Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Not your Mom's Book Club


A “Book Club” as part of a counseling program? Absolutely!  Since the beginning of the year Andrea and I have been running two book clubs, one for 4th grade and the other for 5th grade.  The purpose of the groups is to introduce the students to topics which they may be unfamiliar with or topics that may challenge their perspectives.  For instance, this year the 5th graders have read: Shiloh, So Be It and A Long Walk to Water.  This year the 4th graders have read Journey to JoBerg, How to Steal a Dog and 11 Birthdays. 

I am currently running the 4th grade book club and we are just finishing 11 Birthdays.  This book has relevant undertones of friendship conflict depicted through the eyes of 10 and 11 year old children.  The students have been able to relate to the children in the book and the social problems that they are experiencing . It has been my experience that students often readily assume that their problems occur in isolation and that their peers are not experiencing issues akin to theirs. This book, in particular, seems to have given the students reassurance and comfort in the fact that other students experience friendship difficulties and sheds light on the means through which they choose to resolve or address them.

In general, it is our hope that these books have given the students an opportunity to step outside of their world and empathize with other children their age that grow up in circumstances vastly different from what they know.  

 




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