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CHARACTER COUNTS!

Cooperation
Book recommendations for character education from The Teachers' Place

Elementary School

Alligator Arrived With Apples: A Potluck Alphabet Feast
by Crescent Dragonwagon
When mouse brings a mocha mousse and elephant brings an elderberry elixir, how can Thanksgiving dinner be anything but wonderful? Bright illustrations make this a cheerful alphabet read-aloud.

Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti
by Gerald McDermott
In trying to determine which of his six sons to reward for saving his life, Anansi the Spider is responsible for placing the moon in the sky.

Away is a Strange Place to Be
by H.M. Hoover
When she is kidnapped from the Earth in 2349 to serve as slave labor on an artificial world under construction, twelve-year-old Abby must cooperate with her fellow prisoner Bryan, a spoiled rich boy, in order to plan an escape.

Big Pumpkin
by Erica Silverman
Friendly creatures of the night-- ghost, vampire, mummy and bat, try to help a witch harvest a huge pumpkin to make a delicious pie. Much repetition to charm preschoolers and kindergartners.

Brer Tiger and the Big Wind
by William J. Faulkner
Clever Brer Rabbit finds a way to teach the greedy Brer Tiger a lesson.

City Green
by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan
Neighborhood residents turn a vacant lot into a community garden.

Cricket and the Crackerbox Kid
by Alane Ferguson
Pampered eleven-year-old rich kid Cricket thinks she has finally found a friend in Dominic, who lives in the low-income houses called crackerboxes, until they quarrel over ownership of a dog and their classroom becomes a courtroom to decide who is right.

Everybody Wins!: Non-Competitive Games for Young Children
by Jody L. Blosser
Games that teach cooperation, not competition.

Family Pictures
by Carmen Lomas Garza
The author describes, in bilingual text and illustrations, her experiences growing up in a Hispanic community in Texas.

Fire Came to the Earth People: A Dahomean Folktale
by Susan L. Roth
The earth animals fail in every attempt to capture fire from the selfish moon god Mawu, until Chameleon and Tortoise combine their talents and help bring light and warmth to the newly-created earth.

How Iwariwa the Cayman Learned to Share
by George Crespo
The animals in the Amazon rainforest find a way to trick Iwariwa the cayman into sharing the fire he uses to cook his food.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
by Robert C. O'Brien
Having no one to help her with her problems, a widowed mouse visits the rats whose former imprisonment in a laboratory made them wise and long lived.

Stone Soup, An Old Tale
by Marcia Brown
Three hungry soldiers slyly convince the stingy villagers that sharing their bounty is better than hoarding it.

The Cooperative Sports & Games Book: Challenge without Competition
by Terry Orlick
The idea behind this book is simple: people should play together, not against each other. To show you how enjoyable (and challenging) that can be, Terry Orlick has created and collected over one hundred brand-new games based on cooperation, not competition, with the perfect one for every occasion.

The Garden of Happiness
by Erika Tamar
Marisol and her neighbors turn a vacant New York City lot into a lush community garden.

The Mice Who Lived in a Shoe
by Rodney Peppe
A mouse family living in mortal dread of cat decides to build a safe and secure house through cooperative effort.

The Seven Chinese Brothers
by Margaret Mahy
Seven Chinese brothers elude execution by virtue of their extraordinary individual qualities.

Twenty and Ten
by Claire Huchet Bishop
Twenty school children hide ten Jewish children from the Nazis during the occupation of France during World War II.

Middle and High School

From Conflict to Cooperation: How to Mediate a Dispute
by Beverly A. Potter
Presents effective techniques for resolving disputes - powerful tools for managers, supervisors, coaches, parents, teachers, friends, counselors, neighborhood leaders, police officers and anyone caught in the middle of other people's disputes.

Hope
by LouAnn Bigge Gaeddert
In 1851 orphans Hope and John are placed in a community of Shakers, where they encounter a way of life that is strange yet comfortable.

The Spirit of Community: Rights, Responsibilities, and the Communitarian Agenda
by Amitai Etzioni
"In this book, [the author] sets forth an agenda for correcting the 'imbalance' between rights and responsibilities in American society. His agenda is focused in particular on rebuilding families and schools to instill in our citizens a sense of responsibility to the interests of the community as a whole." (Library Journal Review)

Resources for Teachers

Books that Build Character: A Guide to Teaching Your Child Moral Values Through Stories
by William Kilpatrick
Recommended books to help combat moral illiteracy and build a child's character.

Children's Literature for All God's Children
by Virginia Thomas
Recommended children's books that express faith, belief, theology, and Christian principles.

Everybody Wins!: Non-Competitive Games for Young Children
by Jody L. Blosser
Games that teach cooperation, not competition.

Kid Cooperation: How to Stop Yelling, Nagging and Pleading and Get Kids to Cooperate
by Elizabeth Pantley
This concise and straightforward book is filled with applied skills that teach children to cooperate, end sibling fights, boost children's self-esteem, and help parents handle discipline and anger with understanding and authority.

Kids Can Cooperate: A Practical Guide to Teaching Problem Solving
by Elizabeth Crary
Help children learn to cooperate.

Literature-Based Moral Education: Children's Books & Activities for Teaching Values, Responsibility & Good Judgment In the Elementary School
by Linda Leonard Lamme
Discusses important values for children's moral development and suggests related activities.

Play Together Grow Together: A Cooperative Curriculum for Teachers of Young Children
by Don Adcock
Learn how to facilitate group play.

Teaching Snacks: Teaching Basic Concepts & Skills Through Cooking
by Gayle Bittinger
Contains recipes for a variety of snacktime foods suitable for young children and suggests how these foods may be used to create learning opportunities in nine different topic areas.

The Book of Virtues for Young People: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories
by William J. Bennett
Well-known works including fables, folklore, fiction, drama, and more, by such authors as Aesop, Dickens, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, and Baldwin, are presented to teach virtues, including compassion, courage, honesty, friendship, and faith.

The Peaceful Classroom: 162 Easy Activities to Teach Preschoolers Compassion and Cooperation
by Charles A. Smith
This book is filled with appealing group learning activities that help children acquire compassion, cooperation, friendship, and respect for others. It also suggests ways teachers can work with parents to extend these learning experiences at home. A timely and important resource for every classroom.

What to Look for in a Classroom: And Other Essays
by Alfie Kohn
Alfie Kohn challenges conventional notions on everything from students' self-esteem to school uniforms in this witty, passionate, and provocative collection.