The One and Only Delaney

• Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily
• Good, Better, and Best
• Fish and Snails and Crabs and Whales
• Dear Parents

Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily

One morning, Miss Sparks invites Delaney to the front of the class to show off her skirt. Delaney skips to the front, and twirls. The skirt has musical notes on it. And Delaney loves music because it makes people happy. Logan and Skylar confirm that Delaney is always humming, whistling, or singing.

Miss Sparks sits at the piano and asks Delaney what her favorite song is. She answers with “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Miss Sparks begins to play the song, and all the children join in singing it. Spencer pretends he’s rowing a boat, and then soon all the children are rowing merrily down the stream.

  Row, row, row your boat.
  Gently down the stream.
  Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
  Life is but a dream.

Miss Sparks’ glasses glitter. Delaney is right, music can make people happy! Miss Sparks asks the children what creatures live in the sea they’re rowing to. The class discusses fish, crabs, and seabirds, snails, seahorses, and whales. Miss Sparks shows the children how there’s gray whales, black whales, and blue whales. And they’re all different sizes. The words big, bigger, and biggest can be used to describe size, same with small, smaller, and smallest.

Soon, the class will be given the opportunity to do a presentation to other classes. They can talk about sea creatures! The students will be able to do something about a different type of sea creature. Students can recite poems, show a drawing, or talk about or pretend to be their creature.

Delaney raises her hand. She wants to do her presentation about whales! Avery and Skylar volunteer to help her. Miss Sparks smiles, and says some whales hum, whistle, or sing, just like Delaney! And then, Miss Sparks starts to play Delaney’s favorite song again, and Delaney sings the loudest of everyone.

Good, Better, and Best

Later that day, the three girls sit down together to read some books about whales. At first, Delaney hums happily while reading. But then, her book gets harder to read, and she can’t hum at the same time. Delaney glances over at Skylar, who doesn’t seem to be struggling to read her book at all. Delaney asks Skylar if they can trade books, since Delaney’s book is too hard for her. They do trade books, but Delaney is surprised to find that Skylar’s book is even harder than hers was!

Delaney glances over at Avery’s book. Avery’s book is the hardest of all! Delaney always thought she was a good reader, but now she doesn’t know what to do or think. Now she’s comparing herself to Skylar and Avery. Sadly, Delaney states that she’s not a very good reader. Perhaps she should choose something else for the presentation.

Hallie overhears, and invites Delaney to come work with them. Lindy and Hallie are busy drawing pictures of seabirds. Delaney goes over, and offers to draw a seagull. At first, Delaney is whistling happily when she draws. But then she realizes: her drawing doesn’t look very pretty. She looks over at Lindy’s drawing of a duck. It’s very pretty. She looks at Hallie’s drawing of a pelican. It’s the prettiest of all. Delaney doesn’t know what to do. She always thought she was good at drawing. But now she’s comparing herself to Lindy and Hallie.

Delaney stands up, saying she’ll do something else for the presentation. Connor invites her to come work with him and Gwen. They’re going to demonstrate how a crab walks.

Delaney tries to walk like a crab, but she finds she’s not very good at that either. Both Connor and Gwen can walk sidewalks much faster than Delaney. Delaney stands up again, searching for something else to do.

Logan says she, Spencer, and Nathan are writing funny poems about seahorses, snails, and fish. Delaney thanks Logan for the offer, but she says she’s not funny like they all are. Sadly, Delaney sits down on the piano bench, letting out a big sigh.

Miss Sparks comes over and asks Delaney what she’ll be doing for the presentation. Delaney responds “Nothing.”

Fish and Snails and Crabs and Whales

When Miss Sparks asks Delaney why she isn’t doing anything, she blurts out that she can’t read as well as Skylar and Avery. She can’t draw as well as Hallie and Lindy. She can’t move as fast as Connor and Gwen. And she’s not as funny as Logan, Nathan, and Spencer. Miss Sparks understands. Delaney comparing herself to the other students has made her very sad. But, Miss Sparks knows of something she does better than anyone else… Delaney is the best at being the one and only Delaney!

Every day, Delaney is humming, whistling, or singing. She loves music, and she loves to share music with everybody. And that makes everybody happy. Delaney ponders on this. Suddenly, she has an idea for the presentation.

A few days later, it’s finally time for the presentation about sea creatures. The whole class is excited. Students from other classes join them in their classroom for the presentation, too.

First, Avery and Skylar tell their interesting facts about whales. Then Hallie and Lindy show their pretty drawings about sea birds. Next, Connor and Gwen demonstrate the crab walk. After that, Logan, Nathan, and Spencer tell their poems, riddles, and jokes. Lastly, Delaney stands up with a tambourine. Delaney explains the whole class is going to sing a song. Delaney changed the lyrics to a song everybody knows! Miss Sparks begins to play “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” and the students sing:

  Row, row, row your boat.
  Look and you will see.
  Fish and snails and
  Crabs and whales,
  Swimming in the sea.

Everybody bursts into applause. They all begin to sing the normal lyrics, too. Everybody is smiling and singing together. Delaney is thrilled everyone is so happy, but she is happiest that she’s being herself, the one and only Delaney.

Dear Parents

Discusses how each child is one-of-a-kind, but children sometimes compare themselves to others and feel they’re coming up short. There are ways to try to show children that everybody is different. Topics include:

• Asking them to draw something different
• Asking them to compare themselves to other things, like different instruments or colors, and show how none of them are inferior to others
• Showcase different ways family members do the same thing
• Help your child discover the way they learn best
• Praise traits underlying their child’s talents
• Discourage “being the best” thinking
• Encourage your child to share their gifts with others