Monday, September 1, 2008

CART Kits

In Franklin County, we are lucky to have CART kits. These kits were a Chambersburg District Library project. There are sets in McConnellsburg and Waynesboro, as well as at Coyle. The idea originally came from Pittsburgh libraries so they may be available at other libraries. These kits are collections of books, on a specific topic.

Kit number 40 is devoted to the topic of feelings. Books included in this kit are:
Will You Come Back for Me? by Ann Tompert and illustrated by Robin Kramer. This is the story of a little girl, Suki, who is unsure about starting school. As she pretends to take her bear to school and drop him off, she expresses her own concerns about being left at school. If this is a problem for your child or children in the classroom, it might be helpful for you to provide the props for him or her to role play the experience of a parent leaving a child at school. Either way the book is a good discussion started of how it feels when a parent leaves a child in a new place.
Feelings by Aliki is probably better read one on one or at least to children with a good understanding of books. The book is wonderful at helping children understand what others might be feelings in different circumstances.
The Hating Book by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Ben Shecter. Two little girls have a misunderstanding and the one expresses negative thoughts about the girl. Things are finally resolved when the mom suggests she talk to her friend. A good story to help children see how misunderstandings can happen. The misunderstanding in this story is about what one person thought the other said about her. When I was a Girl Scout, we used to play a game in which the first person would whisper something to the next and the message would go around the circle. Most often by the time the message got to the last person, it was very different. Try this with your class and help them see, if you want to know what someone said, you need to ask that person.
The Saddest Time by Morma Simon pictures by Jacqueline Rodgers This is a book I hope you never need to use. It is divided into sections and talks about different people dying. There is one short section about a child dying and the classmate's reaction. The class draws pictures for the child’s parents.
Other books in this kit are:
The Knight Who was Afraid of the Dark by Barbara Shook Hazen,
Weird Parents by Audrey Wood
Let’s Be Enemies by Janice May Udry
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
I Was So Mad by Mercer Mayer

No comments: