One text I use to teach about diversity is Everybody Cooks Rice by Norah Dooley. In this story, a young girl visits all her neighbors’ home, and sees that everyone is making rice for dinner, only they’re doing so in …
A conversation with Martin Luther on responsibility, beginning with his famous quote, “You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say,” will raise core questions for students, who are frequently faced with …
The Giver, by Lois Lowry, has become a standard in middle school classrooms. I would ask the question “How do we know when we should take risks?” towards the end of the novel to lead students in a discussion about …
Emerging research about the psychology behind altruism offer an interesting lens through which students can examine the happiness attained throughout selflessness. I would start this lesson by discussing the Booker T. Washington conversation about happiness, and ask students to share …
I love to use Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to teach students about the happiness derived from helping and serving others. This is a great unit to teach around the holidays, if culturally appropriate, and to even include film clips …
Young readers love to experience the children’s classic “Not a Box” by Antoinette Portis as a read-aloud in class. This book provides a fun and easy-to-understand example of the value of critical thinking and creativity. I would use the Socrates’ …
Before having students read Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau (or an excerpt), I would start a discussion using the conversation about responsibility from Dr. Seuss. This discussion will get students thinking about the role of the individual and how …
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles is a captivating telling of courage of a young girl who was escorted to school by federal marshals to stake her claim to a free education. Ruby Bridges was that girl and …
In Norma Jean, Jumping Bean the main character is a young kangaroo who must learn to follow rules. When she gets in trouble for jumping, she resolves to never jump again. By the end of the story, she has the …
Most students will understand the theme of hardship after a study of John Steinbeck’s classic The Grapes of Wrath, set during the Great Depression. During the reading of the novel, there are many points where I would stop and use …
Theodore Roethke states, “In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” Does suffering disillusion, or does it reveal? Is there a choice? When still young, Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped and enslaved, educated and published as a poet (after 17 …
I would use the book Walking for My Life, written by Jennifer Dewey, to teach students about the ways in which suffering can help a person become more knowledgeable and understanding. In this story, the narrator walks through the desert …
