The Wrong Stone

The Strengths Cafe is an online publishing project sponsored by Innovative Resources.

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• view The Wrong Stone on IR's shop site

In the Mailbag

Dear Innovative Resources,

My name is Dianne Stevens. I am the Chaplain at Haileybury College, Berwick. I work with children between Prep and Year 9. My role includes teaching religious education, leading chapels and providing pastoral care in small group situations and to individuals. I have enjoyed using The Wrong Stone and Captain Grumpy in my role as chaplain.

The Wrong Stone is a great story about the need for us to find ways to make everyone feel as if they are part of the class and the school. I re-wrote the story to present as a play at a Middle School Chapel (Year 5-8). Everyone participated and had at least one line to say. As the students presented the story, I turned the pages of the book.

The book helped students realise that everyone sometimes feels like they are the wrong stone when in fact they are part of a community that cares about them. The book also highlighted the need for the students to look out for other students who might be feeling that they are the wrong stone and to find ways to make them feel included.

Captain Grumpy is a fantastic story. The illustrations really bring the book alive. I have used this book a number of times looking at the theme of friendship. I used the book during a session with Grade Twos. I read the book and then got the students, in groups of four, to discuss how they are a good friend, how they could be a better friend and three things friends like about them. They then divided into pairs and had to do a role play about how you could help turn someone from being grumpy into being happy again. The students came up with a variety of ideas including being a clown, asking them to join in with a group and asking them what they would like to play. The students responded well to the story and shared lots of ideas about ways they can help people to be happy.

I look forward to continuing to use these books in a variety of situations-the power of a story, at any age, can never be underestimated!

Dianne Stevens, Chaplain

Haileybury College, Berwick

In the Classroom with Stones and Happy Pants

Grade 4/5 teacher and author, Bev Harvey, shares some creative ideas for using picture storybook The Wrong Stone to teach some valuable lessons about inclusion, honouring difference and mathematics.

There was a buzz in the classroom that day. It was Literacy and Numeracy Week and they were celebrating in Bev Harvey's Grade 4/5 class at Big Hill Primary School -celebrating with a colourful guest and an exciting new picture book. The guest was part-time pirate (and author, social worker and full-time grandfather) Russell Deal, complete with multi-coloured, pointy-toed suede boots and boldly patterned happy pants. No doubt a few children's eyes boggled as they asked themselves, 'Are adults really allowed to dress like that?'

Thankfully, the answer is 'Yes' and their teacher Bev Harvey matched the colourfulness of her guest with some equally colourful activities for her students. Bev is one of those very special people who fills her work with passion. She is also the award-winning author of 44 books and is particularly well-known for her Aboriginal series written with Sue Briggs as part of the Reading Discovery Collection published by Scholastic Books.

Bev had just picked up a copy of The Wrong Stone (written by Russell and published by Innovative Resources) and decided to call the pirate in from the stormy seas of social work to make the book the focus of her lesson.

This picture book tells a quirky and humorous story that celebrates difference and ends in triumph for one small stone who thought it was the end of the road and the crusher for him! Bev was drawn to the themes of inclusion and difference and decided to create a lesson that built an understanding of these values, while also providing some maths outcomes.

Each student was given a copy of a stone wall jigsaw printed on coloured paper. There were 7 different colours but each student only had one colour. The goal was to create a mosaic of the stone wall using different coloured paper 'stones', BUT the stones sitting next to each other on the wall must be different colours. You could not have a yellow stone touching another yellow stone. This meant that each child needed to swap with others to get a maximum complement of colours.

To begin with Bev asked the children to form into groups, reminding them that the more colours in their group the better. Only three colours (members) in the group were not enough; four were better and five were even better.

'It was such a great thing to do,' said Bev. 'At one point I noticed a child asking if she could join a group. Initially one of the children in the group refused until another child in the group quickly said "Yes, we need them in our group!" It was so good to see the children having the experience that the more people we include, the more we can be enriched and strengthened. There were also valuable lessons in how to share and to care about somebody else's task. And of course, the mathematical challenges were there too.'

We were so impressed with Bev's idea that we have asked her to create some teaching notes for us. We will let you know when these are available. But Bev-here is another idea: What about the mathematical learning outcomes of a mosaic of those happy pants?

'Struggle for Acceptance,' Bendigo Advertiser, 9 November 2002.

"The Wrong Stone is a heart-warming tale of a wrong stone's struggle to find acceptance within his peer group of stones.

When a stonemason is employed to build a wall with only perfect stones, the wrong stone's self-belief is tested while he watches the stones around him be selected for the job.

When all seems lost, he discovers he has been saved for the most important job of all and realises it's OK to be different and, more importantly, that he can make a difference.

The book is a stunning debut for the Bendigo author Russell Deal and the themes of acceptance and self-belief are cleverly portrayed in this simply, yet effective story.

The book carries on from the success of St Luke's strength cards and gives parents, grandparents and teachers a valuable resource to encourage discussion with their children or class.

Beautifully presented with emotive illustrations, the book is also packed with hidden extras to keep young children engaged.

A tiny mouse and lizard are hidden on each page for children to find and each page also features well-known sayings involving stone.

Not only will the story capture your heart, it will capture all those to whom you read it.

Proceeds from sales go back into St Luke's Bendigo to help the community.

The Wrong Stone is available at the Innovative Resources store in McCrae Street."

Mark Smith

The Rocky Road to Success

The once amiable pile of stones in the stonemason's yard is thrown into disarray the day the big architect arrived to order a stone wall to be built. Because of his odd shape, the wrong stone was ignored, ridiculed and felt concerned that he was destined for the crusher. But in fact, the stonemason had other plans.

The Wrong Stone has a contemporary message based on an old biblical story. Who are the people who resemble the wrong stone who live in our communities? Who are these folk who struggle with disadvantage, disability and discrimination? Who are those who are overlooked, left out and treated as second class?

The Wrong Stone is a metaphor of hope and justice that simply says that every person has a place of significance in our society. Now in its second printing, The Wrong Stone has been read in churches, turned into several school plays and a musical, provided a novel mathematics activity, and been read in countless classrooms and counselling sessions.

Highly adaptable and interpretable The Wrong Stone demonstrates the power of a metaphor that balances playfulness and soulfulness.