About the Author R.J. Palacio
WONDER tells the incredibly inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.
Questions:
Based on the summary of the book, what do you think Auggie might look like?
What might be the intention of having Auggie's face on a poster that says, "choose kind'?
Meet Auggie
Children with facial difference have a lot to teach us about body image
The recently released film Wonder is based on the true story of Auggie, a boy born with a severe facial deformity. The film picks up at the point where Auggie, having been home-schooled by his mother, attends a regular school for the first time and must negotiate the varied reactions – not just of his new peers, but of their parents and the other adults.
Auggie was born with Treacher Collins syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects the development of the skull, jaw and cheekbones and causes facial defects and hearing loss. People can be born with facial differences, or they can be acquired through trauma, burns or treatment of facial tumours.

Meet Nathaniel Newman
Facial Differences
More than two million Canadians are living with a facial difference. A facial difference refers to anyone whose appearance, from the neck and above, has been affected by a congenital, acquired, or episodic condition or syndrome
Common Conditions that May Result in a Facial Difference
  • – Car accidents
  • – Burns
  • – Cleft lip/palette
  • – Hemangioma
  • – Down’s Syndrome
  • – Bell’s Palsy
  • – Treacher-Collins Syndrome
  • – Tumor

Stigma
  • – Stares and comments are frequent
  • – Teasing and bullying is often experienced by those with facial differences
  • – People frequently falsely assume a person with a facial difference is also mentally disabled, especially if she needs a hearing aid or other help
  • – Society’s obsession with physical appearance can result in low self-esteem and poor body image in people, especially teens, that have facial differences
  • – In some cultures, a facial difference such as a cleft lip literally marks a child as cursed or evil, resulting in banishment from families or towns
  • – Research of 185 adolescents with facial differences showed that 35% of them and 47% of their mothers noticed people staring at their face in the previous week – In the same study, 20% said they were teased in the previous month for how their face looks
Meet Jono Lancaster
pre·cept ˈprēˌsept/
noun
plural noun: precepts

a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought.
"moral precepts"
synonyms: principle, rule, tenet, canon, doctrine, command, order, decree, dictate, dictum, injunction, commandment;
“We carry within us the wonders we seek around us.” – Sir Thomas Browne
“No man is an island, entire of itself.” – John Donne
“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.” – Henry James
“Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit when there’s footprints on The Moon.” – Paul Brandt
“Just be who you want to be, not what others want to see.” – Unknown
“There is no shame in not knowing. The shame lies in not finding out,” – Assyrian proverb
“To be loved, be lovable.” – Ovid
“The smile is the shortest distance between two persons.” – Victor Borge
“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” – Thomas Jefferson
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react that matters.” – Epictetus
“Be the person who can smile on the worst day.” – Cate
“The man who moves a mountain must start by moving small stones.” – Chinese proverb
“He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.” – Jonathan Swift
“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson
“You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can be grateful because thorn bushes have roses.” – Ziggy (Tom Wilson)
“It’s not the load that breaks you down. It’s the way you carry it.” – C.S. Lewis
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” – Robert Byrne
“Making a million friends is not a miracle…the miracle is to make such a friend who can stand with you when millions are against you.” – Unknown
“Life is like an ice-cream cone; you have to lick it one day at a time.” – Charles M. Schulz

Question:
Record some of your own precepts
Picture
Questions:
What do you think might be going on in this image?
How do you think the boy with the back pack might be feeling? Explain your answer.
Questions:
In your opinion, what is the meaning of this precept?
How might this precept be used to write a new script for the picture shown above.