Element #6: “The Kid’s Guide to Social Action”
Title: The Kid’s Guide to Social Action
Author: Barbara A. Lewis
Ages: Reading level ages 9-12 but can be used with children of any age.
Synopsis: “The Kid’s Guide to Social Action”, by Barbara A. Lewis is a guide that inspires students to choose events that they feel very strongly about and to take social action themselves. The book was published in 1991 and won award from Parenting Magazine and American Library Association. The book gives children a way to feel like they are making a difference in something they believe in. The guide, by Barbara A. Lewis, gives step-by-step instructions that explain how to start social action (gives direction on letters, surveys’, raisings funds, etc). The book also gives real stories from children who create social change in their community. Lewis also included petitions and reproducible forms for the children to use. The book includes many outside resources for the children to use such as government organizations, private organizations, websites, and more books.
Relates to element 6: This book directly relates to element 6, which is taking social action. After reading this book, I immediately thought this was the perfect book to use in a classroom for giving kids the opportunity to take actions on issues that affect them or their community. This book gives the students the skills and information to create change themselves.
Using it in the classroom: Using this book in your classroom is a great way to integrate element 6! Although, I believe you cannot really plan when exactly you are going to have your student take social action. I think it really comes when you can tell that your students are really passionate about something and when they cannot get it out of their minds. That is when you could use the opportunity to introduce this book and show them how they can create change. As I briefly state before, the book gives many templates that a teacher can easily copy for the students and have them fill it out. It even gives and explains the petition process and how to effectively use a petition in certain situations. It is a very teacher friendly book!
Teacher Resources:
http://www.learner.org/resources/series166.html
http://www.covenanthouse.org/action
Click here for another great review of the book!
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