New Releases by BARBARA A. LEWIS

Make social emotional learning fun and engaging with 24 ready-to-use lessons about phenomenal plants and astonishing animals. Storytelling is a learning device used by humans for centuries, and for good reason: storytelling is one of the best ways to increase critical thinking skills and social emotional learning (SEL). The award-winning Social Emotional Stories combines storytelling with thought-provoking lessons and activities to help elementary students improve their self-esteem, increase their engagement with school, and give them a sense of empowerment. The book contains 24 individual lessons that include: An SEL objective with specific keywords like “inner strength,” “problem solving,” and “responsibility” An engaging story that focuses on a distinctive quality of either a plant (like the inner strength of bamboo) or an animal (like the courage of a pig) Multiple activities that are quick, easy, and require few supplies to help kids identify and dive deeper into the specific SEL concepts represented Educators can use these lessons individually with students, in small groups, or with an entire class. The lessons are interdisciplinary and flexible, with only minimal prep time required, allowing educators to adapt them for their situation. Extensive digital content supports the lessons with reproducible forms and a full-color photo of each plant and animal.

Inspiring book invites young people to explore and practice honesty, kindness, empathy, integrity, tolerance, patience, respect, and more. Includes reproducible surveys, charts, and reports, an index, and a list of resources and websites.

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.

You can get involved, get noticed, and get results! In THE KIDS'S GUIDE TO SOCIAL ACTION, you'll find: Real stories about real kids and teens who are making a difference at home and around the world; Step-by-step guides to social action Power Skills: letter-writing, faxing, emailing, Internet research, interviewing speechmaking, surveying, fundraising, getting and handling media coverage, and more; Ideas for working with government, including tips for lobbying local, state, and federal lawmakers, and for using your social action skills with the courts; Real social action tools, ready to copy and use, including petitions, proclamations, letters, and news releases; An up-to-date resource guide with addresses, phone numbers, and Web sites for other social action groups, federal and state government offices, and awards and recognitions for kids. Designed for kids to use on their own and at their own pace, THE KID'S GUIDE TO SOCIAL ACTION is also ideal for schools, clubs, groups, troops, and other youth organizations.

This new edition of Free Spirit’s best-selling youth service guide includes a refreshed “Ten Steps to Successful Service Projects” plus hundreds of up-to-date ideas for projects—from simple to large-scale. At a time when U.S. President Barack Obama has called for increased participation in community service, this revitalized book is sure to find a whole new audience of eager young change-makers.

Here’s a book for every teen who wants to get involved in service and social change. Featuring profiles of real “Difference Makers” and practical tools readers can use to support causes they are passionate about, The Teen Guide to Global Action provides everything youth need to make a difference at the local, national, or global level. From suggestions for reducing hunger and poverty and protecting human rights to environmental projects and efforts to promote peace, this book provides know-how teens can use to make the world a better place. There’s also a healthy dose of inspiration. Whether it’s reading about Zach Hunter, who started an organization devoted to ending modern-day slavery, or Janine Licare, who is helping protect Costa Rican rain forests, teens reading these and dozens of other stories will realize they don’t have to wait to become an adult to change the world. Upbeat, practical, and highly motivating, The Teen Guide to Global Action is a go-to source teens can use to put their volunteer spirit into practice and make an impact in their world.

Turn learning into a game and kids will want to play. Based on What Do You Stand For? For Kids by Barbara A. Lewis, this card game spotlights ten top character traits: Caring, Citizenship, Cooperation, Fairness, Forgiveness, Honesty, Relationships, Respect, Responsibility, and Safety. To win, players collect cards of each trait. Each card features a "What If" scenario or question about character that gets kids thinking about what they would do-and what they stand for. Meant to be played with adult supervision (a teacher, counselor, or youth worker familiar with character education themes), the game includes an insert with rules and basic character education concepts.

Young people need guidance from caring adults to build strong, positive character traits—but they can also build their own. This book by the best-selling author of The Kid’s Guide to Social Action invites children and teens to explore and practice honesty, kindness, empathy, integrity, tolerance, patience, respect, and more. Quotations and background information set the stage. Dilemmas challenge readers to think about, discuss, and debate positive traits. Activities invite them to explore what they stand for at school, at home, and in their communities. True stories profile real kids who exemplify positive traits; resources point the way toward character-building books, organizations, programs, and Web sites.

Build positive character traits like caring, citizenship, cooperation, courage, fairness, honesty, respect, and responsibility.

Describes six strategies for designing, building, implementing, sustaining, and growing a new or existing gifted program, and includes real-life examples, recommended books and organizations, a glossary, and reproducibles.

Grade level: 2, 3, 4, 5, p, e, i, t.

Text, anecdotes, and activities direct the reader to explore and practice honesty, kindness, empathy, integrity, tolerance, and more.

Twenty-two Latter-day Saint teens and their stories of courage.

Documents the significant architectural and historic resources of the central commercial landing and the adjacent East Side neighborhood.

These exciting true stories will inspire teens to believe in themselves and the ability of determined young people to make a difference in the world. As fun to read as fiction, the stories are engaging and accessible—a great way to encourage reluctant readers. In Kids with Courage, readers meet 18 remarkable kids with the courage to speak out, fight back, come to the rescue, and stand up for their beliefs. • The student had a loaded gun and a room full of hostages. Police surrounded the school. Then Ruben Ortega got mad... • Norvell Smith knew there would be gang members in the audience. But she looked right at them and gave them a piece of her mind... • It was the middle of winter, and the woman had no shoes. Frank Daily looked down at his Nikes and made a decision... • The house was filled with smoke and flames. And Melinda Clark couldn’t find her little brother... • Mr. Smith threatened to kill her mother and brother. But Mercedes Jones spoke out anyway—and a sexual abuser went to jail... • Andrew Holleman had practically grown up on the wetlands. He loved its plants, creatures, and gooey mud. Then he heard about the developer’s plan... National award-winning author Barbara A. Lewis provides the inspiration to empower young people to make a difference in their communities and in the world.

Resource guide for children for learning political action skills that can help them make a difference in solving social problems at the community, state, and national levels.

Programmed Instruction for musicians in Spanish churches