Living the Hero's Quest Character Building through Action Research

Subjects:

• Library & Information Science » Children's & Young Adult School Services -- Curriculum & Instruction
• Library & Information Science » Research -- Findings

Reviews:

• Marketed as a manual for teachers, this book provides lesson plans and practical tips on how to incorporate hero tales in character education programs.
  —Children's Literature Association Quarterly Winter 2005
• This is a tremendous resource for teachers or media specialists who wish to inspire youngsters. Humphrey helps students recognize character traits that could cause someone to be called "hero" and to understand that different types of hero exist....Most impressive is the emphasis on children taking what they have learned about heroic character traits and acting on them; it is about teaching heroic-epics in such a way that children will recognize the positive traits when they encounter them in real-life situations. This guide is truly original and completely functional. It includes lesson plans, reproducibles, handouts, and instruction and study questions.
  —School Library Journal May 2006
• Mary Humphrey has written a very informative and useful book for educators concerning the use of fairy tale heroes as essential role models for demonstrating positive character traits....Living the Hero's Quest: Character Building Through Action Research is well written. Explanations are tightly constructed enabling the educator to carry out the lessons easily, and the format is varied and easy to follow. Material is also presented in such a way that readily allows educators to add, subtract, or generally embellish with their own ideas.
  —Mythic Imagination March 2006
• Highly recommended for elementary and middle school teachers and teacher-librarians who want to teach character education.
  —Teacher Librarian February 2006

• Endorsement From T. A. Barron, author of The Hero's Trail: This valuable book combines two great forces: heroes who inspire, and teachers who value the importance of character. Together, they make this book essential reading for teachers, parents--and anyone else who cares about the future of our children."

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Introduction
• Presenting Hero Tales
• Planning the Fairy Tale Unit
• Teaching Values through Fairy Tales
• The Lessons
• The Tales
• Action Research in the Classroom
• Conclusion
• Bibliographyy
• Contributors