Introduction
Often I wonder if my third-grade students are prepared for the global world. Besides the core skills of reading, writing, and solving math problems, they must develop social skills such as communicating respectfully, thinking logically rather than emotionally, and developing values like respect and empathy. These skills are important for students to become real-life problem-solvers. The lack of social skills is evident in incidents from increased bullying in the schools to road rage at traffic signals. Our students need social skills to become problem-solvers in real life.
I have heard people say that children mirror the actions they see around them. What they read in books or watch on the television become reflected in their behaviors. Unfortunately, a majority of my students don’t receive the support or structure outside of school that reinforces beneficial social skills and values, a fact that is evident from their peer-interactions and my anecdotal teacher observations. My goal through this unit is to help my students develop social skills especially respectful communication, logical thinking, and values like respect and empathy that will make them problem-solvers in their real life by analyzing the choices made by the characters and their points of view. To achieve these goals, I propose to use a popular children’s classic, Winnie-the-Pooh, written by A.A. Milne.
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