For our last inclusive pod project of 2020 we let the third graders write their own version of the traditional tale, Stone Soup.
Spoiler alert: It barely involves a stone and even if you squint your eyes it does not really follow the Stone Soup narrative arch.
In this tale, an FBI Agent/British Investigator comes back to his old town to visit the restaurant where he used to work, run by the Carrot Brothers. These are played by actual carrots with faces drawn on them. One version of the Carrot Brothers included clothes, but those carrots began to rot before filming began. On his return from his FBI/ British Investigator work he is met by the rude Chugga Chugga Choo Choo family who promptly tells him to get out of town and calls him rude names like Hobo Pants. The family includes Mama, who is also a Detective/Night Watch-woman, a brother named Chubs McNubs, a sister, a father, and two birds who are just as rude as the rest of the family.
As a part of our schedule in our inclusive pod, we begin each session with a group meeting where we review the day’s message, talk about the date, and review our plans for the day. At the end of this meeting I give each grade level a math challenge based on what we are learning. Right now, the first graders are working on identifying coins, so we’ve been counting coins. The third graders have to count a mix of change, tell me the amount and also identify how much more money they need until they get to one dollar. The first graders have to count one group of coins (pennies, nickels, dimes – not mixed) and tell me how much there is.
Last week I only touched the surface of the benefits my own children have gotten from participating in the inclusive pod. Shortly after I wrote, we experienced this moment, which confirmed everything I believe in the value of inclusive settings. 
It is November, which means I am thinking about what I am grateful for. This fall I realize that one of my greatest areas of thankfulness is that my own children have been included in the Augmentative Learning Program Study (ALPS) Inclusive Pod hosted by Joey’s Foundation. While I have always been pleased when my children were placed in inclusion classrooms in their elementary school, this feels like a completely different opportunity. 
Our Augmentative Learning Program Study (ALPS) performed their first Readers’ Theater! 
