SEL Read Aloud: The Bad Seed by Jory John
Summary
This is the story of a sunflower seed, who has come to see himself as a bad seed. He does all kinds of things — big and small — that annoy and inconvenience other the seeds. They talk about him behind his back, and he knows it. He used to be a pleasant seed, but was scarred after a series of negative experiences. That was when his bad behaviors started and he began to look at himself differently. He decides to change, but it’s a long, difficult process. He’s starting to do some good behaviors, but he can’t completely stop doing his bad ones — at least not all of the time. He gradually begins to have a new self image, and the other seeds take notice too.
Discussion Questions
- Is there a point when someone does something so bad or so many bad things that it is appropriate to think of them as bad person?
- Who is someone you’ve thought of as bad? What details do you know about their life story? What don’t you know?
- What’s a bad behavior that’s hard for you to stop? Easy to stop?
- What’s a good behavior that’s easy for you start? Hard to start?
- How can we encourage people to be their best selves?
Read Aloud
Additional Resources
Copyright Notice
The image on this page comes from the book The Bad Seed by Jory John. Copyright © 2017 by Jory John.
