Building Character through Literature
A Guide for Middle School Readers
Published on 17. January 2001
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-0-8108-3951-9 (ISBN)
Description
The recurring incidences of school violence have prompted society to ask several questions. Why is this happening? Who is responsible? What can we do to educate children to eliminate the violence? Character education has become a hot topic for parents, educators, and politicians. Building Character through Literature is not a treatise on character education, but a literary guide for parents and educators who have embraced the concept. The book's primary purpose is to introduce novels that show strength of character. It offers guidance for opening a dialogue about character issues through the included texts. While looking for books with strong character traits the authors also sought to include award-winning titles from authors whose general bodies of work have been acclaimed. They include classics such as The Secret Garden, A Wrinkle in Time, and Animal Farm as well as newly acclaimed fiction like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The titles are arranged in alphabetical order and each entry includes awards, author information, and notable vocabulary. The sections involving Character, Setting, and Plot provide an overview of the novel and assist in evaluating its appropriateness for different age groups. Readers will also find stimulating discussion questions and helpful project suggestions. This book is useful for Librarians working with individual children and groups, for teachers leading class exercises or working together, and for parents who want to encourage their children to read.
Reviews / Votes
The book's purpose is worthy and the novels are a good collection to suit boys and girls with different interests, reading ability and maturity. * Orana * This well-organized overview of 50 novels will be a wonderful tool for enabling teachers and librarians to collaborate on units that fulfill multiple instructional goals...A boon to teachers and librarians everywhere. * School Library Journal * This text would be useful to librarians, teachers, and parents who wish to select books appropriate for instruction in character education. * CHOICE * ...an extremely helpful guide for any media specialist or English/literature teacher working with middle or high school teachers...an invaluable tool for booktalks, book reports, and unit/lesson plans. Highly recommended. * The Book Report * ...this is an organized and replicable approach that has a multitude of curriculum and other uses. * The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books * ...These two guides contain a wealth of information and example for middle school teachers and librarians....[these] valuable guides to significant titles are recommended...Each of these book selection aids makes its own unique contribution. * Christian Library Journal * ...useful and topical. * Library Review * ...a highly practical, pedagogical guide for teachers in the classroom and librarians in media centers or other libraries. * Catholic Library World * School librarians and teachers would find this book very useful. Public librarians considering book discussion groups would also benefit from adding this to their collections. * Public Library Quarterly *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Lanham, MD
United States
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
513 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8108-3951-9 (9780810839519)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Rosann Jweid is a retired school library media specialist. She is the Volunteer Consultant to the Northeast Parent and Child Society. Margaret Rizzo is a school library media specialist at O'Rourke Middle School and an adjunct instructor in English composition and literature at Schenectady County Community College. They also co-wrote The Library-Classroom Partnership: Teaching Library Media Skills in Middle and Junior High Schools (Scarecrow Press, 1998).