Building Character with True Stories from Nature

by Barbara A. Lewis

This flexible resource combines character education with analogies to powerful stories from nature. The heart of each of the book’s twenty-five lessons is an engaging story, written to kids, describing a particular animal or plant and its distinctive qualities. Busy classroom teachers will like this book’s accessibility and flexibility. Kids can read a story individually or in groups, or follow along as the teacher reads it aloud.

Accompanying each story, teachers will find several activities—most of them quick, easy, and requiring few supplies—that further investigate animals or plants and the connections between their qualities and human behaviors. Every lesson examines several main character traits, providing starting points and sample questions for discussing and exploring analogies between events in nature and human acts of character. Features include a chart cross-referencing lessons to specific character traits and a list of further resources.

Digital content contains all of the book’s reproducible forms, including a color photo of each plant and animal, plus a complete bonus lesson.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Barbara A. Lewis is a national award-winning author and educator who teaches kids how to think and solve real problems. Her students at Jackson Elementary School in Salt Lake City, Utah, initiated the cleanup of hazardous waste, improved sidewalks, planted thousands of trees, and fought crime. They instigated and pushed through several state laws and an amendment to a national law, garnering 10 national awards, including two President's Environmental Youth Awards, the Arbor Day Award, the Renew America Award, and Pledge and a Promise Environmental Award. They have also been recognized in the Congressional Record three times.

Barbara has been featured in/on many national newspapers, magazines, and news programs, including Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, Family Circle, CBS This Morning, CBS World News, and CNN. She has also written many articles and short stories for national magazines. Her books for Free Spirit Publishing — What Do You Stand For? For Kids; What Do You Stand For? For Teens; The Kid's Guide to Social Action; Kids with Courage; The Kid's Guide to Service Projects; The Teen Guide to Global Action; and The Survival Guide for Teachers of Gifted Kids — have won Parenting's Reading Magic Award and been named "Best of the Best for Children" by the American Library Association, among other honors.

Barbara has lived in Indiana, New Jersey, Switzerland, Belgium, Utah, and Poland. She and her husband, Larry, currently reside in Park City, Utah. They have four children: Mike, Andrea, Chris, and Sam; five perfect grandchildren; and a forest of shy deer, a bold moose, busy squirrels, and feathered friends.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I WAS A VERY LUCKY GOOD READS FIRST READS WINNER OF THIS BOOK. what a wonderful educational book. it has many stories of animals and plants and what they contribute to the world. I loved the stories i read. especially the story about pigs, Penguins, dogs, dolphins. and so many more. each story is educational. at the end of each story there are projects for the children to do. discussion group questions. A CD Rom comes with the book so you can download projects etc. this book would be a terrific contribution to any classroom. it has so much to offer on learning about animals and plants. and looks like a lot of fun.!!I look forward to reading this book to kids and working on projects. Barbara A. Lewis has a real talent for finding projects that can be used in a classroom that are fun and educational.