It's Storybook Sunday!

With the New Year approaching later this week, I have decided to focus on storybooks that teach will teach our children some lessons that will help make 2009 their best year yet! - Stories about:

• being a good citizen



• teamwork



• understanding and appreciating the feelings of others
  

As a substitute teacher being in and out of classes at all grade levels, all the time I see instances where students are being teased, picked on, left out, or being singled out because they are different. Starting at an early age, children need to understand that while they may not like everyone, they need to respect everyone. After all, isn't being different what makes us all individuals? By teaching our children about being a good citizen, the importance of teamwork and the understanding and appreciation of others' feelings, respect of others will come more naturally to today's children.

Using their typical writing styles, Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell again try to show kids what it means to be a good person – stopping to help others, trying your best… Teaching a character education lesson, Is There Really a Human Race would be a good opener at the beginning of the school year to introduce the concept of cooperative learning, hard work and good citizenship.

Lesson Plans/Book Activities:
http://www.character.org/site/c.gwKUJhNYJrF/b.2453581/k.4274/Lesson_Plan__Cross_Bayou_Elementary.htm
http://www.jamieleecurtisbooks.com/classroom_humanrace.html
http://www.jamieleecurtisbooks.com/ihtbfpdfs/HumanRace-Maze.pdf



Today's third review is of Jane Yolen's Raising Yoder's Barn. Yolen attempts to show the relationship among members in a tight knit Amish community is a success in Raising Yoder’s Barn. A lighting bolt hits the barn of one Amish family, burning it to the ground. This story will show children that hard work and teamwork pays off, as the Amish community pulls together to “raise” the family a new barn so they can continue on with their lifestyle.





And the third review for today is When Sophie Gets Angry - Really, Really Angry... This book focuses on Sophie, a little girl, who experiences the same emotions as other humans. Sophie gets angry because one of her toys is taken and she trips over another. A variety of actions are taken on Sophie’s part as she works to overcome her anger. This book would fit in well when teaching about feelings to early elementary students.

Lesson Plans/Book Activities:
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/SSOLAAnger-WhenSophiaGetsAngryBookP2.htm
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/bang2.htm
http://pd.ilt.columbia.edu/projects/exsel/teachers/teacherslessons3.htm