Stories can help children to develop into responsible, caring and contributing citizens.
Use the activities for each book below to teach good character traits like kindness, self-control and perseverance to your students.
To view all the books chosen and to see all the tips and activities suggested for each book, visit the Reading Into Character Section on the First Book Marketplace.
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes
This story models self-control: being able to deny your short-term impulses in order to stay focused and pursue what is really important
Lilly loved school, until her teacher took away her fabulous movie star sunglasses, her three shiny quarters and her brand new purple plastic purse.
Ask these questions after reading the story:
- Lilly wants to show off her new things, even though she knows it’s not the right time. Why do you think is it so hard to wait when you’re excited?
- Even though Lilly loves Mr. Slinger, she is furious with him for taking away her things. Why is she so angry? Should she be angry?
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman written by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by David Diaz
This story models resilience and perseverance: honoring your word and your intentions by working hard toward an important goal, despite setbacks and challenges
A small and sickly child, Wilma Rudolph wore a heavy brace on her leg when she was a little girl, but she grew up to win three Olympic gold medals for running.
Try this activity to learn more about resilient athletes:
Who are today’s women’s sports stars? Ask your students to choose their favorite female champions in track, basketball, tennis, soccer, and more. Research their lives. Create a Women’s Sports Hall of Fame for your classroom.
Those Shoes written by Maribeth Boelts, illustrated by Noah Z. Jones
This story models kindness and compassion: valuing others so much that you show them respect and offer help to them as a way of honoring their value
Like all the other boys in school, Jeremy wants black high tops with two white stripes. But when he finally gets a pair, he realizes that he needs to give them away.
Try this activity to practice kindness and compassion:
Investigate local charities that welcome donations of good-as-new clothing, toys, books, or other useful items. Be sure to play close attention to their donation guidelines. If feasible, organize a class- or school-wide donation drive.
Developed as a joint project with Character.org and with generous support from Disney, each hand-picked book in the Reading Into Character section is paired with a FREE downloadable tip sheet.
The post Teaching Good Character with Books appeared first on First Book Blog.
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The loveable dinosaurs from HOW DO DINOSAURS etc.
But then I am a bit biased.
Jane
I’ll second Jane’s dinos, and offer up Mr. Putter and Tabby, the series by Cynthia Rylant and Arthur Howard. I think they’d be totally wonderful in a t.v. series.
xoK
Mo WIllem’s Elephant & Piggy, SkippyJon Jones, Ladybug Girl, Fancy Nancy. There’s also a slew of middle grade books that would be perfect for tv: Franny K. Stein, Ricky Ricotta, Lunch Lady, My Weird School.
Rotten Ralph by Jack Gantos/Nicole Rubel; The House on East 88th Street (the first Lyle, Lyle Crocodile) by Bernard Waber, and BINK & GOLLIE by Kate DiCamillo & Alison McGhee
They have made a Frances tv show. http://www.nickjr.com/parenting/flicks_for_kids/ffk-bedtime-for-frances.jhtml
There’s actually a CGI production of Frances by the Jim Henson company, which should have known better.
I second Lunch Lady–what a hoot!