Integrating Social Studies and Bibliotherapy (Character Education) into ELA

Recently I was blessed to present a PD with two wonderful women. One of which is a school counselor and the other is a general education teacher like myself.  We collaborated together to bring our expertise in curriculum to one place so that teachers can integrate their curriculum through a meaningful yet simple way.  I'm including some of the slides from the presentation here along with our explanations so that teachers all over can benefit from our work.

The following slide was written to fit in with our district's guidelines.  If it doesn't work for yours, feel free to disregard.

The above professional development book is awesome for integrating bibliotherapy into the classroom.  Mrs. Gruener has a ton of examples and suggestions for books and lessons in the classroom.

The slides below are different books that we discussed integrating into shared reading for bibliotherapy.

Social Studies is near and dear to my heart.  We didn't include book slides because we had numerous examples in the room.  Below are some of the suggestions that we gave.

Citizenship

ELECTRONICS:  But It’s Just A Game, By Julia Cook

WORRYING AND ANXIETY:  Wilma Jean The Worry Machine, By Julia Cook, Wendell the Worrier, by Jill Donahue

MAKING MISTAKES: The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes, by Mark Pett, Oops! My Bad…A Kids Guide to Making Mistakes, by Tracy Bryan, Beautiful Oops!, Barney Saltzberg

ATTITUDE:  Battitude by Julia Cook

LYING:  Lying Up A Storm by Julia Cook, Superman: Fighting for the Truth, by Donald Lemke and Ethen Beavers

CONFLICT RESOLUTION:  The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill

SERVICE: Crash! By Mayra Calvani, Loving Marley by Donald and Sara Hassler and Good News Nelson by Jodi Moore

Clara Barton

Native Americans and their love for the Earth

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Colonial America

PERSERVANCE: Henry Ford, Thomas Edison

Immigration

EMPATHY:Harvesting Hope: The story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull, The Whispering Town by Jennifer Elvgren

John Howard Griffin, Patricia Moore, Jane Adams

DIVERSITY, CULTURE AND DIFFERENCES:  Spaghetti In A Hot Dog Bun, by Kimberly Shaw-Peterson, Don’t Laugh At Me, by Steve Sesking, Chocolate Milk Por Favor by Maria Desmandy

Citizenship, American Symbols

RESPECT: Hey Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose, One by Kathryn Otoshi and Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage to Be Who You Are by Maria Dismondy

Jane Goodall, Rosa Parks

HONESTY: Sarah’s Little Ghosts by Thiery Robberecht, Ruthie and the (Not So) Teeny, Tiny Lie by Laura Rankin,

Abraham Lincoln

ENTHUSIASM: Incredible You! and Unstoppable Me! By Dr. Wayne Dryer

Bessie Coleman, Mae Jemison

Economics

RESPONSIBILITY: Squawking Matilda by Lisa Horstman

Community Helpers

Government

OBEDIENCE: What if Everybody Did That? By Ellen Javernick

Service Dogs

ENCOURAGEMENT: Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes and Go Away Worries! by Michelle White.

Nelson Mandela

SELF-DISCIPLINE: Verdi by Janell Cannon, Big Anthony and the Magic Ring by Tomie dePaola, The Stonecutter by Gerald McDermott, Yertle the Turtle, Bartholomew and the Oobleck and Gertrude McFuzz by Dr. Seuss

Frederick Douglas, Helen Keller, Temple Grandin