Pa Lia's First Day: A Jackson Friends Book

It's a simple chapter book about a girl going to a new school. I'm reading it to my 3rd grade ESL class and they love it. They can relate to it very well and it opens up a lot of good conversation about different feelings.

"Pa Lia's First Day" is a great beginning-of-the-year story for primary students. This is particularly true if you are lucky enough to have Hmong students. My class, which is usually about half Hmong, always gets excited that the book has a Hmong name in it and one of the main characters is Hmong. Why? Because it is extremely unusual. By the time they reach me, they've read many books with quite traditional names, but often have never read a book that has a name similar to their name.Besides, and equally important, it's a great book to start the year off with. The story is about being new in the school and how Pa Lia feels about her situation.Great book!

On her first day in a new school Pa Lia couldn't find her classroom, was knocked down by a bully, and got into trouble for passing notes. She felt alone and was afraid she wouldn't make new friends. My E.S.L. students really related to Pa Lia's feelings of being alone. This book makes an outstanding focal point for a thematic unit on friendship or on feelings. It provides a springboard for class discussions on how it feels to be the new student in a class . The figurative language in this book is especially beautiful and was well illustrated by author/illustrator Michelle Edwards.