Channing L. Bete, Co., Inc. (1-800-628-7733) Scriptographic pamphlets about many issues surrounding puberty, adolescence, talking with adolescents about sex, decision-making, AIDS. These are available free from the State or City Health Department and are very easy to read.
Madaras, Linda
What’s Happening To My Body ? For Girls
and
For Boys
. These are very reassuring and comprehensive books which cover the basic facts of male and female development. Each has a chapter about the other sex. They are very good for individual reading, for research and reports.
Pamphlets from
ETR Associates
(1-800-321-4407) can be useful tools for classroom or small group activities, especially with peer educators.
* 101 Ways to Say No To Sex: Students’ Ideas for Being Firm About Saying NO (Also in Spanish)
* 101 Ways to Survive Puberty
* Growing Older: Facts and Feelings (8 pages)
Braunginn, Stephen Higginbotham
Stand Strong
. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Clearinghouse, 1991. This is a 16 page comic book aimed at ages 12-18, which focuses on the lives of several African-American teenagers at an urban youth center. Although the protagonists are older than 4th and 5th graders, they are facing the same decisions which the precocious students are facing. The comic book format is fun to read and the story can open discussion about the difficulties students face in overcoming peer pressure, preventing pregnancy, resisting alcohol and other drugs, and in building a positive self-image.
Stand Strong
comes with a companion booklet for adults who work with African-American youth called,
What Caring Adults Can Do To Help Our African-American Youth.
Center For Population Options (now Advocates for Youth),
Talking With TV: A guide for grown-ups and Kids. How to make TV a conversation starter on relationships, values and sexuality.
Washington, DC: 1989
American Red Cross’
African Proverb Posters
. This is set of large, beautiful posters with a lesson related to HIV/AIDS prevention accompanying each one. They can be applied to learning about puberty, growing up and making decisions about sex.
Story Books
for students to read: (Most recommended for ages 12 and up) selected from the Bookfinder (see above) because they treat social and emotional themes related to puberty, maturation and relationships.
1. Betancourt, Jeanne.
More than Meets the Eye,
Bantam, Doubleday, Dell: 1990 boy-girl relationships, interracial prejudice, parent-child communication and friendship
2. Blakeslee, Ann R.
After the Fortune Cookies
, Putnam & Grosset Group 1989. resisting change, maturation, gender role identity, extended family relationships
3. Calvert, Patricia.
When Morning Comes
, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1989. maturation, boy-girl relationships, decision-making, running away, accepting self.
4. Geller, Mark.
Raymond
, Harper Collins, 1988. emotional & physical abuse, running away, fear of physical harm.
5. Meyer, Carolyn.
Denny’s Tapes
, McElderberry Books, 1990. African-American, search for identity, maturation, interracial marriage.
6. Reading, Jacqueline P.
The Summer of Sassy Jo
, Houghton Mifflin, 1989. ambivalence: feelings of belonging, parent-child communication, trust/distrust, boy-girl relationships.
7. Sachar, Louis.
The Boy Who Lost His Face
. Alfred A. Knopf, 1989. Boy-girl relationships, ostracism, peer relationships, meaning of friendship.
8. Sachar, Louis.
There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom
, Knopf, 1987. Being bothered by a bully, counseling experiences, classmate relationships, self-confidence, making friends.
9. Shusterman, Neal.
The Shadow Club
, Little, Brown & Co., 1988. clubs, competition, gangs, harassment.
9. Wilson, Johnniece Marshall.
Oh, Brother
, Scholastic, 1988. sibling jealousy & relationships, peer and family relationships.
10. Wilson, Johnniece Marshall.
Robin On His Own
, Scholastic, 1990. Parent-child communication, accepting change, feelings of loss.
11. Yarborough, Camille.
The Shimmershine Queens
, Putnam Berkley Group, 1989. self-acceptance, African-American, values, friendship, feelings of inferiority.
HBJ Reading Series: 5th grade stories
which are connected to the developmental pathways, the social skills and the puberty educationgoals of this unit: