Our school has implemented the Positivity Project this school year. Have you heard of P2? Basically it is the idea of encouraging resiliency and empathy in students by helping them see the strengths in themselves and identify the character areas they need to work on. I am skeptical about projects like this--can you TEACH kids to be decent human beings if they don't want to change or their homelife teaches them something completely different? I don't know. But being a teacher in a public school has shown me time and again that something needs to change. We need to TRY.
Do all the good you can
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
--John Wesley
As librarian, I will be putting together lists of books that go along with the 24 character strengths. And as a blogger, I will be forcing my lists upon you. Yay!
At school this week, before we begin highlighting the various character strengths, we will be talking about the Other People Matter mindset.
I am sorting these books by intended audience, but I totally believe that lower elementary books can spark a conversation in high school!
Lower Elementary
We don't eat our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
I am looking forward to reading this one about a dinosaur who has a hard time not eating her human classmates.
Horrible Bear! By Amy Dyckman
Runaway temper, self-absorbed and careless of other people's feelings, this red headed heroine learns to think before acting.
That Neighbor Kid by Daniel Miyares
The importance of friendship and how other people can make our world brighter
Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller
As the title implies, this book explores the ways in which you can be kind and how kindness affects others
The Wolf, The Duck, & The Mouse by Mac Barnett
A wolf learns consideration after swallowing small animals
A Perfect Day by Lane Smith
Animals teach us how our actions and viewpoint affects other people
A Chair for my Mother by Vera Williams
After a fire, Rosa, her mother, and her grandmother work hard to save up money for the perfect chair to rest in
I Walk with Vanessa by Karascoet
A new student is bullied, but finds a friend who will stand (or walk!) by her side.
A Piece of Home by Jeri Watts
Asks students to look at the familiar through the eyes of an immigrant family
Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka
A new kid in the neighborhood finds a friend--The importance of friends
Peace is an Offering by Annette Le Box
What peace can be and what peace can do
Pass it On by Sophy Henn
Shows students the ripple effect of a kind act
Brave Like Me by Barbara Kerley
Some kids live without their parents so that everyone can live a little safer--perfect other people matter material!
Upper Elementary
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
A repeatedly missed opportunity for kindness asks students if it is ever too late to be kind.
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
A classic bullying story gives students the chance to think about being a bystander--could I or should I do more to help others?
Brave Girl by Michelle Markel
Wanting to make things better for her fellow shirtwaist makers, Clara Lemlich creates a union despite enormous obstacles.
Tucky Jo and Little Heart by Patricia Palacco
Based on true events, a Vietnam soldier extends kindness to a local girl and finds his actions coming back to help him years later.
14 Cows For America by Carmen Agra Deedy
After 9/11, the Maasai people of Africa choose 14 of their precious cows to send to America to help America heal from the pain of 9/11.
Middle/High School
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Police brutality asks a community to think about how they interact and view each other
The Girl in the Well is Me by Karen Rivers
Kammie tries to join the popular girl crowd, but that leads to being stuck in a well, so... maybe the popular girls are not the best friends.
A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Setting out to avenge his brother's death, our hero is confronted with the perspectives of those whose lives have been lost in similar ways.
Patina by Jason Reynolds
A middle school girl does everything she can to help her sister, her aunt, her friends--when the unexpected happens, can Patina learn to let other people help her?
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