found that the majority actually occurs (covertly) between girls. I would love to use this book in conjunction with some of the ideas I have taken from Growing Up Girl.
ReplyDeleteI currently work as an Intensive In-Home counselor for at-risk youth and thier families. This book would be a great asset to my collection as I am always trying to use alternative methods in my counseling sessions. The Secret Olivia Told Me will help my younger clients understand that rumors lead to so many other issues. This resource coupled with your toothpaste idea will be a great technique for both individual and group sessions.
ReplyDeleteI have seen my supervisor use books /stories as a starting point and foundation for classroom guidance lessons at the elementary school where I am an intern. This book seems like it would be a great way to get a group started talking on the subject!
ReplyDeleteThis is my 2nd year as a counselor and I am always looking for books to add to my library. This sounds like an awesome book to help with the ever present rumor mill in middle school!
ReplyDeleteThis book is on my "To Buy" list!! I heard about it last year and then saw it on this blog and definitely know I could easily use it with my fourth grade girls groups that I do each year. I'm not a very lucky person... but hoping that changes so I can win this! (haha!)
ReplyDeleteThis would be a great book to have on hand for those times when a rumor does spread around school. I think it would be great to share with girls groups for grades 4th-6th. It seems that it would be engaging and they might learn something! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great book---I would use it in our classes to get our students to think more creatively. We could get them to try to think of other analogies for rumors. If this book uses a balloon string & the lesson uses toothpaste, we could see what ideas they come up with to represent rumors. Then they could create in groups or individually a piece of art making their idea visual for the group. Thanks for all of your great ideas!
ReplyDeleteThis book would work perfectly for my 5th graders. I use the toothpaste activity as well and the kids love it. I also play a game of telephone to really get the students to understand how rumors work. This book would just add to the lesson and would make a great impact.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a wonderful book. I love the fact that it is multicultural and it addresses such an important issue, especially among 4th and 5th graders, RUMORS!! I would use this book while doing my classroom lessons along with the toothpaste demonstration. I think these two tools would be powerful in addressing rumors.
ReplyDeleteWow sounds perfect for my students. My 5th graders (especially girls) struggle with gossip and rumors. I dont have any specific materials to address the issues so a story would be great!!!! I think I may even take a look at your lesson to go with it!
ReplyDeleteThis would be the perfect compliment to lessons for my 5th and 6th grade girls. We have issues with these two groups gossiping and name calling. Your idea of using the toothpaste is awesome!
ReplyDeleteWish I knew of this book before! This book sounds like a must have for my bookshelf! Relational aggression in myy 4th and 5th grade girls has increased in the last few years. I use Mr. Peabody's apples in class with them and many times we use it again during our lunch group, so having another resource would be great! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOthers have already posted about this, but I also think this would be great to use in an older elementary friendship group or even just with a small group of girls just once to help get the conversation going. Another great resource to have in my library... and I love that the children in the book are multicultural. I was just looking at your entries including "art" yesterday and I saw how you used this as a door decoration!
ReplyDeleteI would love to use this with 4th and 5th grade! Each year there are problems with rumors, friendship and gossip and I love that this book shows a physical example of what happens when things start spreading. Students have such a hard time realizing what an impact it has when they spread rumors/gossip about others.
ReplyDeleteI am starting more regular classroom guidance with the older grades in my elementary school this year and this book would be such a great tool! In developing a 'get-along' classroom through the use of community circles, using "The Secret Olivia Told Me" would be a great way to teach/discuss how important and powerful our words are in our community! I would use this book in community circles with 4th and 5th graders, and would definitely use it with my girl groups!
ReplyDeleteI would use this in a GIRLS group! I also would love to have these girls help make a poster for the door like the one posted in your photos!
ReplyDeleteI would love to use this book with 4th 5th and 6th graders to teach how harmful rumors, gossip, and secrets can be to friendships.Learning to be a friend is a skill that all children are learning as they interact at school. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have this book in my library.
ReplyDeleteThis book would be great with my older students, I like the visual aspects of it. I use the toothpaste activity as well, I think they need to be able to visualize it.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great story to tell for all to learn from. I love your idea " rumors and toothpaste" - so creative! I am going to have to steal this. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis would be a Wonderful resource to have on hand when talking with students about rumors! This is a book I've wanted since seeing on your site this summer!
ReplyDeleteI would love to add this book to the ones I use with 4/5 grade girls. There is no end to the girl drama!
ReplyDeleteI just started in an inner-city Elementary school. I am trying to collect all the resources I can and I would love to add this to them! This would be fitting for me, mostly for individual sessions, and when I am asked to do a classroom lesson. It would be a great book for my 5th and 6th graders!
ReplyDeleteRumors and gossip are a huge topic that I deal with at my school (as I am sure most everyone is in the same boat). I would love to use this book with my 4th and 5th grade girls. I also LOVE that it would bring a little diversity into my very rural school with not much diversity!
ReplyDeleteI also use the toothpaste activity. It really makes an impact.like my fellow counselors I would concentrate on my girls small group and work my way out to other 5th graders. I need to prepare better for the cyber bullying link.
ReplyDeleteI shared on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great resource! I would use it in small groups or even in mediation.
ReplyDeleteI am actually about to do the Rumors and Toothpaste lesson for a 5th grade class SOON! I would love to bring this book along with me.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great resource to have. My third and fifth grade students could benefit from this book. I try to rotate through a couple of books on the same topic. My fourth grade classrooms use "trouble talk" to address rumors and spreading lies. This resource would give students more text to self connections. Glad so many counselors have a bookshelf waiting for a resource like this :)
ReplyDelete