DOCUMENT RESUME ED 464 362 CS 511 101 TITLE Developing Character through Literature: A Teacher's Resource Book. INSTITUTION ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication, Bloomington, IN.; Family Learning Association, Bloomington, IN. SPONS AGENCY Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. ISBN ISBN-0-9719874-3-2 PUB DATE 2002-05-00 NOTE 187p. CONTRACT ED-99-CO-0028 AVAILABLE FROM ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication, Indiana University, 2805 E. 10th Street, Suite 140, Bloomington, IN 47408-2698. Family Learning Association, 3925 Hagan St., Suite 101, Bloomington, IN 47401 (Order # 180-2199, $19.95). Tel: 800-759-4723 (Toll Free); Fax: 812-331-2776; Web site: http://kidscanlearn.com. PUB TYPE Guides - Classroom - Teacher (052) -- ERIC Publications (071) -- Reference Materials - Bibliographies (131) EDRS PRICE MFOl/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Adolescent Literature; Annotated Bibliographies; *Childrens Literature; *Citizenship Education; Concept Formation; Elementary Secondary Education; *Individual Development; Learning Activities; *Values Education IDENTIFIERS *Character Development; Character Education; Family Activities; *Trade Books ABSTRACT Based on the idea that the most important foundation of education is character development, this book guides teachers and parents in building strong character traits while reading and discussing popular books. Children's books and young adult books draw students into discussions that can lead to action and to personal development. Thoughtful teachers and parents can ,use that literature and the activities suggested in.this book as a means of bringing their children to the commitments that will gradually form character traits and citizenship attitudes that everyone is proud to acknowledge. The units in the book stand for the most commonly described topics in character education: responsibility, honesty, integrity, respect, living peaceably, caring, civility, and the golden rule. Each unit in the book begins with a brief essay about the selected trait, followed by teaching suggestions, classroom resources, parent activities and Web sites, annotated student booklists, student Web sites, teacher Web sites, and an ERIC .annotated bibliography. By reading the initial essay in each unit and selecting one of the activities or discussion suggestions, a teacher could begin work on the trait featured in that unit. A comparison of common core of beliefs as identified by selected programs and organizations is appended. (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Devel opi ng Character Through Literature A 'Ileacher's Resource Book ERIC and the Family Learning Assocation Evelyn Holt Otten - Consultant Indiana Department of Education FAMILY LEARNING ASSOCIATION 3 Developing Character Through Literature A Teacher’s Resource Book Published by ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication Indiana University, 2805 East 10th Street, Suite 140 Bloomington, Indiana 47408-2698 Carl B. Smith, Director and The Family Learning Association 3925 Hagan Street, Suite 101 Bloomington, IN 4740 1 Copyright 02002 by The Family Learning Association Copy Editor: Darra Ellis Production Editor and Cover Illustration: Neal Stepp This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under contract number ED-99-CO-0028. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial prod- ucts, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. ERIC (an acronym for Educational Resources Information Center) is a national network of 16 clearinghous- es, each of which is responsible for building the ERIC database by identifying and abstracting various educa- tional resources, including research reports, curriculum guides, conference papers, journal articles, and gov- ernment reports. The Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication (ERIC/REC) collects educa- tional information specifically related to reading, English, journalism, speech, and theater at all levels. ERIC/REC also covers interdisciplinary areas such as media studies, reading and writing technology, mass communication, language arts, critical thinking, literature, and many aspects of literacy. 4 Acknowledgements This book comes from the minds and hearts of many people. We want to thank all those who encour- aged us and who gave us ideas along the way. Though we may not mention you by name, please know that we are grateful for your comments and for the gentle nudges that you gave us in the development of this guidebook on character development. Evelyn Holt Otten deserves special recognition here because' we used her basic concepts and features in constructing this resource book. She wrote most of the introductory essays and guided us throughout the process of collecting materials and resources that will help teachers and parents. Joanne Weddle took on the difficult task of writing the essay for the unit on faith-based programs. She included in her final draft the comments of several people who helped us sort out the question of how to open class discussions of the personal principles that guide children as they shape their characters. Don Wigal wrote an extensive review and gave thoughtful guidance for the faith-based programs chapter. He was . instrumental in the inclusion of reminders that classrooms need to be open to multi-faith and multi-philoso- phies in discussing the principles that help people develop their characters. Vera Frye found and wrote copy for the sections on heroes and lesson ideas. These features make it con- venient for teachers and parents to show examples of a character trait as expressed in actual historical person- alities and for developing actions that help children put the trait into practice. Vera's considerable invest- ment in this character education effort puts us deep in her debt. Mei-Yu Lu, our resident expert on chil- dren's books, compiled the list of books and their summaries that will help teachers and parents choose from among the many options that are available on each character trait. Steve Stroup and his highly professional research staff gathered the research and the numerous websites that are significant resources for each chapter. Neal Stepp as book designer and Darra Ellis as text organizer and copy editor provide us with the attrac- tive and easy-to-read format that makes us all proud to send this book to the many people who have been asking for it. Judy Stark, our Federal project monitor, has offered meticulous and helpful editorial comments that make this a more valuable book to all who use it. Even after all of us on the writing and editorial team have finished, Judy fine tunes our work and makes all of us look better because she participates in the process. Our book advisors - Leo Fay, Jane Henson, John Patrick, Joanne Weddle, Evelyn Holt Otten, and Amy Eldridge - gave us a sense of direction with specific suggestions on how to make this a useful guide- book.To all these fine people, we say thank you and hope that you are as pleased as we are with the results. It is a better book because of you, and the readers know better than to blame you for printed ideas with which they might disagree. Thank you. Carl B. Smith 5 Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Responsibility .......................................................... 1 2. Honesty ................................................................. 27 3. Integrity ................................................................. 45 4. Respect .................................................................. 61 5. Living Peaceably .................................................... 79 6. Caring ................................................................... 99 7. Civility and School Climate ................................ 115 8. The Golden Rule ................................................. 139 9. Faith-Based Initiatives .......................................... 153 Appendices .............................................................. 169 Index ....................................................................... 173 6 Developing Character Through Literature A Teacher’s Resource Book Introduction: Literature and Character Development We do not suggest that children’s literature or reading stories leads directly to character development. Ordinarily fiction does not intend to teach some- thing specific, such as, being honest pays dividends. Yet, I dare say, many of us have found books that helped us to grow, that pushed us to rethink our views, perhaps even brought about a change in our standards-in other words, the books influenced our character and helped to make us the person we are today. Representing human struggles and feelings Content and Sensitive Issues is an essential part of good story telling. This book looks at the same traits or cate- Whether told in the books of young children or gories that appear frequently in other work relat- of adults, stories give the reader the vicarious ed to character education. Under each of the experience of living through the trials and the categories you will find book summaries for ele- thrills of characters in a book. With reflection, mentary, middle, and secondary students. The the reader can decide how he or she personally selected books have been chosen from standard would have responded to the